A well-known hotel on Orkney has announced it will no longer be serving alcohol, after it was taken over by new management.
The Stromness Hotel, located beside the town’s harbour, was acquired by Paymán Investments in August.
The company quickly moved to reassure concerned locals that the takeover would not mean the hotel’s bars, including the Flattie Bar, would be closing.
However, chairman and chief executive Na’ím Anís Paymán has now confirmed that alcohol will not be sold anywhere on the premises – although visitors will be free to bring their own.
Speaking to BBC Radio Orkney yesterday, Mr Paymán said: “We will not be selling alcohol as such.
“We will be open to events, say, family weddings or Christmas dinners for staff, who want to bring their own alcohol in.
“We will be keeping the Flattie Bar open, we are actually trying to see how we can reconfigure it as part of a better use of the ground floor given that half of it is currently out of use.”
Reports suggest the alcoholic drinks previously on sale at the venue will be replaced by “flower and herb-based” alternatives.
However, Mr Paymán, who grew up in Albania, said the vegan and vegetarian options at the hotel’s Scapa Flow restaurant would simply be options, with meat also offered on the menu.
Opened in 1901, the 42-bedroom hotel is among the first buildings ferry passengers see after disembarking the MV Hamnavoe in Stromness.