Argyll House

About this property

Argyll House has been described as “probably the best party house in Scotland.” The dining hall seats 28 in style and comfort, and the rest of the house lends itself ideally to big groups for family celebrations, anniversaries, corporate bonding sessions, or anything else. Argyll House has been thoroughly equipped and nicely furnished throughout, so relax and enjoy the party.

Visit Scotland have made 8 visits to this highly celebrated property, and have ranked it right at the very top of their 4 star ranking for excellence every single time.

Argyll House is as extravagant as a boutique hotel, but at a fraction of the cost and without any of the formality of a hotel. There is also the option of being completely self catering if that suits you, or fully catered if you really want to kick back during your stay. It does not have the grandeur or intimidating historic atmosphere of a castle or a stately home proper, but that makes it a very comfortable place to be at home in, even with nearly 30 people.

A river runs through the grounds just 100 yards behind the main house, and shared facilities include a tennis court (although this can be privatised for certain hours in the day).

With the two other renovations now complete, there is space for an even bigger party. The nearby Mill sleeps 20 with a fabulous open plan living area of nearly 1,000 square feet. And The old barn which is also located nearby sleeps 16 in style and comfort. All can be hired together for groups of up to 60. All properties are entirely independent of each other so you maintain privacy.

* Please note that Argyll House can accommodate up to a maximum of 22 adults + 14 children.

Although just an hour and a half from Glasgow, the house sits in some of the loveliest scenery in Scotland. The Kyles of Bute are renowned with both walkers and sailors as among the most stunning bits of coast in Scotland. Whatever the weather in Argyll, usually remarkably mild, this is great country for site seeing, with every corner revealing a new variation on the theme of mountain, loch, valley, sky, woodland, sea, rock, and beach. The Cowal peninsula is a fabulous base for an active holiday with marvellous wildlife, numerous gardens, other tourist attractions to visit, and a variety of sporting activities.

The house has grounds of 23 acres, and sits about a mile above the head of Loch Riddon, enjoying complete privacy and lovely views down the glen to the river Ruel. The Island of Bute itself is as little as 15 minutes away from the house – accessed via a ferry from Colintraive – and was a “must visit” destination long before Stella McCartney got married there or former racing driver Johnnie Dumfries moved into Mount Stuart House as the new Marquess of Bute.

Inverary with its famous Jail and Castle, seat of Clan Campbell for the last few hundred years, is only 45 minutes away, as is Loch Lomond. Dunoon is another tourist destination in its own right, and it is just under half an hour away. You can get to Glen Coe in an hour and a half; to Stirling, Oban or Fort William in under two. Loch Ness and Edinburgh are easy enough day trips – reachable in less than 2 and a half hours.

As well as general site-seeing and trips to the Island of Bute, Inverary and further afield, there are a host of other activities you can undertake around Glenaruel. It’s fabulous walking country and you will be provided with twelve mountain bikes for those who want to explore on two wheels rather than four. There are some really excellent routes direct from the house, involving all sorts of terrain and levels of strain!

There’s a lovely 9 hole pay and play course ten minutes away above Tighnabruaich. There are five bags of golf clubs for the house and they probably won’t be too fussed about the usual rules regarding golf shoes provided you don’t arrive in jeans and carve the course up. The same applies to the almost equally spectacular nine hole course at Blairmore & Strone, half an hour away. Cowal Golf Club at Dunoon and Inellan are the 18 hole courses in the area that welcome visitors.

For fishing, there are too many options to go into here, but you can spend anything from £9 per day to over £1,000 for river fishing in the area. You can fish for trout in the nearby stream for nothing or in the Lochen at the head of the river. Mackerel on a line in a boat on the Kyles is a right of passage for hundreds of West of Scotland kids every year. They swim in shoals all around these waters and there’s no permit payable.

