Marys House, KILCHOAN

Rated 5/50 by Loraine M on 16th June 2020

Rated 5/50 by Trail24843344550 on 23rd November 2019

"The views from the cottage are to die for.Having a bit of height above beach lends to the wonderful panoramic views of all the islands around Ardnamurchin penninsular.The weather for middle November was very mild but the lovely wood burner in the cottage added to our comfortable stay.The long journey on one track roads was Definately worth it .The cottage had everything we needed and the fenced in garden meant out dog was safe and happy,.Loved the extra touches like the bird feeder where we saw so many different birds.Lot of places closed in winter but still plenty to see and do including a trip to Mull."

Rated 5/50 by Mandaw641 on 20th November 2017

"Mary's cottage is just perfect. Really cosy and the fire laid for us too! Nicely decorated and furnished with a well equipped kitchen. The bed was super comfy. Handy 'boot' room through the back door. The binoculars were much appreciated as they were better than ours. Fabulous views over Muck Eigg and Rum. We saw sea eagles, seals and cormorants. The beach below was beautiful. The fenced area was great for the dogs as it made it safe to let them out in the dark of November. Yes, coming to Ardnamurchan takes planning but the remoteness is part of it's charm. Maybe not ideal to bring a sports car though! Thank you Mary's."

Rated 5/50 by Amanda M on 3rd September 2016

"Our third stay in Portuairk but our first at Mary's House - and it won't be our last! We stayed in August 2016 with our 7yr old son and 2 dogs. The location and views are just stunning, a real piece of paradise. The cottage is in excellent condition, immaculately clean and very well equipped with everything you could possibly need. Beautifully decorated, comfortable beds, modern bathroom and kitchen. We loved the enclosed garden so the dogs could have a bit of freedom. Will 100% be visiting again, I think we are in love..."

Rated 5/50 by Ahodgen123 on 19th August 2016

"Stayed in Mary's cottage in August 2016. This has to be one of the best cottages we have ever stayed in, it looks to have been recently refurbished and what a great job they have done. The location of the cottage is second to none and the views are just fantastic, we struck lucky with a great week of sunny weather which helped but as the cottage was so cosy it would not have mattered that much if it had not been. Dog friendly as well and our 2 loved the walks and the beach. Would deffinetley return"

Rated 4/50 by Laura P on 20th June 2015

"We've recently returned from a week's stay at Mary's House and would have loved to have stayed for another! Some people have mentioned the road approaching the cottage, it's a single track with many passing places but easy enough to get used to. The cottage was very clean and well equiped on arrival. The kitchen was well appointed with cooker, microwave, tall fridge freezer and sufficient pots, pans and crockery etc. The sitting room was very comfortable and has been updated recently compared to the photos. Although the weather was warm and sunny we still made good use of the log burner. The bedroom was nice and the bed comfortable. The views from the cottage were amazing and looked different every day. It was a very short walk down to the beach where we went every day and opposite was another, larger beach called Sanna Bay which is well worth going to. It's advisable to bring plenty of provisions for your stay although there is a small but well stocked shop in Kilchoan. Overall we (and the dogs!) had a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday! "

Rated 4/50 by AndyK1957 on 29th April 2015

"Great location, clean and tidy, Understandably the road to the cottage is a bit rough but not a problem. My wife and i thoroughly enjoyed our stay, We cooked a number of meals in the cottage and despite our lack of experience of electric cookers we managed fine. Also the crockery etc. was very satisfactory. You will not find a quieter area with such magnificent views, so a good night sleep and waking up to picture postcard views from the bedroom window was a bonus of this property."

