By Susan Young
When I first visited SimpsInns Waterside Bar and Restaurant a few years ago I loved its Cape Cod-style beach feel and the fact it had an amazing view over the sea to Arran. At the time owner Malcolm Simpson told me his vision for The Waterside included a seafood hotel and Shack, a hotel and beach house and says Malcolm, “The end of the project is in sight. It was a five-year plan, and I am delighted that we are nearly there.”
The Si! Shack, situated to the left of the restaurant, is a seasonal venue that re-opened at the beginning of April. “Si! Shack is open from Easter to October and its purpose is threefold – it feeds the garden, it offers ‘posh fish and chips’ to carry outs, and is also a quirky seafood style restaurant,” explained Malcolm.
You can get to the Si! Shack either by walking along the large wooden verandah from the main restaurant or from the car park. In fact outdoor dining at The Waterside is possible all the way along the verandah. Malcolm explains, “We’ve bought lots more outdoor furniture and have new outdoor heaters. There are rugs that we put out for diners to go over their legs, to ensure they are kept warm. We also have weather-proof, transparent ‘sails’ all along the verandah to protect customers from the elements yet still enjoy the views.”
Si! Shack has French windows leading out to the garden, as well as floor to ceiling windows with a dining bench, which looks directly on to the beach. It’s casual dining with a nautical feel. It has white clapperboard walls, a wooden floor and simple but str
iking mismatched furniture. A variety of copper, wooden and zinc-topped tables are accompanied by leather and upholstered chairs. Cushions are scattered liberally and there are lots of wee quirky touches like the hatch out to the beach, which allows beach walkers and passers by to pick up their fish n’ chips. But while it was lovely to see the Si! Shack, what actually brought me to West Kilbride on a miserable April day was to see the new hotel, just prior to opening. From the road you can’t quite grasp the scale of the building… and I totally underestimated the size of the building. “It’s really deceiving. I don’t think anyone realised how much land we actually had.” Said Malcolm: “We built the hotel and Kyle Suite around the panoramic views. In fact the entire hotel with the new second phase of bedrooms, conference and banqueting has been designed to make the most of our location.”
However the nautical theming in the Waterside bar and Restaurant has been toned down for the 23-bedroom hotel. Malcolm comments: “We had to be quite subtle with the design in the hotel as it is a wedding venue, so we need to hold back a bit. If we had made too big a design statement it wouldn’t have had the same appeal to brides, we had to find a balance.
The hotel has two entrances; a reception area which takes you through to the rooms and has a similar feel to the restaurant next door with a marble topped reception desk and nautical nods. But there is also an entrance for weddings, conferences and other functions. This is quite different.
As soon as you walk through the glass doors of the wedding reception area – the pebble flooring on either side is quirky and unusual, but totally fits a seaside feel. There’s also a compass on the floor further through. And the first room you come to, on the right, is what Malcolm calls ‘The Bride’s Room’. “We have a Brides Room at The Gailes Hotel (The Waterside’s sister property in Irvine). It’s a room that the bride can use for her own private time, to collect herself, as well as acting as storage space for wedding gifts.”
Further through, and like American-style hotels, the corridor is very wide; there are the toilets – all kitted out with Porcelanosa tiles. “It’s all the very best quality, granite, marble – top of the range. A few years ago we decided that if we were going to do things well we were going to use the best quality we could. And we have,” added Malcolm.
You soon come to the first of the Kyle Suite’s two bars. “This is another lesson we have learned from the Gailes. When we built it we didn’t put in a big circulation area for guests to mingle. But we have here. The bar has a great view and the space is substantial.”
But while the first bar looks impressive it is put into the shade by the Wedding Suite itself. It has a very definite ‘Wow Factor’. The 260-seater suite is totally encased in glass – with floor to ceiling glazed windows and doors – all of which open, either out to the bar area or the private garden. The views are exceptional. It is located in front of the second bar – but with glass doors which divide the bar from the Suite. Malcolm explains the 
thinking: “Not every bride wants to have the bar in the suite itself, but for those that do, the glass doors open. There is also an acoustic partition in the middle of the suite, which means we can divide the room into to suit all capacities. We have a state of the art audio-visual system and drop down screens – it’s all about being versatile and meeting modern day demands. We still have a feature chandelier to go in, it’s a bit different because a traditional one wouldn’t have worked.” There’s also the stunning, hexagonal Ailsa Lounge, a room which holds 100, with once again floor to ceiling windows and doors, which has Arran as its backdrop. A statement fireplace with reclaimed, authentic wood will make for the perfect photo opportunity. This space also looks out into garden where the suite has a large open verandah all the way along the front.
The colours throughout are quite subtle and stylish with splashes and shades of blue – from teal to a blue/grey and bright warm yellows. Even the carpets are shades of grey with a gold sand-like colour interspersed. Of course there are nautical influences from the artwork to distressed wood, but the overall impression is of subtlety. The whole of the downstairs area flows – from the bars to the main Kyle Suite, or indeed back into The Waterside Restaurant, making the whole of the venue accessible. This has been planned. “I wanted to have connectivity. The venue had to have a flow. It’s easier to create that when you are starting from scratch, but we have been able to do it here because we had the overall vision. If you have a venue that doesn’t flow, it will never work,” said Malcolm. “The venue is versatile. We can have, for instance, three events going on at the same time. Obviously we wouldn’t have two weddings, but we could have a corporate function, a private dine and a wedding.”
The additional 23-bedrooms are on the first floor and can either be accessed by a modern lift or up a bright staircase – the walls of which are bright yellow and shades of blue.
The rooms are situated around an internal Atrium Lounge with two garden terraces. This can be used by guests as a relaxing lounge, for private dining or a corporate event. The flooring, which looks like distressed beach wood, is actually a fire-retardant material that not only looks good but is weather-proof too. “It’s quite unique and it cost a fortune, but you don’t have to touch it ever!”
The rooms are spacious and all feature luxurious bathrooms. They either have a sea view or overlook the Ayrshire countryside. Quirky, bespoke artwork, French windows and colour schemes that reflect the seaside vibe are common to all, but each room is individual. All feature Jacuzzi-like baths and some also feature walk-in showers. But my favourite has to be room 323 – the Penthouse. It has three balconies – all of which are large enough to dine on, plus its own dining and seating area plus spectacular views at every turn. The bathroom has two sinks, a sauna, huge Jacuzzi-style bath and wet room shower built for two. The open- plan Penthouse is the size of a small flat – and I’d buy it!
The new Waterside Hotel really is delightful and Malcolm and wife Karen are to be applauded. They had a vision and their designers THR3 have certainly brought that vision to life. “I’m really pleased with it. We have worked with the same team for a few years now and they totally understand where we were coming from,” says Malcolm. “We had to maximise the views – it is all about the location here. The project is nearly completed but the final bit of the jigsaw puzzle, the beach house, will only be built when I can ensure that it won’t spoil the view for our guests. I believe we have created a destination venue that offers different things to different people. We cater for everyone from tourists, to dog walkers, seafood lovers to brides, the corporate market, locals and the family market too. I think we have, in part, re-invented the seaside holiday.”
I think they have brought a little bit of American’s Cape Cod to North Ayrshire… and done it better than the Americans!”
