Lews Castle to open its doors for a full tour

The community is encouraged to come along and see for themselves the refurbished building.

The upper floor is faithful to the Castle’s origins, with some Hebridean details and a wide variety of locally sourced furnishings.

Visitors will be able to see a selection of the 23 bedrooms and get a sense of the experience visitors to the Castle will get, staying at such a spectacular venue, standing proud overlooking Stornoway harbour. Managers will be giving VIP tours throughout the day.

Markus Riebicke-Carrington, General Manager at Lews Castle said: “Whilst many locals may have seen the ballroom, dining room, library and morning room on the ground floor, the upper floor rooms have been under wraps.

“We welcomed our first guests at Easter but Lews Castle has been such a community project that we think it is only right that everybody gets to see the whole castle and all the finishing touches that have helped to create such a stunning venue.

“We look forward to welcoming as many local people as possible and hope that they make a day of it as we will be laying on plenty of activities for young and old.

“We hope that visitors will be wowed by what they see and one lucky family of four will get the chance to stay in the Castle for free if they win the raffle in support of the RNLI and Bethesda Nursing Home and Hospice.”

From 11am to 3pm craft tables, face painting and cupcake decorating will be available in the Ballroom.

Children will also get a free Starbucks chocolate coin on arrival.

Between 3pm and 6pm visitors will be treated to performances from school choirs and Highland dancers.

For the adults, free welcome drinks and canapes will be served from 4pm to 8pm and will provide a sneak preview of the soon to be launched Storehouse dinner menu.

The Storehouse will be open as normal from 9am, with an additional lunch station set up in the Dining room 12 noon till 2pm serving soup and sandwiches and then cake and tea from 2pm to 4pm.

A ceilidh band will play from 6pm till 9pm and the bar will be open from 11am till 01am.

Lews Castle recently made it through to the final for the Great British Buildings Restoration of the Year, a competition organised by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and featured on Channel 4. With stiff competition Lews Castle was named joint winner of the Victorian category with Mount Stewart in Northern Ireland.

The open day will run from 10am to 9pm on April 28th, no registration required, just turn up on the day.