It’s a fabulous part of the world for water-sports of all sorts. Horse-riding, climbing, canoeing, caving, archery, quad biking, paint-balling, and clay pigeon shooting are also all available either on site or in the area. 

There is a wee shop selling all the basics at the camp-site in the Glendaruel valley, about a mile’s walk away, beside the historic Kilmodan standing stones. You get a slightly bigger choice in the Spar at Tighnabruich five miles away. Dunoon is 16 miles away and is a thriving market / harbour town with award-winning bakeries, cafes and butchers, as well as a big Co-Op and a big Somerfield supermarket.

Scotland is not really well served by pubs in general; this area is definitely an exception. The Glendaruel Hotel is a lovely wee pub, a two mile drive away, and serves good pub grub. The Colintraive Hotel and Tighnabruich Hotel are each a tad busier and a tad more ambitious in terms of menu. Chatters in Dunoon is highly recommended, and the Whistlefield and Coylet Inns on Loch Eck are also worth a visit. Less than half an hour away from the house is a wonderful restaurant on Loch Fyne, overlooking the old Castle Lachlan. The Benmore Gardens tea room is not half bad, either, and the Otterferry Inn and Loch Fyne Oyster Bar have good reputations (on which, it might be said, they trade slightly). All in all, though, there are few areas of Scotland where you can enjoy such a variety of excellent, reasonably priced menus.

Accommodation

* Please note that Argyll House can accommodate up to 22 adults + 14 children

House Interiors

Ground Floor
- Cloakroom
- Drawing room with open fire
- TV room/snug with Sky TV, DVD player
- Well-equipped kitchen with AGA, separate electric hob and oven, dishwasher, microwave, coffee machine, food processor, American-style fridge freezer with ice maker and breakfast bar for 10 guests
- Utility room
- Breakfast room seating 16 guests and with doors leading onto the terrace and hot tub seating 7 guests
- Boot room
- 2 x WCs
- Store
- Dining hall seating 24 guests with wood-burning stove
- Playroom with Sky TV, games, books and the world’s largest dolls house
- Billiard room with billiard table, CD player, table football, electric air hockey, card table, casino set and darts

First Floor
- Bedroom 1/Uist:  large twin/superking, with sink
- Bedroom 2/Taransay: twin/superking with sink
- Bedroom 3/Islay: twin/superking with en suite shower, WC and sink
- Bedroom 4/Mull: large twin/super king with en suite shower, WC, sink
- Bedroom 5/Lismore: small double with sink (lockable interconnecting door to)
- Bedroom 6/Harris: large twin/superking with spare single bed; en suite shower, WC, sink (lockable interconnecting door to)
- Bedroom 7/Eriska: large twin/superking with sink
- Bedroom 11/Jura: ensuite king-size, with small bathroom featuring a bath with shower; door leading across corridor and stairs to
- Bedroom 12/Iona: big family room with two single adult beds that can be linked to form a superking; plus two bunk beds and two further single kids beds
- Bedroom 13/Barra: a bunk room with two pairs of children’s bunks
- Bathroom
- Bath/shower room
- Shower room
- Sauna for 10 guests

All rooms (including those that interconnect) have their own independent entrances from the corridor

Bedrooms Jura and Iona and Barra are accessed via a door next to the sauna room; Iona and Jura can also both be accessed via a separate back staircase from the downstairs rear hall

Second Floor
- Bedroom 8/Lewis: triple room with sink
- Bedroom 9/Gigha: small double with sink, accessible from the corridor, lockable interconnecting door to
- Bedroom 10/Bute: King-size or twin room (with a third bed) with sink
- Bathroom with double end Jacuzzi bath and electric shower

Outside Grounds
- 20 acres of woodland
- Terrace with Grade A listed sundial
- Tributary of the river Ruel
- Sunken trampoline
- Croquet set
- Football goal
- Shared tennis court

Additional Facilities 
- Wi-Fi
- 6 x sets of golf clubs
- Bikes
- Table tennis