Rated 4/50 by Travellerfayemondo on 2nd December 2014

"I want to start with a phrase I have rarely uttered about a holiday: it was bliss! I travelled up with a friend and my dog, and enjoyed the whole week we were there. Its fair to say my primary aim in booking the cottage was to be in a remote location with no wifi or phone signal, and a woodburning fire, and you certainly get this here! We travelled via the Corran ferry: be warned, although the directions will tell you the last 25 miles is single track, its more like the last 50 roughly, and if you aren't a confident driver, you may want to switch to someone who is: the roads are d-restricted, and you could get quite a shock driving round a bend with a 50mph camper coming towards you! Fairly quiet in the winter season though. We were quite glad to have a 4 wheel drive, as the road down to the cottage from the 'main' road is very rickety - if you have an Aygo, don't go! But its only a short drive, and when you get to the bottom, the view makes it worth it. It does pass by farm buildings on the way down, and there are 3 other cottages and a static caravan in spitting distance, but we felt completely isolated, especially at night. I cant see it would be a particular problem in summer months as the cottages are quite small - its not a place for partying! In fact, the time we were there, I counted around 6 properties with lights on in the evening, and that included across the other side of the bay. Its not really a place for 4 adults to comfortably spend a week, although if you intend on being out all day every day then it would be fine: I elected to take the sofa bed and my friend took the main bed. The sofa bed isn't perfect, but we both managed to get around 10 hours of sleep a night quite easily (again, another reason for us to go!), and it was very cosy and secure. I can only assume the pillows have been replaced: the ones I used were certainly fairly new. The kitchen was great - an overabundance of crockery and cutlery meant we didn't have to wash up for a few days if we didn't want to (dear owner - although we did!), and the cooking facilities suited us perfectly: oven worked fine so may be an issue that was rectified from a previous poster. More importantly, there was plenty of space in the kitchen, which meant that we could use it even when my large Labrador was padding around! The woodburner: we actually took some kindling and logs with us, and I wish I had saved my money, as a full bag of coal was provided, along with kindling, wood logs and a full scuttle of coal. Apparently it should last a weekend, but by my reckoning (and considering we had it on every night for at least 6 hours) it will stretch to a week. The bathroom was a bit of a shame not having a bath, but there's not a lot of space for one. It was clean so the toothbrush comment previously must have been implemented! However the shower isn't overly powerful, and did seem to only have 2 heat settings - hot or cold. But it did what it needed to do. I will however echo earlier comments re phones: there is a long list of numbers, but with no signal or landline in the cottage, we were bemused about how to use them! The owner was in residence the full time we were there though, and their house is only a short walk away, so it wasn't much of an issue. The area is gorgeous - I took a short walk down to the beach and it was fairly easy to navigate around, and the views were absolutely stunning. There was also a wealth of information on things to do in the area (handy hint though: if heading to Tobermory from Kilchoan, do not take the car as well if you're only going there for the day. That was a costly mistake on our part!). It is only 40 minutes on the ferry to Tobermory, and has great views on route, including a lighthouse. Worth a visit just to go to the Mish (multi-coloured pub....with wifi....I caved on day 3!). The ferry shop in Kilchoan was absolutely fantastic - lots of local meats, plenty of essentials, and gluten free oat cakes (being a celiac, I tend to take quite a lot of my own GF stuff, but I could even eat some of the local sausages from here!) Reasonably priced as well, considering it had quite a hold on the local market. However if you go through Corran to get there, I recommend filling up the car before the final 50 mile stretch: petrol is about 20p per litre more expensive here! Ardnamurchan lighthouse is worth a look, as its a lovely old lighthouse, but was closed when we were there. You can still walk around it even if closed. Mingray Castle was also closed due to the renovations, but you can see it from the ferry to Tobermory. All in all it was exactly what we wanted, and for the price we couldn't have really expected much more. (but make sure to take absolutely everything you would need self catering wise because the Ferry Shop is 4 miles away!)."

Rated 1/50 by Jflyford F on 8th May 2014

"We picked this property for the views and beach side location which were good; although it is remote, so be prepared to take all of your own food and entertainment. However, the cottage itself was in a poor state of repair. The DVD and oven did not work properly, the chairs were very rickety and the shower did not work properly - and when there is no bath - this was a significant problem. The track down to the cottage is rutted and goes through a farm yard where they are keeping pigs and the track to the beach passed by the septic tank which had overflowed! There is also a static caravan right next to the cottage which shares the parking area. I could go on. However, the most annoying thing is that I have complained and as yet after 3 weeks I have not had the courtesy of a response."

