Review of Isle of Eriska Hotel, Spa & Island, by Martin Li

Isle of Eriska boutique hotel is situated on a 300-acre private island, guarding the mouth of the glacier-formed Loch Creran. The grand approach involves crossing a causeway over the Atlantic Ocean. The outside of the boutique hotel is a stern grey but the inside is warmly welcoming.

The facilities

The boutique hotel offers aromatherapy and reflexology for the intensely stressed out. There's also extensive reading material for those who just want to curl up in front of a fire. For the active, there is a modern sports complex in an outlying building which offers a swimming pool, gym, spa, sauna and steam room. Light meals are available at the Isle of Eriska Hotel here so that you can "eat out". Tennis, clay pigeon shooting and a nine-hole golf course are also available on the island. Morning coffee and afternoon tea in the Hall are civilised touches evoking more a country house party than a hotel.

To fully appreciate the secluded charm of Eriska boutique hotel, borrow a pair of boots from the communal Wellie Rack and walk one of the well-graded nature trails. Particularly rewarding is the trail through the woods to the isolated beaches of the wild eastern side. You might encounter all manner of wildlife including seals, otters, deer and sea birds.

Dinner at the boutique hotel's restaurant is a sumptuous affair and, rather incongruously for a hotel which doesn't feel like a hotel, there is round-the-clock room service. One of Eriska's unforgettable attractions takes place nightly after dinner when badgers from a nearby set come to be fed on the steps of the bar. These wild badgers are believed to be the third or fourth generation of diners at the house and feed happily oblivious of the spellbound guests only feet away.

The Buchanan-Smiths, the owners of the boutique hotel, are charming hosts. Beppo, the youthful General Manager, and his father "Mr B", who originally bought the island, mingle easily amongst their guests. Another unforgettable sight is Mr B rushing around the house to say his goodbyes to departing guests. With hospitality like that, it's not surprising that people and badgers return to this enchanting hideaway again and again.

The rooms

The boutique hotel has 17 rooms named after nearby Hebridean islands and decked out with log fires, wood-panelling, deep sofas and large, comfortable beds. For maximum tranquillity, ask for Glensanda, a particularly quiet room high in the house which boasts a private turret.