Hotel Pub Restaurant review. Highly recommend them all. Stayed here for 4 nights and tried the pub…read morefood first. Outstanding carpaccio of Argyll beef served with lightly dressed fresh arugula salad, then moved on to tender fresh scallops served with a cilantro oil and tomato mango mince. Oh my, it was great. Not to mention a glass of chilled Viognier to go with. Then a session.... Local talent on guitar, banjo, accordion, violin. Place gets packed so prepare to stand if you're not early. Great outdoor patio overlooking Loch Indaal for sunny afternoons as well! The hotel is wonderful. Great views, comfy bed, very classic and charming. Staff are friendly, helpful and engagingly fun. Thoroughly enjoyed talking with them during my stay. Finally the restaurant, top notch like the rest of the place. Again, book early, they fill up fast. Food is beautifully prepared and staff excellent. Love this whole venue.

Took my family here for lunch, it was amazing! We had fish and chips, scallops and crab sandwiches…read more Everything was amazing! The gentleman behind the bar was extremely kind and fun to chat with. Would highly recommend :)

Just a perfect experience in Islay. Great accommodations with fantastic views and the breakfast is…read moreincredible. Such wonderful hospitality for our tour group. Andrew and Allison are quintessential hosts.

I was lucky enough to stay at Bowmore House because of my booked whiskey tour through Scottish…read moreRoutes. This was the best bed & breakfast experience I've ever had and ruined me for the rest of my trip. Andrew and Allison were the ideal innkeepers. Warm and friendly and amazingly accomodating. And if you're a whiskey lover, Andrew has a vast knowledge of whiskies. If you're going to Islay, I hope you like whiskey. I was booked for a single room and wow. King size bed and a room almost as large as my first apartment. And the bathroom, just gorgeous. Just a slight warning, if you're a shower singer, sound travels. I enjoyed a morning serenade from a couple of the Swedish guests on our tour. It was a nice way to wake up but not everyone is as willing to explore others' musical talents. Each morning, they set us up for our day of whiskey drinking with a full English breakfast (delicious) and the offer of a dram of whiskey. I passed for the fresh squeezed orange juice because I'm a giant lightweight. Our last night there, for a small fee, they provided us with delicious house made sushi, oysters and seared scallops. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. As much as I loved the whiskey tour, I would come back to Islay just to stay at Bowmore House. It's worth every penny.

You might look at the price and move on. Then you stay here and you think you'd pay double for the…read moreprivilege to spend one more night there. The hosts are amazing, the place is well appointed and immaculate. It's an absolute treat. Be sure to book Attic Cabs to get you around the island safely and with great stories and humor.

A nice and cozy guest house with a highly accommodating host, Niall, that has worked with us before…read moreand after our arrival to ensure a pleasing experience. The house is conveniently located on Port Ellen such that access to the restaurants, pubs, shops and shoreline are no more than a few minutes away by foot. Walking to the three close whisky distilleries of Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg is done in under an hour, one way. You may want to book transport back, depending on how much you sampled! The rooms are clean and tidy for a couple or single accommodations with en-suite shower and toilet for three of the rooms and a dedicated combination for the fourth room. To go along with the primary accommodations, the breakfast and general communal area is downstairs where a satisfying and freshly prepared breakfast is served according to your specifications, recorded the day before. Niall is prompt and flexible on setting your meal before you with your satisfaction foremost. I cannot stress more strongly how helpful Niall has been on advising me about Islay, setting up tours, getting restaurant reservations or advice on Glasgow accommodations. Top notch!

Islay Airport is very small and only serves one airline so far, which is Loganair. Getting to and…read moreback from this airport was very easy and very simple, where we had our own driver transport us to and back. Here, you board and leave the plane through a ramp, as the airport does not have an actual terminal or gate. Once you arrive inside the airport, the baggage claim and the pick up/drop off lot are right there in front of you. Getting our luggage and leaving the hotel was very quick, as our plane was small and there weren't a whole lot of passengers on board. Unlike other airports, after you check your bags in when you leave, you wait in a little area before going through security until you're advised to do so. One of my bags that I checked ended up being selected for a random search before it was loaded onto the plane. Our flight was delayed a bit because it was late coming in, but otherwise, no other issues with the airport that we had. This is an airport that we'll definitely be landing at again on our next visit to Islay, obviously it's the only one on the island.

The people at Logan Air are rude and condescending. They have nothing on the ridiculous security…read morepersonnel. For a well staffed tiny airport it takes them 40 minutes to load one 30 person plane. We were with a group of 9 and 6 people had their carryons completely emptied out and split into several trays. Three people were called back to have their checked luggage searched. This is the same group has been through four other airports on this trip with out one bag recheck. Once you get through security and wait in the boarding room the conversations from all of the passengers is about the unpleasant I have been through this airport six times over the past five years and it has maintained its high level of inconvenience and unpleasantness. It is a very unpleasant last memory of such a beautiful island. UPDATED August 2022 Just leaving Islay on Logan Air. Just spent 90 minutes to get ready for 25 minute flight. The gate people for Logan Air were mildly rude. The fun starts when you go into security. There are 6 security agents for an airport that has two flights a day that are 25 passengers each. The send every carry on bag through the x-ray and the hand check each bag. Every person is given a pat down even though you go through metal detector It continues to be the most over the top airport security I have ever been through. The couple sitting across from me on the plane said they found it so strange and said "let's not come here again". It is unfortunate that such a lovely Island sends air travelers off with such a unpleasant final experience.