Rated 3/50 by Alan M on 8th December 2013

"As is traditional I'll split this review into good and bad points. First the good. Great location, the owner is helpful and friendly (checked we were OK during power cut). Cottage was a very good size for 2 people with decor in a good traditional condition with modern touches. Cottage was cosy with ample heating; storage heaters are a good idea in an area where power cuts can occur. Wood-burner was a joy. Again useful as a heat back-up, but mainly it looks great and gives the man of the house a chance to poke a fire in a manly manner. View from the windows is second-to-none. Extremely quiet (except for the sound of the ocean) and pitch dark at night; we love this! Star-gazers will be spoilt. Good supply of coal fuel for the fire; so you only need to pay for topping up the kindling. We really appreciated that electricity was included in the price; a cottage like this, especially in the winter, could use a lot of power to heat and for cooking, so it's really nice not to have to constantly shovel coins into a meter as you do in some places. Mary's cottage and the larger surrounding area is a mobile black-spot, which is bliss. Absolutely no chance to update facebook or check emails. Should this be a necessity for you, the Sonachan hotel about a mile away has wifi and we found a mobile signal (on our last day!) at the recycling bins, Kilchoan. Good safety equipment present; fire extinguisher and blanket was provided as well as CO and smoke detectors (but no first-aid box that we noticed). Good useful selection of 'things to do' type leaflets and maps. Of course if you're there off-season much of this will not be running, but I expect most visitor will be visiting in-season (usually april-October). Now the less good... We've written quite a few negatives below, but we are mostly being brutally honest to promote improvements and inform others; overall Marys house is lovely, well-appointed and we had a great stay; just a few niggly things for us; but then again we are seasoned self-catering holiday makers so we tend to be hyper-critical! We also stayed in December, so due to the weather and limited daylight at this time of year we spent much more time in the cottage than most people will; again this perhaps amplified some of the annoyances. The website photography and description is slightly disingenuous implying that the cottage is on its own and isolated. It is however in a small cluster of holiday cottages with the closest only a few metres away. Not a problem for us visiting in low season when we were in the only inhabited cottage, however if we were there in summer and all these cottages were filled with families and dogs and children and cars, the area could, I imagine get quite busy, which is probably not what folk are looking for when holidaying in such a remote spot! There was also a cottage next door being renovated/built, which could've been mentioned; not a deal-breaker and not the owners fault, but again, DIY noises are not ideal when looking for tranquillity. For us, a good bed and shower are amongst the most important aspects of any accommodation. Sadly the bed was over-soft and bouncy leading to poor sleep. This may suit some people- we prefer a firm mattress (but of course this is subjective and our personal preference). Although the bedding smelt clean there were a lot of black (dog?) hairs present which was off-putting. Pillows appeared to be years old and flat- replace! Now, the shower... again this is personal; many folk might not mind, but the shower is of the weak, electric, 'you have to run around furiously to get wet' variety. So a quick refreshing shower is off the agenda. Water pressure from the taps appears to be good, so perhaps a better shower or a pump would help. Not cheap to implement I realise, but a good sleep and a refreshing shower sets you up for the day and leaves a better impression. It's worth bearing in mind that a beach is indeed only a few minutes walk away, but this is a small tidal beach which isn't always present; the main beaches of Sanna bay are a fairly strenuous 30-60 minute walk (fitness level dependant) away across rocky and boggy foreshore. Cleanliness standard was OK but not exceptional. I have personal experience of holiday cottage cleaning and my own standards are higher; I wouldn't leave cleaning streaks over hard surfaces for example; there should be a polishing stage. Also the cooker hood was not pleasant to look at. 30 mins with a wire scourer would remove the layers of grease. Attention to detail was also lacking in other areas such as the black mould at the bottom of shower doors and on the ceiling- use an old toothbrush to clean! Maintenance could be better; starting to think the owner has something against replacing bulbs; no light in the fridge or oven. A broken window catch made for a chilly, breezy kitchen during a storm. I know we were staying out of season and many landlords leave repairs for low season, but if that was the case then the cottage should be taken off the market whilst repairs are carried out; all visitors should receive identical standards whenever they stay. Ok, phoning... Absolutely no mobile signal, which is great and not a negative for us, however we were rather mystified by the list of phone numbers in the kitchen, when there isn't any land-line or payphone provided! This could actually be quite a worry if you had an emergency; in our opinion there should always be a land-line or payphone in a holiday cottage. There is a phone-box (no coins accepted) a few minutes run away or you could run to the owners cottage across the field, but again, if you cut yourself badly or had a fall or heart-attack, it's not ideal. We didn't notice a first-aid box; bring your own, but fire extinguisher and blanket was provided as well as CO and smoke detectors. We also suggest that you bring extra towels. Only one bath and hand towel is provided per person for a week. This is fairly standard in places we've stayed, but, I feel, unnecessarily stingy! There is however a good quality washing machine in the kitchen if you want to do a mid-week wash."

