19 Best Hotels in Argyll and the Isles, Scotland

With outstanding indoor and outdoor leisure facilities (including two pools and a spa), well-designed modern rooms, and three restaurants and bars, Auchrannie is by far the best place to stay on Arran. Luxury perks include Arran Aromatics toiletries in bathrooms. Lodges are ideal for families or groups of friends. There are also motor home and camper van pitches.

The George has been Inveraray's social hub since the 18th century, when it was a coaching inn, and it still exudes history. The antiques and oil paintings in public areas and in the varied and individually decorated rooms take you back to Inveraray's golden age. Nevertheless, modern perks---including whirlpool tubs in some rooms---bring the hotel very much into the 21st century.

On one of Scotland's few private islands, this sybaritic enclave conceals luxury facilities like a spa, pool, gym, golf course, and a Michelin-starred restaurant behind a severe baronial facade. Seals swim offshore, herons and otters patrol the tide line, and badgers prowl the tranquil, wooded grounds. Views are breathtaking. Choice of accommodation includes two lodges with kitchens and hot-tub decks.

On the coast near Oban, this 1780 stone house—once the home of the Duke of Argyll—has sea views and a convenient location. Public areas are furnished with antiques, and bedrooms are filled with lovely reproductions. The restaurant serves a five-course prix-fixe dinner of Scottish and French dishes—including local seafood and game in season—complemented by a carefully selected wine list.

A stylish bar (for the best drinks in Oban) and a highly rated restaurant complement the cozy, stylish, and well-appointed rooms within this charming mock-baronial building by Oban's harbor. The train station and ferry terminal are a few steps away. In the rooms, expect perks like Nespresso coffee makers, Bluetooth speakers, rain showers, and fluffy robes.

Once a row of fishermen's cottages and with views over a sandy beach, this whitewashed Victorian hotel has been lovingly restored. The walls are decorated with the owners' interesting contemporary art collection. The rooms are comfortable, and most have a view of Loch Indaal. Local fare makes up the daily-changing menu at the hotel's elegant restaurant. The lively bar also has an excellent menu and regularly hosts local musicians.

Peace and quiet are the big selling points of this lovely country-house hotel beside Loch Awe. Once a drovers' inn, the whitewashed building is surrounded by lawns and wooded gardens. Inside are stone walls, flagstone floors, cozy rooms decorated in soft russet tones, and a very good restaurant. Activities include fly-fishing and kayaking on the loch, and mountain bikes can be provided.

Here large, brightly lit rooms (most with views of the nearby loch) are decorated in soft, neutral shades and furnished with very comfortable beds and more than adequate storage. Bathrooms have big walk-in showers and upscale complimentary toiletries. Wall-mounted TVs and tea and coffee-making facilities complete the in-room offerings, and the hotel has a decent bar.

This luxurious small hotel (once a travelers' inn) has rooms with superb views. Elegant public rooms exude a sense of quiet grandeur. The hotel will organize fishing, walking, sailing, and other outdoor activities. The restaurant's exquisite tasting menu uses local produce, seafood, and game.

A dramatic location overlooking the Sound of Jura is this hotel's big selling point, along with bright, maritime-themed public areas and guest rooms. Two excellent restaurants, a less formal seafood bar, and a quirky antiques-filled pub favored by locals and visiting yacht-owners (mainly because it's the only watering hole for some 20 miles around) add to the mix.

At this typical seafront guesthouse in a Victorian building with fine views over Oban Bay, most rooms are spacious and comfortable, if slightly overdecorated in traditional style. No meals are served, but all rooms have basic self-catering facilities.

Jura's only hotel, next to the island's renowned distillery, has simple but cozy no-frills rooms, and its pleasant gardens are attractive on a summer day. The bar and its outside seating area is the island's social hub and a great place to meet locals; the restaurant serves hearty meals featuring local venison and seafood.

Just a few minutes from the town center, this Victorian-era stone house offers comfortable rooms, all individually furnished with modern wooden furnishings and some well-chosen antiques, all without being overly fussy. Some rooms overlook the sea and the island of Kerrera.

This luxurious bed-and-breakfast is on a 300-acre farm, but the rooms are so elegantly furnished that the place feels more like a hotel. The owner welcomes guests with coffee and cakes, and breakfast in the farmhouse kitchen is tasty and substantial. Just outside the village of Ballygrant, Kilmeny is also convenient to the ferry terminal at Port Askaig.

Arran's oldest inn is an 18th-century lodge with fireplaces in the common rooms and 11 acres of gardens and grounds that meander down to the river. Rooms are quiet and bright, and the restaurant offers elegantly presented home cooking.

As befits a religious retreat, rooms in this 1846 minister's home are plain to the point of being spartan, but those in the front make up for it with glorious views across the Sound of Iona to Mull. It has eco-friendly leanings, so (at least in summer) your hot water comes from the rooftop solar panels.

Probably the best value accommodation option on the peninsula, this small guesthouse offers cozy, bright rooms with pine beds and whitewashed walls with some exposed stonework. Their single occupancy rates are a bonus for solo travelers. No meals are served, but tea and coffee-making facilities are in a shared lounge, and there are lots of places to eat and drink literally on its doorstep.

Made up of five former fishermen's cottages, this lodging on Tobermory's waterfront has a warm, intimate feel. Some rooms have a view of the bay, and several have nice touches like a four-poster bed, but all are modest in size and have minimal furniture. The Water's Edge restaurant uses local produce in its three-course meals.

This grand hotel from the Victorian era looks down on Tobermory from its idyllic location overlooking the Sound of Mull. Recent renovations have improved its looks and freshened its rooms. Expansive views from its huge windows and its large high-ceiling rooms make it an attractive place to stay. Bedrooms are comfortable and roomy: the inland-view rooms at the back of the hotel are smaller; the larger and more expensive ones have sea views. The hotel has a lovely terrace and a large conservatory where evening meals are served.