RENEWED FOUR STAR RATING FOR PETTYCUR BAY HOLIDAY PARK, LEISURE CENTRE and BAY HOTEL
Pettycur Bay Holiday Park is celebrating the news that the entire complex, including the 28 bedroom Bay Hotel, the Leisure Centre, plus the stunning Horizons Restaurant & The Waterfront Bar, has retained its VisitScotland four star rating.
Horizons, which was refurbished in 2019 to reveal a contemporary new look including modern booth seating, new lighting, and an eye catching glass fronted bar, is also the holder of a Taste Our Best award reflecting a strong use of local produce.
Added to the Pettycur Leisure Centre in 2008, The Bay Hotel is notable for its south facing function suites for families of up to six people, offering superb panoramic views of the Forth, along with its split level bedrooms, with balconies and river views. Its eye catching, contemporary architectural design has also made the Hotel a real asset to tourism, and the events sector, in the area.
The four star rating news comes as the business, run by the Wallace family for over thirty years, posts strong annual results for its last financial year, due to the “huge staycation year” the Holiday Park experienced, plus the vibrancy of the local food & drink trade which saw Horizons fully booked on a regular basis.
“We are delighted to have retained the four star rating for the business, which reflects the care and attention we take in presenting all aspects of the operation to our customer base,” said Tommy Wallace, who runs the business with his father Thomas, brother Alan, and nephew, Steven. “We are constantly reinvesting in what we offer here, such as Horizons which now caters for both formal and informal dining. And we make a point of regularly replacing our hire fleet so that we never have a caravan that is older than three years old,” he added.
“Over the past year many of our regular customers returning to stay, or came in to dine at Horizons which has been extremely busy. We have also had new customers who were perhaps choosing not to venture abroad and decided instead to holiday at home. Our hire fleet has seen quite a dramatic increase, as have sales of our holiday homes. People deciding to take the plunge and buy their own holiday home which was very good news for us.”
Tommy explained that Horizons benefits from a great deal of repeat custom.
“Older, more vulnerable customers, remarked to us that they felt safe and comfortable as the country came out of the COVID pandemic, it’s a very big space, and we had all the safety measures in place. So they tended to keep re-booking.”
The park was highlighted on television through the BBC TV series “Life on the Bay.”
“It has had a huge effect by putting us in the spotlight. People realised just what Fife’s Sunshine Coast has to offer,” said Tommy.
Tommy pointed out that, like many businesses, Pettycur expected a downturn in its next financial year due to the current cost of living crisis.
“It will have an effect,” he said, “although we are trying to make sure that our prices reflect real value for money as we always want to be viewed as affordable. Our costs are going up on the food and alcohol side, and we are looking for staff in a few key positions as many hospitality businesses are, but will be keeping a close eye on our pricing to see how things develop, keeping it all as affordable as possible for our customers is very important. You can treat the family here because we offer everything from snacks to full dinners. But overall, we are optimistic that we can hold our market share as we have a very loyal following.”
Plans for this financial year include developing its new self-catering apartments on Pettycur Bay Holiday Park, with an application in planning at the moment.
“We purchased The Old Manor hotel at Lundin Links at the end of last year and we are still refurbishing and developing that to establish its place back in the market as a top wedding venue and great location for golfing short breaks,” commented Tommy.
“So, we have plenty going on here at Pettycur Bay and in Lundin Links,” he finished. “A new second series of Life on the Bay will be announced by the BBC soon, and it’s once again very exciting for our staff and customers to be featured in this.”
www.bayhotel.net
www.pettycur.co.uk
www.theoldmanorhotel.co.uk
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