Heaven in a Watery Argyll Haven

Seonag MacKinnon Finds herself carried away (peacefully)

In my head British Hotels were in last-chance saloon. It had some thing to do with one too many past experiences of hotels where despite significant tariffs; both food and décor were bland and regimented. To my mind some owners just didn't seem to have twigged that as more and more people have started holidaying abroad, are eating out and drinking in new wave coffee bars, or at home consuming food hall fare and cook books, hotels have to raise their game.

So much for the hard-nosed consumer. Within two hours with low-expectations at an Argyllshire hotel, a jaundiced sceptical attitude was in shameless retreat.
The French keep a "little black book" of les bonnes addresses of the better shops, restaurants and hotels they have discovered and jealously guard.

Having come across a gem it is now in my professional obligation to tell you about it. Worse, I have to be honest and so uncool as to make predominately positive comments. It shouldn't happen to a writer.

This hotel's charm lies in the reasons it has acquired a nickname as "Never Never Land". It is timeless, isolated, deeply peacefully rejuvenating. To reach it, the traveller negotiates a winding seven-mile road and a private lush leafy drive, which eventually opens out to reveal a 300-year old white building just yards from Loch Awe.

A walk around Taychreggan reveals relaxed gardens, a cobbled courtyard and jetty for which was once a drover's inn and one resting place for Boswell and Johnson. Inside there are stone fireplaces, log fires, grandfather clocks, deep armchairs and newspapers which lie pristine and unread as visitors' interest in the outside world recedes.

Bedrooms vary in grandeur and price but some boast loch views, mahogany antiques, four-poster double beds, decanters of sherry and towelling bath robes you could lose yourself in. This level of luxury certainly helps you unwind after a day of outdoor activity, whether castle hunting, fishing, shooting, riding, walking or climbing a Munro. As fellow-guest Deborah Coleman told me: "I feel as though I've been filleted. I've no bones."

The hotel's list of awards from organisations ranging from Les Routiers and Michelin to the AA and the Scottish Tourist Board, fills an A4 page.

A contributory factor in these awards has to be the attention to detail. The raspberry jam and even the muesli is home-made, the smoked salmon accompanying the scrambled egg is thick and flavoursome, the toiletries in the bathroom of good quality.

Arguably the greatest asset of the hotel is the atmosphere. The staff appears to know their business but maintain a relaxed understated manner which sets guests at ease. Nature is the other major player. For example, standing on the lawn at 1am in the summer, you will see no true darkness and the silence will be deafening.

Taychreggan Hotel
Tel: 01866 833 211
www.taychregganhotel.co.uk