This charming Victorian pub-style property is set right on the water’s edge. The hotel’s staff place great emphasis on speaking Scots Gaelic, welcoming guests in the language, and the public bar encourages locals to come and chat in Scots Gaelic. Local fishermen regularly come straight from their day’s work to have a drink at the bar, giving it a wonderfully friendly atmosphere.
Rooms are styled fairly traditionally, with plain walls and carpets, dark wood furniture and flowery bedspreads and cushions. None of the rooms have a TV, and music isn’t played in the bar. The dining here is wonderful, offering seasonal, locally sourced ingredients for either an à la carte menu or, once a week, a five-course tasting menu.
We love this hotel because it’s a wonderfully characterful property, run by an enthusiastically Scots Gaelic-speaking husband and wife team.
who's been there
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Photos of Eilean Iarmain
Rooms
Rooms all feature antique furniture, slightly old-fashioned decor in keeping with the hotel’s Victorian history, and a complimentary bottle of whisky. The different room categories vary by size and view, with superior rooms looking out to sea. The suites each have two floors and are located in a separate building in front of the main hotel. Many of the rooms have interesting features and layouts, for example wood-lined walls, exposed beams and hidden nooks and cubbyholes.
Location
Located on the shore of Loch Hourn, Eilean Iarmain overlooks the water toward southeast Skye, the Isle of Ornsay, and the remote and untouched Knoydart Peninsula on the mainland. The hotel is around a 15-minute drive from the ferry at Armadale, and 50 minutes’ drive from Portree. Surrounded on all sides by either mountains or water, Eilean Iarmain is a true rural getaway.
Food and drink
Breakfast is served in a light, front-facing room, while dinner is served in the restaurant. This is a choice of either à la carte or a five-course tasting menu, both of which use fresh, seasonal, local produce. There’s also a traditional, welcoming public bar which is popular with the locals and hosts a folk club featuring Scottish music every Thursday.
Facilities and activities
Adjoining the hotel is a tiny gallery exhibiting local artists’ work, and a small crafts and whisky shop. The hotel also owns its own gin still, and offers private foraging tours for guests to collect plants and herbs to create their own gin. Eilean Iarmain can also arrange activities from the hotel, such as wildlife walks, wildlife photography workshops and Argocat safaris: a tour of the local countryside driving your own all-terrain, off-road vehicle.
Accessibility
Please note, there’s no lift in the property and many of the doorways are narrow, with low ceilings.
Tour ideas in Isle of Skye
Our itineraries are there to spark ideas for how you could include a stay at Eilean Iarmain as part of your trip. Treat them simply as suggestions, because every aspect of the trip we create for you will be yours to define.
Alternative places to stay nearby
Where possible, we like to offer a range of accommodation for each stop of your trip, chosen by our specialists as some of their favorite places to stay. To help you make the right choice, we give each property a rating based on its facilities and service, but we also look for hotels with distinct character or a location that can't be bettered.
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Duisdale House Hotel
Isle of Skye -
Skeabost Hotel
Isle of Skye
Experiences while staying here
The following activities are designed to give you the most authentic experiences of the area where you're staying. We work with local guides, who use their knowledge and often a resident's eye to show you the main sights and more out-of-the-way attractions. Our specialists can also suggest outdoor pursuits and activities, such as cooking classes, that will introduce you to the traditions of the area's inhabitants.
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Dunvegan Castle after-hours tour Dunvegan Castle after-hours tour
Dunvegan Castle after-hours tour
Enjoy exclusive access to lakeside Dunvegan Castle, the oldest continually inhabited castle in Scotland. This guided tour takes in a short cruise to see the impressive structure from the water as well as a private meeting with the estate manager.
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Fly-fishing with a local ghillie Fly-fishing with a local ghillie
Fly-fishing with a local ghillie
Try your hand at fly-fishing in the renowned River Snizort on the Isle of Skye. A local ghillie (hunting and fishing guide) will help you perfect your casting technique and bag a catch of Atlantic salmon.
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Northern Skye explorer Northern Skye explorer
Northern Skye explorer
Explore the wilds of northern Skye on this flexible full-day tour that takes you to the most dramatic of the island's landscapes. You'll see towering rock pinnacles, powerful waterfalls and windswept beaches alongside verdant hillsides and fast-flowing rivers.
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Isle of Skye and nearby places
- Fort William 56 kilometers away
- Glencoe 67 kilometers away
- Loch Ness 84 kilometers away
- Inverness 102 kilometers away
- Oban 84 kilometers away
- Loch Awe 101 kilometers away
- Isle of Jura 119 kilometers away
- The Highlands 122 kilometers away
- The Cairngorms 136 kilometers away
- Speyside 160 kilometers away