Southern Hebrides of Scotland

A Guide to the Southern Inner Hebridean Isles of Argyll

Colonsay Hotel For Sale

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Colonsay Hotel
Colonsay Hotel
Colonsay is one of the Southern Hebridean islands and a wee gem too. You can reach this wee gem from Oban by Calmac ferry in a little over two hours, or you can fly in. The island has some amazing beaches and especially Kiloran Bay is one of the most beautiful bays in the west of Scotland. With only 120 inhabitants the island is sparsely populated and most houses are found on the east coast in Scalasaig where you’ll also find the ferry terminal. Only a few hundred meters from the ferry terminal opposite the local church, is the Colonsay Hotel and pub. The current owner, the laird of Colonsay, has put the hotel and pub up for sale recently for £545,000. The reason for the sale seems to be the economic crisis we are in. Selling Colonsay’s only hotel is of course bad news for the island and it’s fragile tourism-based economy. Now, new owners have to be found to run the hotel, or perhaps a community buy-out could be the solution to save the hotel.

David Johnston, chairman of the island steering group, said in an interview: “We have formed a committee under the auspices of the island development company to look at the possibility of putting together a bid. It’s at a very early stage at the moment – we are just looking at the possibility. We obviously would like to get the hotel into community control if that is the best way of achieving what the island needs.” The laird was not available for comment, but his wife Jane said: “We have built it up to a really good, healthy business. It’s a real opportunity for a couple to take over, but we are happy to sell it to the community if they are interested. We are completely supportive of the community putting in an offer.”

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  1. It would be a big loss to the Island Community, as it is the only Hotel on the Island, having visited the Island several years ago , We did not pre-book accommodation and had to take the late ferry back to Oban, luckily the next time we visited, we stayed at bed and breakfast at URRIGAIG ,beside KILORAN BAY, we also walked across the STRAND to ORONSAY at low tide, a wonderful pair of islands they are, Ido hope things turn out O K for the future, P.S. THE CAKE SHOP IS A MUST VISIT.

    • Hi Charles, thanks for your comments. The post you are referring to is a couple of years old and as far as I know the hotel is in safe hands and doing well! Both islands are indeed wee gem’s, as is the case for many islands on the Scottish west coast. They are all unique in their own special way 🙂