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Isle of Islay

Port Charlotte Hotel

A small hotel by the beach in Port Charlotte, with sea-view rooms, seafood platters and live music in summer.

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Welcome

The Port Charlotte Hotel is a small, privately owned hotel in a nineteenth-century building on Main Street in Port Charlotte, a conservation village on the shore of Loch Indaal, with the beach just below.

It is open all year to residents and visitors alike, and nine of its ten bedrooms look out to sea.

The bar is the heart of it: panelled and hung with pictures and instruments, with a fire lit and a long run of whiskies and gins from Islay and Jura behind the counter. Live traditional music sessions fill it on Wednesday and Sunday evenings through the summer, with occasional guest bands. Seafood platters are the house speciality, and the restaurant and bar both cook with the island's produce, with bar meals at lunch, noon to 2pm, and in the evening, 6pm to 9pm. The lounge has deep sofas, a piano and a stove. Book rooms well ahead in summer on 01496 850360.

A short drive awayAn Tigh SeinnseA small, traditional pub by the harbour in Portnahaven, known for its local seafood.12 min by roadSee itThe whitewashed front of An Tigh Seinnse in Portnahaven, its windows and door picked out in red.
Before you go

Open all year to residents and non-residents.

Bar meals at lunch, noon to 2pm, and in the evening, 6pm to 9pm. Book rooms on 01496 850360 or info@portcharlottehotel.co.uk.

Getting there
CalMac ferry from Kennacraig to Port Ellen or Port Askaig, or fly from Glasgow to Islay Airport.
Meals
Noon to 2pm; 6pm to 9pm.
Music
Wed and Sun evenings, summer.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
7am–11.30pm
Tuesday
7am–11.30pm
Wednesday
7am–11.30pm
Thursday
7am–11.30pm
Friday
7am–11.30pm
Saturday
7am–11.30pm
Sunday
7am–11.30pm
Where it is

Main Street, Port Charlotte, Isle of Islay, PA48 7TU.

Close byIn Port Charlotte.
  1. Bruichladdich DistilleryBruichladdich DistilleryA Victorian distillery on Loch Indaal making Bruichladdich, Port Charlotte, Octomore and The Botanist gin.2 miles 4 min by road
  2. The drive up to An Gleann, a white cottage behind its gate and hedges.An Gleann TabletA cottage confectioner near Port Charlotte making tablet by hand, some of it with Islay and Jura malts.4 miles 7 min by road
  3. The white cottages of Portnahaven round the head of the inlet, a small sandy beach below.PortnahavenA fishing village of whitewashed cottages round a sheltered inlet at the tip of the Rhinns, where seals haul out.7 miles 12 min by road
  4. The lighthouse on Orsay small on the skyline, dark rocks and still water in front.Rhinns of Islay LighthouseIslay's oldest lighthouse, a Robert Stevenson tower of 1825 on the island of Orsay off Portnahaven.7 miles 13 min by road
  5. Lossit Bay from above, a crescent of pale sand between rocky headlands, surf rolling in.Lossit BayA remote crescent of golden sand backed by dunes on the wild west coast of the Rhinns of Islay.7 miles 18 min by road
Directions
Bowmore Distillery, Isle of IslayAttractionsBowmore Distillery3.6 miles over the water
The long white building of the Celtic House on the corner, its windows along two streets.ShoppingThe Celtic House3.7 miles over the water
Bowmore, Isle of IslayAttractionsBowmore3.7 miles over the water
The Harbour Inn and its neighbours by the harbour in Bowmore, the loch beyond.RestaurantsHarbour Inn3.7 miles over the water
The whitewashed front of the Bowmore Hotel on Jamieson Street, its name across the gable.RestaurantsBowmore Hotel3.8 miles over the water
Peatzeria's whitewashed building on Shore Street, Bowmore, with its belfry and pointed windows.RestaurantsPeatzeria3.8 miles over the water
The whitewashed front of An Tigh Seinnse in Portnahaven, its windows and door picked out in red.RestaurantsAn Tigh Seinnse7.2 miles
The Kilchoman kiln with its pagoda roof beside the farm road.AttractionsKilchoman Distillery7.8 miles
Surf rolling onto the beach under a wide sky.AttractionsMachir Bay8.3 miles
The Daily for 18 October, from Scotland with love. Golden-hour light catches a shadowed mountain above a loch, rust-coloured moorland in the foreground

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