Rated 3/50 by Alan M on 8th December 2013

"As is traditional I'll split this review into good and bad points. First the good. Great location, the owner is helpful and friendly (checked we were OK during power cut). Cottage was a very good size for 2 people with decor in a good traditional condition with modern touches. Cottage was cosy with ample heating; storage heaters are a good idea in an area where power cuts can occur. Wood-burner was a joy. Again useful as a heat back-up, but mainly it looks great and gives the man of the house a chance to poke a fire in a manly manner. View from the windows is second-to-none. Extremely quiet (except for the sound of the ocean) and pitch dark at night; we love this! Star-gazers will be spoilt. Good supply of coal fuel for the fire; so you only need to pay for topping up the kindling. We really appreciated that electricity was included in the price; a cottage like this, especially in the winter, could use a lot of power to heat and for cooking, so it's really nice not to have to constantly shovel coins into a meter as you do in some places. Mary's cottage and the larger surrounding area is a mobile black-spot, which is bliss. Absolutely no chance to update facebook or check emails. Should this be a necessity for you, the Sonachan hotel about a mile away has wifi and we found a mobile signal (on our last day!) at the recycling bins, Kilchoan. Good safety equipment present; fire extinguisher and blanket was provided as well as CO and smoke detectors (but no first-aid box that we noticed). Good useful selection of 'things to do' type leaflets and maps. Of course if you're there off-season much of this will not be running, but I expect most visitor will be visiting in-season (usually April-October). Now the less good... We've written quite a few negatives below, but we are mostly being brutally honest to promote improvements and inform others; overall Marys house is lovely, well-appointed and we had a great stay; just a few niggly things for us; but then again we are seasoned self-catering holiday makers so we tend to be hyper-critical! We also stayed in December, so due to the weather and limited daylight at this time of year we spent much more time in the cottage than most people will; again this perhaps amplified some of the annoyances. The website photography and description is slightly disingenuous implying that the cottage is on its own and isolated. It is however in a small cluster of holiday cottages with the closest only a few metres away. Not a problem for us visiting in low season when we were in the only inhabited cottage, however if we were there in summer and all these cottages were filled with families and dogs and children and cars, the area could, I imagine get quite busy, which is probably not what folk are looking for when holidaying in such a remote spot! There was also a cottage next door being renovated/built, which could've been mentioned; not a deal-breaker and not the owners fault, but again, DIY noises are not ideal when looking for tranquillity. For us, a good bed and shower are amongst the most important aspects of any accommodation. Sadly the bed was over-soft and bouncy leading to poor sleep. This may suit some people- we prefer a firm mattress (but of course this is subjective and our personal preference). Although the bedding smelt clean there were a lot of black (dog?) hairs present which was off-putting. Pillows appeared to be years old and flat- replace! Now, the shower... again this is personal; many folk might not mind, but the shower is of the weak, electric, 'you have to run around furiously to get wet' variety. So a quick refreshing shower is off the agenda. Water pressure from the taps appears to be good, so perhaps a better shower or a pump would help. Not cheap to implement I realise, but a good sleep and a refreshing shower sets you up for the day and leaves a better impression. It's worth bearing in mind that a beach is indeed only a few minutes walk away, but this is a small tidal beach which isn't always present; the main beaches of Sanna bay are a fairly strenuous 30-60 minute walk (fitness level dependant) away across rocky and boggy foreshore. Cleanliness standard was OK but not exceptional. I have personal experience of holiday cottage cleaning and my own standards are higher; I wouldn't leave cleaning streaks over hard surfaces for example; there should be a polishing stage. Also the cooker hood was not pleasant to look at. 30 mins with a wire scourer would remove the layers of grease. Attention to detail was also lacking in other areas such as the black mould at the bottom of shower doors and on the ceiling- use an old toothbrush to clean! Maintenance could be better; starting to think the owner has something against replacing bulbs; no light in the fridge or oven. A broken window catch made for a chilly, breezy kitchen during a storm. I know we were staying out of season and many landlords leave repairs for low season, but if that was the case then the cottage should be taken off the market whilst repairs are carried out; all visitors should receive identical standards whenever they stay. OK, phoning... Absolutely no mobile signal, which is great and NOT a negative for us, however we were rather mystified by the list of phone numbers in the kitchen, when there isn't any land-line or payphone provided! This could actually be quite a worry if you had an emergency; in our opinion there should always be a land-line or payphone in a holiday cottage. There is a phone-box (no coins accepted) a few minutes run away or you could run to the owners cottage across the field, but again, if you cut yourself badly or had a fall or heart-attack, it's not ideal. We didn't notice a first-aid box; bring your own, but fire extinguisher and blanket was provided as well as CO and smoke detectors. We also suggest that you bring extra towels. Only one bath and hand towel is provided per person for a week. This is fairly standard in places we've stayed, but, I feel, unnecessarily stingy! There is however a good quality washing machine in the kitchen if you want to do a mid-week wash."

