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WHERE
DO YOU COME FROM ?
We
track the source of our bookings carefully - it helps us to
determine our marketing spend each year. We have noted with
a £ symbol those organisations which charge commission,
membership or for guidebook entry. You may be interested in
the 2006 results (2007 results in brackets):
28%
"Been Before" (up to 34%)
18%
"Word of Mouth" (down to16%)
15%
The Cross Website (down to 13%)
4%
Scotland the Best (down to 2%)
4%
Travel Agents £ (down to 3%)
4%
Alastair Sawday's Guide £ (down to 1%)
3%
Good Food Guide (same at 3%)
3%
AA Guidebooks £ (up to 5%)
3%
Press Articles (same at 3%)
2%
Good Hotel Guide (down to 1%)
2%
Visit Scotland & Tourist Information Centres £ (up
to 3%)
2%
HotelReview Scotland £ (same at 2%)
1%
Michelin (same at 1%)
1%
Rough Guide (down to 0%)
1%
Lonely Planet (down to 0%)
1%
Corporate (up to 4%)
1%
Which? Hotel Guide (down to 0%)
1%
Taste of Scotland (same at 1%)
0%
Trip Advisor (up to 1%)
5%
Unknown & other guidebooks (down to 2%)
We're
not so sure that we wholeheartedly welcome the apparent reduction
in the use of dear old annual paper guidebooks (a whopping
10% in one year) but we suspect that this will be a continuing
trend as the cost of production and the use of technology
both increase at a steady pace. Progress! Note that TripAdvisor
is growing in popularity. We find that this type of on-line
guide is very useful in finding decent accommodation and sharing
travel experiences but distinctly unreliable in sorting out
the good from the great. Their popularity rankings are too
easily manipulated by (some) hoteliers who unashamedly campaign
for reviews to be written by their guests and (sadly) some
who contrive to write their own reviews! We're surprised that
AA Guidebooks appear to have done well during the past 12
months........perhaps these results would have been less favourable
if their readers were aware of the internal strife at Basingstoke
that has resulted in a glut of dismissals and resignations.......and
that inspections up here in Scotland seem to be far and few
between!? The Good Food Guide, too, continues to provide us
with a decent return (on nil cost) despite widespread criticism
of inspection policies and decision making. We do like Peter
Irvine's cult guide "Scotland the Best", not because
we've been upgraded this year (we have, though) or because
it's 100% reliable (it's not) but because it's lively, personal,
interesting and eccentric.
The
Cross....one of SCOTLAND'S
20 BEST-KEPT SECRETS
The
Glasgow Herald .
September 16, 2006.
"THE
CROSS RESTAURANT WITH ROOMS Three AA rosettes for culinary
excellence, the AA Wine Award for Scotland, a fourseal dining
award from the RAC and one of the AA's top 200 places to stay
in the UK . . . so why has nobody heard of The Cross? Probably
because most of those who have discovered it are reluctant
to share the secret - it's the kind of place you want to keep
to yourself.
This
five-star establishment, tucked away in Kingussie, is somewhat
challenging to find because the owners have been forbidden
from signposting it from the main road through the village.
Persistence pays off, though: you'll be rewarded with a cup
of tea, a slice of home-made cake and a friendly welcome from
the thoroughly charming David and Katie Young. David is a
former AA hotels inspector, and a lifetime of sampling the
efforts of others has obviously paid off - the service is
faultless and the food some of the finest in Scotland.
The
former tweed mill has eight individually styled en-suite bedrooms,
three backing onto River Gynack and one with a balcony. Guests
can choose to eat in the 20-seat restaurant - and would be
foolish not to - though some tables are reserved for locals.
Young children and mobile phones are not welcome, which makes
for a peaceful dining experience. The menu changes daily,
but might typically feature boudin of local estate venison,
wild Scrabster sea bass and a hot chocolate fondant with chilli
ice-cream.
After
dinner, guests can retire to one of two comfortable lounges
and while away the rest of the evening with board games and
a steady supply of whisky. Bliss."
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