Skibo Castle

The magnificent Skibo Castle is home to one of the worlds's most prestigious private clubs.

Located to the west of Dornoch in the Highland county of Sutherland, Scotland, and set in sprawling parkland amidst the Dornoch Firth, Skibo's baronial architecture is almost ethereal in appearance.

Grand towers and gothic battlements only hint at the majesty of the castle's Edwardian interior; Airwave's remit included the design and installation a guest-room entertain system in keeping with this special place.

The Project

At the start of each day, a lone kilted bagpiper walks the castle, piping a medley of Scottish songs to greet each guest's morning; meanwhile a falconer and his birds exercise on the castle's front lawn. The day's timetable is rich and luxurious, catering to the every whim of Skibo's 450 private members. With all this in mind, surely the pinnacle of guest-room entertainment systems was on the agenda?

"Airwave's remit was to provide a premium guest-room TV experience, however there was a twist" said project manager, Tom Chapman "the castle's evening programme is diverse and action-packed and as a consequence, there was no pressing desire for an all-singing, all-dancing system encouraging members to stay in the bedroom!"

"It was very much a case of less is more" said key account manager David Taylor "we were asked to provide a solid system that ticked a few key boxes."

The Technology

Ahead of hardware deployment, Airwave upgraded the property's RF infrastructure to support an upgraded system.  This included Samsung HGEE690 SMART TVs, Sky Select and an Otrum CTRL information system; the latter was linked to Skibo Castle's website, allowing guests to access basic scrolling functionalities.

Airwave supplied dishes and cabling into each of the castle's lodges, supporting Samsung SMART TVs, Otrum CTRL and a Sky-In-Room service. Further plans include the implementation of hotel-certified Google Chromecast subject to the upgrade of the castle's network.

Whilst every project has its merits, it's not every day that the installation team is offered a wee "arrival dram" at a pillared entrance by a kilted butler.