Port Charlotte Hotel

I visited the Port Charlotte Hotel on Saturday 12 September in a large group of friends from Campbeltown and Lochgilphead. A local recommended you to us and we had a fantastic meal in a great setting. The service was exceptional - the couple from Kerela were lovely and attentive, the guys behind the bar teased us with a twinkle in their eye and the owner who happened to be sitting beside us put up with our complete nonsense with such good humour. Thank you for a great night and we look forward to coming again.

We went to the restaurant for dinner tonight, we had to book the table at the reception to ask if something was available. The lady there was exasperated at every question i asked, she sighed at every answer she made to me. I gave up wanting a table, it was such a bad experience, I never met such a rude person in Scotland, it is so unusual in Islay!!!

The hotel is in a lovely location, right on a wee beach, and has a warm, friendly atmosphere. The staff were particularly welcoming and helpful. The building itself is old and does have some maintenance issues. There is no lift, and there are several fire doors annd steps. Our rooms were quite small for the amount of furniture in them, although they were nicely styled. The bathroom had been modernised, but the shower was over the bath with no hand shower attachment, and the screen leaked quite badly. The pub downstairs was very busy and had a lively atmosphere. Food was served until 2 pm and then again in the evening. The restaurant menu was excellent, and the food and wine were both very good. Breakfast was also very good: a huge full Scottish breakfast, although the choice of fresh fruit was rather limited — there were tinned peaches. The towels were great and I appreciated the extra ones for drying your hair. Overall, the best thing about the hotel was the attitude of the staff and the quality of the food. However, given the condition and size of the rooms and some of the facilities, I felt the hotel was rather expensive for what it offered.