Scottish Highlands luxury self catering accommodation
| country: | Scotland |
| location: | Ardnamurchan peninsular, Scottish Highlands |
| price: | From £450 (Rose cottage sleeps 2-4), £1100 (Honeysuckle House sleeps 8) or £2200 (Whole house sleeps 12-16) per week. Price depends on season and accommodation type chosen |
 | View availability here |
description
Bill and Sukie have created 5 star luxury self catering holiday accommodation on the Ardnamurchan peninsular, half a mile from the sea on the West Coast of the Highlands of Scotland.
Simple luxury throughout, environmentally aware, all en-suite, good wheelchair access (Category 1) with 2 wet rooms, drying rooms, pet friendly, a hot tub under the stars and plenty of home grown produce from the working croft.
Enjoy home-made food from a simple supper to a 2-5 course dinner by former 'Rural Chef of the Year' or even a casserole in the Aga or oven awaiting your arrival.
Complimentary home-made scones and jam are available on arrival together with Fairtrade tea, coffee, sugar and wine. There is the option of ordering a generous welcome hamper of home-made products including vegetables and fruit grown using organic principles, eggs, home-smoked salmon and cheese, baked ham, cakes, organic bread and preserves.
This year so far we have had House Martins, Wrens, Robins, Swallows, Great, Coal and Blue Tits, Sparrows, Starlings, a Yellow Hammer and a Wagtail, to our knowlede, nesting on the croft. Blackcock regularly flying over and after November's spotting of a Waxwing, we had a male Blackcap in mid December '06 feeding on fat at the bird table and in mid January we now have two with possibly one female and a woodpecker on the nuts. Both cottages have well stocked bird tables outside the patio doors for you to enjoy the visitors.
The peninsular as a whole is a fascinating place to explore with remote sandy beaches and communities, lochs to fish and hills to roam. You will never be far from a view of the sea indeed at Kilhoan there is a ferry to Mull and at the end of it all the Lighthouse – the most Westerly place on the British Mainland.
Should you wish to explore further we are within easy striking distance of Lochaline and the ferry to Mull and Iona, Arisaig and the magical boat trip to the Small Ises of Muck Rhum and Eigg, the ski or summer mountain rides of Nevis Range and Glencoe and a whole lot more.
Cooking: Smoking Courses: Bill will discuss the principals of brining and curing, hot and cold smoking and the pros and cons of different smoker designs. He will demonstrate how to build a simple smokehouse (and get it up and running) and how to prepare food ready for smoking. We anticipate smoking (and eating) most of the following: trout, salmon, mussels, mackerel, whitefish fillets, cheese, bacon and ham, duck, venison, and garlic. Wherever possible participants will be encouraged to get involved in the various processes so that they maximise their practical experience on the course. Lots of practical tips are given that will enable participants to return home from the course and successfully set up their own smoker. Sukie will show simple ways to prepare and serve up plenty of home-smoked foods during the two days.
Please contact us for more information
Simple luxury throughout, environmentally aware, all en-suite, good wheelchair access (Category 1) with 2 wet rooms, drying rooms, pet friendly, a hot tub under the stars and plenty of home grown produce from the working croft.
Enjoy home-made food from a simple supper to a 2-5 course dinner by former 'Rural Chef of the Year' or even a casserole in the Aga or oven awaiting your arrival.
Complimentary home-made scones and jam are available on arrival together with Fairtrade tea, coffee, sugar and wine. There is the option of ordering a generous welcome hamper of home-made products including vegetables and fruit grown using organic principles, eggs, home-smoked salmon and cheese, baked ham, cakes, organic bread and preserves.
special things to do and see here
It is a wildlife enthusiasts paradise with the Ariundle Oakwoods a short walk from the door and the Garbh Eilean Hide just 4 miles. Ordnance Survey maps are available for you to use and on display in the houses. This year so far we have had House Martins, Wrens, Robins, Swallows, Great, Coal and Blue Tits, Sparrows, Starlings, a Yellow Hammer and a Wagtail, to our knowlede, nesting on the croft. Blackcock regularly flying over and after November's spotting of a Waxwing, we had a male Blackcap in mid December '06 feeding on fat at the bird table and in mid January we now have two with possibly one female and a woodpecker on the nuts. Both cottages have well stocked bird tables outside the patio doors for you to enjoy the visitors.
