Changing tack puts struggling hotel back on the map

HAD it been a cold and miserable day when Vincent Kidd and his sister Fiona spotted their dream project on Valentia island five years ago, it might not have become such a nightmare.

But there were blue skies, calm seas and the sun was glistening like fairy dust on the picture-postcard harbour of Knightstown. The moment they spied the ageing but outwardly attractive Royal Hotel for sale, the pair, from Dublin, were hooked.

“It was such a unique place that it just blew us away,” says Vincent.