Isle Of Eriska

Hotel description

Most often when you talk about a private island hotel you’re talking about Tahiti or the Caribbean, not the western coast of Scotland. But then the Isle of Eriska isn’t your typical hotel. For one thing, there’s a bit of golf here, but not in a contemporary “golf resort” kind of way — here there are just six holes, so you’re playing for love of the game more than anything else. And while this big old house looks enough like a castle, it’s still quite small — with just seventeen rooms it’s intimate in the way a typical luxury hotel can’t be.

The lounge is classic enough, with its roaring fireplace, but the rooms are surprisingly up to date — they’ve clearly had a recent luxury-hotel makeover, and they mix a bit of antique style with contemporary clean lines and all the luxury you could need. Rooms in the old house are up to five-star standard but it’s the outlying spa suites and cottage suites that go above and beyond, in terms both of space and comfort. And while Scotland’s islands might not be known for balmy temperatures and baby-soft beaches, any effort to get out into nature will be amply rewarded — this is some of the most unspoiled landscape (and seascape) in the British Isles.