The peninsular as a whole is a fascinating place to explore with remote sandy beaches and communities, lochs to fish and hills to roam. You will never be far from a view of the sea indeed at Kilhoan there is a ferry to Mull and at the end of it all the Lighthouse – the most Westerly place on the British Mainland. Should you wish to explore further we are within easy striking distance of Lochaline and the ferry to Mull and Iona, Arisaig and the magical boat trip to the Small Ises of Muck Rhum and Eigg, the ski or summer mountain rides of Nevis Range and Glencoe and a whole lot more.
Cooking: Smoking Courses: Bill will discuss the principals of brining and curing, hot and cold smoking and the pros and cons of different smoker designs. He will demonstrate how to build a simple smokehouse (and get it up and running) and how to prepare food ready for smoking. We anticipate smoking (and eating) most of the following: trout, salmon, mussels, mackerel, whitefish fillets, cheese, bacon and ham, duck, venison, and garlic. Wherever possible participants will be encouraged to get involved in the various processes so that they maximise their practical experience on the course. Lots of practical tips are given that will enable participants to return home from the course and successfully set up their own smoker. Sukie will show simple ways to prepare and serve up plenty of home-smoked foods during the two days.
Please contact us for more information
rooms, food and facilities
Accommodation is on a working croft with luxury 5 star self catering in Rose cottage for 2 - 4 people and Honeysuckle House for up to 8 people. Or joined by a huge conservatory you have an enormous house to sleep 12 in great comfort, or up to 16-17 with children. Family friendly: We are very child friendly with trampoline, toys, DVD's and animals galore!
Disabled access: We are very wheelchair friendly with wheel-in showers and spacious easy access throughout the downstairs - category 1 (un-assisted wheelchair access). We have an electric hoist, shower/commode chair, loo raiser and bed/chair raisers.
Pet friendly: We welcome dogs with care!
how this holiday makes a difference
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We have achieved a Gold Green Award from VisitScotland and do all we can to offer a memorable holiday with a minimal impact. We plan to reduce our current dependency on non renewable energy by installing a wind turbine and a big log burning boiler. We offer our guest the opportunity to join us in our commitment and to reuse and recycle. We are active board members of Lochaber Environmental Group and the Strontian Community Compost Scheme. The house is very well insulated and achieves considerable solar gain.
We encourage everyone to eat local food (are active in Slow Food and other local food initiatives), can provide much home produce including meat and, in season, veg. and soft fruit grown using organic principles and or recommend other local producers (fantastic flavours, no food miles and minimal packaging).  We employ one local staff member and others locally on a casual basis and use tradesmen from our own village as far as possible. We encourage guests to visit all the local restaurants and craft shops and to enjoy local produce as well as our own and we encourage using public transport whenever feasible.We try to manage the croft in a way that uses the land productively while protecting and creating habitat diversity and hence a species rich flora and fauna. The croft is dotted with nest boxes and bird feeders and the Spring bluebells give way to amazing numbers of orchids in Summer. We use Ecover throughout and re-cycled charity loo paper, re-cycled Fair-trade tissues, degradable bin liners and Fair-trade tea, coffee and sugar for our guests. Bill goes into schools to grow vegetables and helps run the Youth Club, Sukie teaches cookery in schools is a member of the local Volunteers Group and does the Community Car Scheme (and both, the village Composting site). We are members of the National Trust, the Woodland Trust, the R.S.P.B. the R.N. L.I. and support Traidcraft, Wateraid and Compassion. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |