Taigh Ailean Hotel

Accommodation near Carbost

+44 (0)1478 640271

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The Talisker Experience

March 24, 2023 by katie Leave a Comment

Johnny, Elanor and I were delighted to be invited to preview the new visitors’ centre at Talisker Distillery, just 3 miles down the road. We were welcomed by Louise and Cameron, the new barman, made two of us wonderful Talisker cocktails (and one of us a coke, the driver, the hero). The centre is a wonderful space, the bar has the shape of a boat and the whole place is beautifully blue and super airy. The windows look out onto Loch Harport, hopefully there will be dolphins!

We then went to look at the tasting rooms. The main tasting rooms are for people on tours. A group have a super knowledgeable guide take them round the distillery then introduce them to a three of the signature drams of Talisker.

For those of you who’ve done a lot of tours before then there is the extraordinary Made By The Sea experience. You don’t take the tour but instead go to the most beautiful room and experience a tasting. I’m not going to post any pictures of this bit so as not to spoil the surprise. But suffice to say we’ve already decided to book this as a little staff treat.

Then there is the Cask Pour experience for the connoisseur. Pour your own dram straight from the cask, many of them will not be released, so you get a unique insight into the Talisker flavours.

Then you can pop to the shop. There’s naturally the full range of whisky, for all palates and pockets, a surprisingly chic clothing range, some brilliant books and a selection of eco friendly gifts – Talisker toothbrush anyone?

We had a lovely evening  – our friends in Talisker looked after us so well. 100% recommend – booking is only online and things get busy so reserve your tour or tasting NOW, you can book 6 months in advance and it would be such a shame if you missed out.9

Filed Under: Blog

Being in Skye, not on Skye. How our wonderful island helps foster our mental health.

February 9, 2023 by katie 1 Comment

I’ve covered tick box tourism  in a previous blog, and I do understand that the day trip to Skye works for some people, but I’ve been thinking a lot about a question someone asked me a while back.

Why do you always write IN Skye, not ON Skye, what’s the difference? Well first of all, here’s the technical explanation.

We use “on the island” when we refer to it as a piece of land surrounded by water.

We use “in the island” when we refer to it as a territory or place with its own settings, circumstances, environment, etc.

When you stay with us you are part of Skye life. And it’s good for you. Visit Scotland took a survey about emotional wellbeing and travel. The findings are extensive (www.visitscotland.org/binaries/content/assets/dot-org/pdf/research-papers/about-our-visitors/insights-emotional-benefits.pdf)

I’ve taken a few things from it which can be connected to being in Skye.

After the pandemic many people (and I absolutely count myself in this category) are more anxious, more concerned for the future, and feeling directionless. The current crises in the world have only compounded this. So those of us lucky enough to travel are looking for certain things to support us. I have chosen 3 from the list that I think staying with us and being in Skye can connect with.

Looking for a challenge:  whether you’re an experienced climber taking on the Cuillin, a family booked in with Skye Adventure for an afternoon canyoning or a wee middle aged woman with short legs and dubious fitness making her way up Brothers’ Point (guess which one is my challenge?) there’s absolutely something to take you that little bit further.

Opportunities for awe: from sunrises to sunsets, island views to tiny flowers, dolphins, sea eagles, otters or those tiny furry caterpillars so intent on their scurrying journey, there’s always something to make you pause. And pausing is good for the soul.

Boosts confidence: Visit Scotland’s report suggests the act f indulging in travel can be an empowering act of self care. This is rather a fancy way of saying that travel helps you live in the moment and that is good for you. Trying new foods, speaking to people who live in Skye, having a pop at the Gaelic pronunciation or trying out your Duolingo skills,  going to music sessions, just being in a new place. It’ll help you be more you.

These last few years have really taken it out of us all. Let us help you fill your little cup right up.

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: mentalhealth, positivementalhealth, visitscotland, visitskye

We’re family friendly, but what does that mean?

February 1, 2023 by katie 1 Comment

As we set off into 2023 I was updating the website. Cheerily typed ‘a dog and family friendly b&b’… then realised I needed to think this through. (More on the dogs in another blog)

There’s a whole world of difference between places to stay where you’re allowed to bring your children and places like the Taigh Ailean where we offer a family friendly welcome.

I asked my friends on Facebook, and the friends of the TA on the business page,  what they thought; for they are wise and lovely. The response was pretty universal. Number 1 is the attitude of the team. And I can assure you that Jean, Elanor and all of the people you might come across during your stay will do everything they can to help you and your family have the absolute best time. Then there’s the little things we can do. We already have some fabulous bedding to make the stay extra cosy, nightlights if you need them, washable nappy bags that handle even the smelliest of poos. There are fairy doors and story books, high chairs, mini me breakfast portions and cutlery for small hands.

