51
Hotel Review
Fingal – a floating game-
changer on the waterfront
Simon George says that although Fingal’s sailing days
may be over, in terms of synergies with the Royal Yacht Britannia,
the MICE boat may just have come in
new luxury hotel and
event space opened in
the port of Leith in
Edinburgh in early
January – Fingal. A former
Northern Lighthouse Board ship
that used to supply lighthouses
off the western coast of Scotland,
the vessel has undergone a sea
change in terms of identity since
being decommissioned. Now part
of Royal Yacht Enterprises and
sister ship to the Royal Yacht
Britannia, which is permanently
moored nearby, Fingal has been
redeveloped at a cost of £5m and
turned into a 5-star hotel. The
ship offers 23 cabins, each
named after a lighthouse, a
ballroom, a restaurant and
outdoor deck space.
So, what are the business
events plans for Edinburgh’s new
hotel? Andrew Thomson, head of
hospitality and events at the
Royal Yacht Britannia says there
are synergies to be exploited
between both ships, the biggest
of which, in terms of events, is
the combination of meeting space
and accommodation that the
former lighthouse ship can offer
(Britannia is only open for events
from 7pm-1am and cannot offer
accommodation).
“We run about 100 events on
Britannia throughout the year – a
lot of those clients have been
staying in the 5-star hotels in
Edinburgh and we’ve never had
the opportunity to offer
accommodation. Fingal means we
will be able to tap into those
events.
“Also, we’ve had a lot of clients
at Britannia who are desperate to
have a meeting. Fingal allows us
to do the meetings part. Now we
can offer out local corporate
market and DMCs based
www.conference-news.co.uk
downstairs a meeting. Incentive
groups can do it as well. So, it’s a
bit of a game-changer for us.”
Thomson sees Fingal as being a
50-year project. The first 12
months will be crucial to listen to
our customers, see their
feedback. We’re part of the
Luxury Scotland group. We went
to IMEX America last October and
we’ve got some fantastic
bookings in the diary from the US
incentives market, in particular.”
Thomson is not overly
concerned by Brexit headwinds
such as the drop in the pound last
year, saying, if anything, sterling’s
depreciation had been good for
visitor numbers (to Britannia) as it
had led to an increase in
overseas visitors to Edinburgh
and a little bit of staycation.