Back to Scotland for the next one...
We spent the second week of our holiday in August 2017 at a cliff top cottage called
Airidh na Síth overlooking Loch Eireasort on the east coast of
Lewis. The cottage is one of two similar accommodations collectively called
Eagle Bay Cottages, and I find it easier to refer to the one we had as Eagle Bay Cottage than try to use the Gaelic name!
We'd seen photos of the cottage and its setting on the website, but that didn't stop us saying "Wow!" about... everything. We arrived at the cottage by going down the cliff top on a private single-track road and we mistook two ordinary grassy hills for the cottage roof before we found the one with an actual building underneath. We stopped the car and I took a photo:
We arrived early so we had time to really appreciate the brilliance of the structure, which, by the way, we learned was designed by an architect who'd won a TV programme called Grand Designs. We hadn't heard of him or seen the programme, but it was still quite cool to know!
I'm not sure it would be possible to place a building in a more stunning location. It's not overlooked and the only other properties visible from the cottage are in the far distance across the loch. It feels completely remote, yet it's only a five minute drive to the main road, which, on the Western Isles is a road on which a vehicle goes by every minute or so - during busy times!
Loch Eireasort (or Erisort in English) wraps around the rocky outcrop into which the cottage blends and the views from inside are always spectacular. In the distance are the mountains of Harris and in and around the loch there's an abundance of wildlife. I don't know how long I spent standing at the panoramic window with binoculars or camera in hand, but it was a lot!
Time for a tour...
The open plan design of the cottage, minimalist styling, and high vaulted ceilings combine to create a feeling of great space. Yet at the same time, it feels part of the cliff itself. There's a log-burning stove in the living area (which we made good use of), but that's partly to provide a snug focal point because there's also under-floor heating throughout. Another nice touch was the sophisticated lighting system, with, for example, up-lights in the floor and dimmer switches allowing a wide range of illumination effects. The TV was of the 'smart' variety and had both Netflix and Amazon Prime; previous occupants hadn't logged out of the latter but we didn't charge anything to their account...
I'm afraid we only used the dining table and chairs as a dumping place for our rucksacks and wet outdoor clothing (it rained a lot that week!), preferring instead to eat at...
...the breakfast bar in the kitchen area. The angled position of the bar provided a good view of the TV - as well as through the panoramic windows in the lounge area. The kitchen was extremely well equipped and, as at the previous accommodation on South Uist, we found a generous supply of treats -including fresh cakes and posh champagne.
The cottage sleeps two people and the single bedroom is huge, as is the bed. Unfortunately, regarding the bed frame, style took precedence over common sense because it had a low ledge sticking out about six inches which seemed to be designed for bruising shins - and it did!
Both of my bedroom photos show only about half of the room. I took the first to show the rock face outside one of the windows, and the second to show the view through the other window.
The bathroom is also very big and comprehensively fitted. Perhaps strangely, it has two doors - one from the hallway (not featured in my photos) and one from the bedroom. (Incidentally, all of the cottage's internal doors slide into the walls which enhances the overall feeling of light and space.)
The door in the photo below (left) is to the sauna room (right)!
And lastly, I took this photo through the bathroom window because there was a sheep grazing outside.
To summarise, we absolutely loved Eagle Bay Cottage and were very sad to leave. My review didn't cover everything, such as the huge collection of DVDs and books, the very comfortable sofa and armchair, and the large outside storeroom built partly into the rock face and which contained, amongst other things, two brand new bikes that were available to use, but I hope it gives a fair overview. We lacked for nothing, and when it was time to go we simply left the front door unlocked and drove away. As at the previous accommodation this holiday, we were trusted to have been good tenants - and that always leaves a nice feeling.