Love, love, loved our stay at the Marchrie! Hands down our favorite hotel and restaurant of all the…read moreplaces we've stayed at in Scotland. The room was comfortable and well appointed. The staff went above and beyond to make sure we were all happy with our time and our stay. Happy to give tours and show you around. Impeccable service. The restaurant stood out as well. We had several dishes during our stay and every one of them were 5 star. Largest, freshest oysters Ove ever had. Phenomenal lobster. Perfect risotto. Melt in your mouth salmon. Everything exceptional. Dreaming of the day I can return and enjoy the golf, food, and spa.

My parents and I stayed at the Machrie Hotel from 5/28/24 to 5/31/24 on the third leg of our…read moreEuropean trip. Included with the hotel is a restaurant with some seriously amazing food and coffee (where we've eaten several times) and a golf course, though we don't play golf. A very old school hotel, and the only non-Marriott brand hotel that we stayed at during our two-week long European trip, we were in lodge 3 in rooms 45 and 46. The lodge is basically like a very small apartment with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living space, and a kitchen, where the golf course is in your backyard. Pros: +Comfortable bed +Fast Wi-Fi +Amazing views of the beach and golf course +Short distance from the airport +Coffee machine, amenities such as milk and sugar included +Excellent on-site restaurant +Best shower pressure I've ever had at a hotel +Cozy robe and slippers provided +Nice little kitchen +So much cattle all around Cons: -No microwave -My TV didn't work. Not a big deal overall, since there was a working one in the living space and I didn't come all the way to Scotland just to watch TV anyway -My room looked like it sustained visible water damage in the past and was painted over poorly Food choices at the restaurant included risotto, scallops, lobster mac and cheese, and Texas style pork belly. Drink choices were mostly mochas and cappuccinos. We had a really great stay here and we hope to stay here again next time we visit Islay!

We stopped in for dinner on a Saturday, having had to make a reservation the night before after we…read moretried to eat then. We saw they had some vegan options, so we tried them out. We wanted to try their mushroom & walnut pâté but it was sold out when we went. So we each just ordered their vegan burger (£12.95). The burger patty is made of falafel and is pretty nicely done. The buns are standard. I liked the addition of sundried tomatoes underneath the burger. The accompanying salad and chips were fine as well. The chips are served with a rather bland vegan paprika mayo. Service is fine, friendly enough, and quick. The place itself has a beautiful view of the water. All in all, mediocre bar food but a pleasant spot and the vegan options are welcomed in a place where not many are available.

I can't vouch for the rooms here but man do they serve some great food and drinks! On my recent…read moretrip to the beautiful Island of Islay, the owner of the B&B we stayed at suggested having a meal here. This was some very good advice it turned out. I had a lunch and a couple of dinners in the dining room. This dining room, by the way, has a fantastic view for you to enjoy while you sit back and relax over your meal. The service was fantastic. It was just attentive enough without being intrusive and it was quick. Ah but how's the food you ask? Well, let me tell you. The food was delicious. I had steak and ale pie, fish & chips and salmon here and every meal was delicious. They also have a bar here which is (not surprisingly) very well stocked with whiskys. With this, you'll also have a few of the local Islay Ales on tap (cask conditioned) as well as some of the bigger beer names you'd expect to see in Scotland. Regardless of whether or not you stay here, you should definitely treat yourself and have a meal. I don't think you'll regret it!

Stayed here one night since we could get into the place we were planning to stay when we added…read moreanother night. Room was a bit tiny and cluttered. With one window it got a bit stuffy and warm. The folks were very nice and the breakfast was delicious. That would be a 4 but overall a 3.

Of all our stays in Scotland, this one is near the top of my list…read more We booked a Gold Room for two nights and my goodness, it was a delightful accommodation. The room was spacious, the bed comfortable, and sweet touches all around to give a sense of home. The coffee machine was excellent and there was a atray of goodies on the desk, sweetners, cookies, teas, cups, milk packets and probably more that I can't think of. We felt quite spoiled. Our view was lovely as well. And our bathroom had wonderful space, and a nice shower with good pressure. We visited the bar several times, and always got very good service and good pours. The restaurant was very good as well. We had dinner twice and breakfast twice. All of our meals were delightful. One of my favorite dishes was the mushroom toast, I had it both nights with no regrets. If you are in Islay, this hotel has everything you need for a great visit!