The RX-8

LOCAL TOURISM
IN THE NEXT
ISSUE...
We visit Melville Hall’s
new Utopia Spa facility...
Dine like a king
at The Royal
When hotel proprietor William Bailey took on the landmark Royal at
Ventnor 11 years ago, he realised he was facing a gargantuan task.
In fact, he recalls, the beautiful but faded Victorian hotel had
certainly seen better days: “It was totally run down, and the food
was disgusting” he declares.
“We certainly had a challenge on our hands” explained William.
“The hotel had been owned by Trust House Forte, and had lost all of
its three stars from the AA. All the staff were fed up and demotivated,
and one of the first tasks had to be to start building a top
team, in a very short time”.
Eleven years on, and the picture at the Royal couldn’t be more
different. The Island’s only four star hotel, it now boasts two AA
rosettes for its food, a standard which has been maintained
consistently for the past seven years.
“It takes a long time to build a top team,” says William, “so we are
very fortunate to have kept the same brigade together for several
years now”.
Heading up the hotel’s culinary “dream team” for the past nine
years has been head chef Allen Stayley, who trained at the Isle of
Wight catering college before moving to what is arguably the most
distinguished training ground in the UK – the Savoy in London,
54 Island Life - www.islandlifemagazine.net