Top Fife holiday destination retains four-star rating

The award for Pettycur Bay Holiday Park in Kinghorn comes as the business posts strong annual results for its last financial year on the back of a “huge staycation year.”

Owned by the Wallace family for over 30 years, the park was the subject of a popular BBC series “Life on the Bay.”

The complex includes a 28 bedroom Bay Hotel, the leisure centre, plus the Horizons Restaurant and Waterfront Bar.

“We are delighted to have retained the four star rating for the business, which reflects the care and attention we take in presenting all aspects of the operation to our customer base,” said Tommy Wallace, who runs the business with his father Thomas, brother Alan, and nephew, Steven.

“Over the past year many of our regular customers returning to stay, or came in to dine at Horizons which has been extremely busy.

“We have also had new customers who were perhaps choosing not to venture abroad and decided instead to holiday at home. Our hire fleet has seen quite a dramatic increase, as have sales of our holiday homes. People deciding to take the plunge and buy their own holiday home which was very good news for us.”

Horizons, which was refurbished in 2019, is also the holder of a Taste Our Best award reflecting a strong use of local produce.

Added to the Pettycur Leisure Centre in 2008, The Bay Hotel is notable for its south facing function suites offering superb panoramic views of the Forth, along with its split level bedrooms, with balconies and river views.

Tommy explained that Horizons also benefits from a great deal of repeat custom.

“Older, more vulnerable customers, remarked to us that they felt safe and comfortable as the country came out of the COVID pandemic. It's a very big space, and we had all the safety measures in place.”

But the business is expecting a downturn in 2023 as the cost of living crisis bites.

“It will have an effect,” he said, “although we are trying to make sure that our prices reflect real value for money as we always want to be viewed as affordable.

“Our costs are going up on the food and alcohol side, and we are looking for staff in a few key positions as many hospitality businesses are, but will be keeping a close eye on our pricing to see how things develop, keeping it all as affordable as possible for our customers is very important.

“But overall, we are optimistic that we can hold our market share as we have a very loyal following.”

Plans for this financial year include developing new self-catering apartments on Pettycur Bay Holiday Park, with an application in planning at the moment.

The business has also taken over the Old Manor hotel in Lundin Links and refurbishing the premises.

“We want to establish its place back in the market as a top wedding venue and great location for golfing short breaks,” commented Tommy.

A new second series of Life on the Bay will be announced by the BBC soon.