The Pentland Hotel

The Pentland Hotel is a lovely old hotel right in the middle of downtown Thurso.


By 'downtown,' I mean it's right in the middle of town, at the town square.









My first introduction to the hotel was during my first week here. Cathy said, "The ladies get together on Wednesday mornings at 11 am for coffee. They meet in the lobby of the Pentland Hotel. Would you like to go?" 

Potential new friends AND Coffee? Of course I did! I walked with her there in the rain. And there I met several other ladies.

Coffee at the Pentland seems to be a little like meeting at Starbucks in that groups of women meet there to fellowship over coffee. Or tea. 

Except it is so NOT Starbucks. 
It is old and has carpet and upholstered chairs and has a sort of  'presence' that only old buildings have. And it has a bar. And occasionally I see men there having a beer at 10:30 am.

There seem to be several different groups - women, mostly - who meet there. 

For instance, as soon as we started attending Thurso Baptist Church, I learned that their ladies meet at the Pentland on Thursday mornings at 10:30 - except in the bar. That really cracked me up. Church ladies meeting in the bar.  But when you go in, you see there are multiple groups of people in the bar.

The Reception Area (the Lobby)

But Cathy took me to the Wednesday group. The Wednesday group meets in the reception area of the hotel. Cathy thinks it is or was called "The Newcomers' Group." It was originally set up - many years ago - for newbies and long-time residents to get together and share information. A way of helping newcomers get connected. Isn't that a really terrific idea?

I don't know if it has been larger at other times, but it is pretty intimate right now. Just a handful of gals come. But it is a lovely time of catching up and finding out what is going on around town. One woman brings her 3 year old granddaughter who likes to put stickers on papers and eat ice. Another woman brings eggs to sell. (This is where I get my fresh eggs now.) I met another American who moved here last year to teach at the college. And then there are the others I have gotten to know well - Cathy, Leah, Katrina and Kirsteen.

The Bar area

On Thursdays when I am in town, I meet with the ladies from the church. That is nice because it offers a time to get to know other women in a way that is just not really possible on a Sunday morning in passing. 


There are a variety of ages and anywhere from 3 women to a dozen women may be there. 


There are also 2 youngsters. One baby girl is about 8 months old  and she is passed around to be held and admired. Pictures are taken each week with a different 'aunty' and sent to the Grandma who lives out of country. A new baby has just been born, and I imagine she will also get to be enjoyed by many 'aunties' herself soon.

It's a lovely time of fresh coffee to order (nothing served in a pot, mind you - but real, good coffee made in French presses or with shots, like for cappuccino or Americano or latté.) And the ladies who work there learned very quickly that I like heavy cream with my Americano and will bring me a small serving in a little pitcher.  

The Reception area (the Lobby)

One does not pay for the coffee immediately, though. Not even when one is sitting in the reception area, which is away from the cash register. It is taken care of at the bar. If you place your order there, you can pay right away, but they don't ask you to and they don't necessarily expect you to.

If they take your order at the table or in the lobby, you can pay when you leave. However, they do not bring you a bill, so it is up to you to remember. I point this out because, even though it seems like, duh of course, it has happened that I left without paying. When I realized this, which was not until the next day (!), I was horrified. I made amends the very next day, but the staff was neither surprised nor dismayed. Seems that it happens sometimes and people right it when they remember. They don't seem unduly concerned about it. 

That seems to be the way a lot around here. You often order at the bar and pay afterwards. It works that way at the Blue Door Diner as well. You order at your table and then let them know afterwards at the register what you ate. I guess they are just not worried about whether or not you paid for that extra basket of fries.  Or for your coffee with lovely double cream.

Pam and Les 

Today we met Les and Pam at the Pentland for the Sunday buffet. Now I know the hotel is known for more than just their coffee social. 


Les and Pam are an older couple who go to Thurso Baptist Church with us. 







They are a delightful couple who smile really big and whose eyes light up when they greet us. Soon after we met them, they told us about this great buffet and encouraged us to join them. 

Les went on and on about the selection of 5 different meats - ham, lamb, pork, beef and turkey - all sliced to serve- the variety of potatoes and vegetables, and oh! the tables of desserts.

The Meats and Potatoes

We finally were able to accept their invitation and joined them today. It did not disappoint. 

It was quite the spread and everything I had was delicious (lamb, roast beef with Yorkshire pudding and a terrific beef gravy, garlic and cheese potatoes, and a really yummy red cabbage with a list of ingredients of which the only one I remember is vinegar). 

the Desserts tables

And the desserts!! Oh my!  I had a hard time committing to one. See, I like to sample and have a bite of this and a bite of that.

I must interject at this point that that this is a learned behavior. I blame my Mom.  My mom was always like, "How about if you order the peach pie and I will order the apple pie? I will give you half of mine and you give me half of yours. That way, we can both have both kinds." (This applied to soup, sandwiches, desserts,....)  That idea has always worked for me!  

But Mike didn't quite see it that way.  When we first got married and I would make him this really great offer - he would always answer, "I will be happy to give you some of my ______(fill in the blank - steak, dessert, etc). But if I had wanted ______(insert fish, chicken, dessert, etc), I would have ordered it." 

It has taken many many years to 'train' him to see the benefit of this. 

But at a buffet, that is not really the polite way to do it, is it? It just is not polite to take bites of each of the desserts. The other customers don't really appreciate that. So, after much contemplation, I got one, ate part of it and then 'offered' it to Mike, who is so gracious that he accepted each one. In that way, I got to try 4 different things. :).  (and so did he!)

I left feeling like it was Thanksgiving afternoon. You Americans know what I mean.

After we closed down the dining room, we moved to the reception area next to the fireplace and visited with Les and Pam for another hour or so. 

I hope when the winter sets in that the hotel staff will actually light the fireplace. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

So, the Pentland Hotel. It's not just for coffee any more.