We are delighted to announce that Shola Coach House B&B has been shortlisted within the Tourism Business of the Year category in the Causeway Coast & Glens Business Awards.

The award sponsored by Tourism Ireland celebrates the outstanding contribution of local tourism related businesses in attracting visitors to the area and delivering excellence in customer service that enhances the profile of the Causeway Coast and Glens area through their tourism marketing.

To get to the final stage of this year's awards we need your vote - please cast your vote through the following link http://www.causewaychamber.com/vote-tourism, or email your vote to office@causewaychamber.com.  Please note 1 vote per email address.

Voting will close Friday 4th September 2015. 

We are so proud to announce that we scooped the best Serviced Accommodation of the year in the 2014 Northern Ireland Tourism Awards at a gala ceremony in Belfast’s Ulster Hall last night.  The Northern Ireland Tourism Awards, now in their 36th year, recognise the very best of the local industry and are regarded as the high point of the annual tourism calendar.

Winning the best Serviced Accommodation award is a major highlight for us having only opened the business in March last year.  The category was open to bed and breakfasts, guest houses and farmhouse establishments from all over Northern Ireland and we are proud to be recognised as the outstanding performers among very strong competition. 

We are truly grateful for all the support we have received during this past year (our very first in the B&B business!) from family, friends and guests who have all contributed to making Shola such a special place to live, work and stay in, thank you.

The champagne has been on ice so now let the celebrations begin!

We are thrilled to announce that after just one year in the bed and breakfast business we are one of the shortlisted nominations in the 2014 Northern Ireland Tourism Awards.  We are proud to be representing Portrush and the North Coast of Ireland.

The winners of the coveted awards, which recognise outstanding performers in the tourism industry, will be announced at a gala ceremony to be held on Thursday 29 May at Belfast's Ulster Hall.  Watch this space!

A great weekend at Shola - celebrating our first birthday in business, Ireland's win in the Six Nations Rugby Championship, honouring our patron saint St. Patrick and getting our new Garden Room ready for it's first guests.

As we celebrate our first birthday in business we take the time to reflect on the past year and are grateful for the successes we have achieved.  First up we have to thank each and every one of our guests who chose to stay in our home with us - we welcomed more than 500 of you from 18 different countries during the past 12 months, and celebrations included engagements, weddings and wedding anniversaries (firsts, tenths, 25th's and more), and birthday marking milestones such as 40, 50, 60, 70 and even 90 years!

And now as we enter into our second year of business we are delighted to add a fourth bedroom to Shola - our new Garden Room is ready for guests.  It is a private room separate from the main house, and as the name suggests, is in the garden, and is accessed via the external courtyard.  It comes complete with French doors onto a small terrace where you can sit and enjoy our beautiful gardens; the en suite is a wet room complete with rose shower head and traditional handset (no bath), and of course includes complimentary toiletries from The Handmade Soap Company.

Take advantage of our Spring Saver Specials and be one of the first to enjoy a 2 night stay in the Garden Room - we look forward to welcoming you.

Meanwhile Happy St. Patrick's Day.

St. Patrick's Day is done and dusted for another year.  In honour of our Patron Saint of Ireland we added a special bread to the breakfast buffet on this special day - Guinness Brown Bread.  It was so popular with the guests we wanted to share the recipe.

Guinness Brown Bread
Ingredients
50g/2oz margarine or butter
1 tablespoon treacle
450g/1lb coarse wholemeal flour
25g/1oz pinhead oatmeal
4 tablespoons demerara sugar
100g chopped walnuts (optional)
2 level teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
400ml Guinness
Method
Preheat oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.  Lightly grease a 2lb loaf tin.

1. Put margarine/butter and treacle into a saucepan over a low heat and allow to melt.
2. Meanwhile put the wholemeal flour, oatmeal, sugar and walnuts into a bowl.  Sieve in the bicarbonate of soda and mix well.
3. When the margarine/butter has melted, add the Guinness and stir.
4. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Transfer mixture to prepared tine and bake for about 40-50 minutes until risen and when tapped underneath has a hollow sound.
5. Wrap in a clean towel and allow to cool.