It’s award number nine for Markinch hotel

Some of the Balbirnie House Hotel team pictured ahead of the awards ceremony Pic: Lifetime Photography

A local hotel has lifted Scotland’s top wedding award for the ninth time in 11 years.

Balbirnie House Hotel in Markinch has secured the title of 2015 Scottish Wedding Hotel of the Year at the hotel industry ‘Oscars’.

The venue has once again beaten off strong competition from the many wonderful hotels and wedding venues across the country to claim this accolade.

Following nominations from the general public and previous clients, a panel of industry judges decided on numerous regional winners before the final result was announced at a glittering awards ceremony in Glasgow earlier this month.

The awards evening was atended by over 500 hotel industry guests.

So what is it about Balbirnie House that makes it stand out from other properties and enables it to keep winning this award?

First and foremost we have a tremendous team

Nicholas Russell, managing director

Nicholas Russell, managing director of Balbirnie House has 23 years of experience running the hotel personal supervision and private ownership.

He told the Gazette he believes it is due to ‘a combination of many factors’.

He said: “First and foremost we have a tremendous team. Externally Balbirnie has a truly stunning location and magnificent grounds, and internally we have a blend of lived-in country vintage and contemporary chic, which is proving simply irresistible to the brides and grooms of tomorrow.

“Balbirnie now has a simply jaw-dropping accumulated history of Special Events which have taken place here.

“We are particularly focussed on offering truly wonderful and accessible packaged pricing, with really great value, albeit we also have a significant proportion of our clients who have an unrestricted budget.

“Additionally, in the last 12 months we have done more than we have ever done, to remain ahead of the curve.”

During the judging process this year, the experts suggested that Balbirnie House is Scotland’s most iconic wedding venue.

Mr Russell continued: “We were so very humbled to receive that comment, and the accumulated awards would now perhaps suggest that view is indeed certainly correct’.

“With our brigade now comprising of 110 individuals, Balbirnie House is without doubt one of the UK’s most celebrated and talked-about destination privately-owned hotels.

“In terms of weddings, with some 170 large weddings now taking place each year, it is so special to see so many clients who are all individually such an important part of this accumulating history, with every occasion at Balbirnie being so unique and special.”

Balbirnie House is a Grade A listed Georgian mansion, situated within 400 acres of park land.