Rated 2/50 by Liz P on 8th November 2013

"views stunning but cottage could do with a makeover a bit shabby.Oven didnt work, dvd didnt work . Stove small and awkward and noisy.Tiny tv and pet hate noisy waterproof mattress cover which had to be removed in order to get some sleep.nearest shop in kilchoan is closed on a sunday and not that well stocked. The furniture was dated and lots of drawers didnt work properly,the dining chairs were very rickety .good size for 2 people wouldnt recommend for more. not the comfortable cosy cottage we imagined. cut holiday short due to the disapointment and were glad to get home. also photograph from outside done cleverly and does not show caravan and house to left and other 2 houses on right so although it is detatched it is within close proximity and might be quite tricky getting up and down single track lane to property in the summer months."

Rated 5/50 by Mr Leigh on 21st June 2013

"Staying at Marys House was a truly unique experience that we will remember for many years. I never realised that such remote locations existed in our crowded country anymore and with the sea and beautiful sandy beach within a stone throw from the house, you simply could not envisage a more tranquil picture postcard spot. Marys House is well furnished, clean and has everything you need for your visit and is ideally situated for a relaxing/walking holiday while the tiny village of Kilchoan, which is about 4 miles away has a good pub and well stocked shop. The village is so remote it really is like stepping back in to the 1950,s and if you need petrol, someone from the village shop even comes along to operate the pump for you. The ferry to the island of Mull also leaves from Kilchoan, were you can visit the now famous town of Tobermory, which is better known as Balamory in the childrens TV series and believe me it really is worth a visit. The nearby lighthouse is also a good attraction as is the fabulous beach at Sanna Bay, a few miles away. The only downside is the road that takes you to Kilchoan. For 20 miles it is a single track road with passing points scattered along the way to allow oncoming traffic to pass and it is an arduous drive. The road from Kilchoan to Marys House is also little more than a track and seems to go on forever, but dont let this put you off. It guarantees the remoteness of the place and many of the villagers prefer it to stay like that, although for those who have to commute to work, it must be a nightmare."

Rated 5/50 by 618WilliamM on 18th May 2013

"stunning place to stay, views are fantastic in a superb cottage. if you like somewhere to totally relax with no Wi-Fi or mobile then this is the place to wind down. the cottage is clean warm and easy to maintain. all I can say is give it a chance but not if you don't like to be isolated and don't like the country or walking. if you do portuarik is wonderful"