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Hotel review: Craigard House Hotel, Campbeltown

25/9/2024

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The bay window in the restaurant at Craigard Hotel. It looks over a loch with a hillside on the opposite shore. The tables are laid with white tablecloths and a small vase with flowers
The bay window in the restaurant at Craigard House Hotel
I fell in love with this hotel when I sat down for breakfast. The view from the enormous bay window over Campbeltown loch is stunning. It evoked memories of a trip to Lake Como in Italy. The calm, sparkling blue water and green hills framed between two trees. The Italianate architecture of Craigard House also helps with the illusion. William McKersie, a distillery owner, built this house in 1882 and he clearly had great taste in architecture.
Craigard Hotel. It is a Victorian, stone vila with a tower
Craigard Hotel

A unique experience

Staying here gives a unique opportunity to glimpse a moment in time when Campbeltown's distillery owners made their fortune and commissioned the finest architects to build their villas. That's because Craigard still feels more like a home than a hotel. Enjoying a single malt in the lounge feels like being invited around to your neighbour's house for a drink. The building is also beautifully preserved with many original features like stained glass, and cornicing.
A stained glass window in Craigard House. It features a heron with a fish in its beakPicture
A stained glass window in Craigard House
A stained glass window in Craigard House. It has a fireplace and recessed book shelves.e Hotel.
The lounge in Craigard House

Rooms

The hotel has 13 rooms, decorated to a classic, traditional style. This includes a magnificent suite with a four poster bed and bay window overlooking the loch. The other types of rooms include doubles and twins, some with sea views, some without. I stayed in the single room which is small, but cosy and comfortable.

There are excellent pictures of all the rooms on the Craigard Hotel website.
The single room at Craigard Hotel. It has a single bed and a desk.
The single room at Craigard House Hotel
It's a 3-star hotel and I thought very good value. To experience such a beautiful and unique building, with loch views, is usually something you expect to pay a lot more for.
Craigard House Hotel. The lights are on in the room with the large bay window
Craigard Hotel

Eating and drinking

Campbeltown is one of Scotland's 5 whisky regions. It was known as the 'whisky capital of the world' with around 34 distilleries in its heyday. Unsurprisingly, Craigard House has an excellent selection of single malts to try.

I did not eat in the restaurant, but the menu features seafood, lamb and beef from local suppliers. Breakfast is included in the room price and you get to enjoy it with the loch view from the bay window. I had porridge, then a delicious poached haddock with poached eggs. 
Cornice detail and painted plaster in Craigard House Hotel
Stunning cornice and painted plaster in Craigard House Hotel

Why you should stay here

My experience of historic, Victorian-era hotels in Scotland is that they can be ridiculously expensive, or disappointing and somewhat rundown. Craigard House Hotel is none of these. It has the appearance of a luxury villa, but it is homely and relaxed. The architectural features have been beautifully preserved, and this allows you to experience what a wealthy whisky distiller got to experience. However, you are not having to pay 5-star prices for it. Even if your room does not have a view of Campbeltown loch everyone in the hotel gets to enjoy it from the breakfast room.
View of Campbeltown Loch from Craigard House Hotel
View of Campbeltown Loch from Craigard House Hotel
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