 

When you book with us you’ll receive a sheet with my recommendations for family friendly places to eat and things to do, to make sure that you can book your adventures well in advance and make certain you don’t miss out. (EDIT: Thankyou to those people who’ve messaged me, but respectfully these are for our guests, please ask you accommodation provider for their recommendations).

Suggestions from my Facebook consultants include making bird-spotting sheets for breakfast time and scavenger hunts for filling in during your Skye adventures. From loo seat boosters to little hats and gloves for emergency chilly days, I’m on it. Because we really do care about your family holiday.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: familyadventures, familyfriendly, familyholiday, familytravel, FearlessFamTrav, happykids, kidstravel, Scotland. Highlands, Skye, travelwithtoddlers

Day Walks in the Isle of Skye

April 11, 2022 by katie Leave a Comment

I’ve got a new book – Day Walks on the Isle of Skye by Helen and Paul Webster.

It’s really excellent – I’d thoroughly recommend it for those of you who want to walk for a full day and have the energy for a ” good walk”. The walks themselves are clearly set out, with a realistic description. What I particularly like is that although it includes the well known walks, it also takes you to more remote places.

(Even in the 40 Walks on Skye book which a lot of people use (and which is excellent, there are many walks where you want meet another soul (so don’t believe all the Skye is crammed you won’t be able to breathe nonsense you might read from time to time.))

Add in here the physical challenge of the walks and you’ll be guaranteed some days appreciating the peace and beauty of our island. The photographs are great and the maps will ensure you are at no risk of getting lost.

 

If I’m honest, the dug’s days of going for 7 hour walks are over, the little legs, the grey hair and the expanding tummy mean that we both take it more gently these days. But I shall be getting a few more of these fabulous guides in for our more energetic guests.


Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: day walks, hiking, Scotland. Highlands, walk book, walking in Skye

Stars, so many stars. And the Aurora too

March 15, 2022 by katie Leave a Comment

Although it says on our website, pretty much the first line, that we’re remote I’m not sure everyone quite gets it. Today I had to explain to a super lovely gentleman that the nearest Uber might be Glasgow, and I’m a tad downhearted when sometimes we get marked 5* for everything except 4* for location cos we’re ‘a bit out the way’.

That’s the joy of it, you see. Being here at the end of the peninsula. Not far from the Fairy Pools, Glenbrittle and the walk-in to many of the Cuillin Munros.

And the sky….. you wouldn’t believe it til you’re here. This last few weeks it’s been aurora -ing its head off. Many of the photos you see are taken with long exposures and things don’t look the same when you’re under it – but this week the greens and pillars hae been visible to the naked eye. Photo of the aurora and the hotel courtesy of the wonderful Arlyn Thursby – from Glendale Self Catering Cottages.

I love the stars even more tho. Taking the dog for a late night potter I can see the actual Milky Way – and my app Sky View Lite shows me how wild the ancients were when they named the constellations  (Why yes Claudius Ptolemy, that is absolutely a man carrying a water jar). Photo from Fiskavaig to the Outer Hebrides and Outer Space by Andrew Rae Photography.

So take the road less travelled. Do something a little different than just ticking off the Big 6 of Skye. Stay with us. There’s even a star book in your room for those clear nights.

Fiskavaig, the outer Hebrides, Outer Space
aurora over the hotel

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: aurora, clear skies, remote location, star gazing

In which I realise how much I miss Americans

February 19, 2021 by hdadmin Leave a Comment

Thinking today about how we’ve had a year without US (and Canadian- ❤️ Bitsy) guests. It’s been a season of home grown visitors which has been lovely.
But oh, my American buddies, I miss your sheer joy at being here. Your eternal quests for ancestry, your delight at eggs with bright orange yolks, the fact that I constantly forget that you and I mean different things by *pants* (so when you ask me if I ever wear pants to work expect a sharp intake of breath), the book recommendations you give me, the way you sing Amazing Grace while driving the single track roads. American guests have comforted me when I sobbed the morning the Brexit vote came out, ‘made’ me drink more tequila than is good for me, showed me bits of Skye I didn’t know were there, gifted me some some highly dubious fashion items, shared vow renewals and proposals, welcomed Johnny and me in New York, spread the word, recommended us to their mates to help us grow our business and blessed me with so many friends that I’m certain will be with me for life.
So here’s to you, chums across the water. We  can’t wait to see you again. For now here is a wonderful memory from 2018 when our Yoga Ladies took us for New York pizza.

Filed Under: Blog

Our COVID 19 Commitment – working together for our and your safety and happiness.

June 28, 2020 by katie Leave a Comment

Just to reassure you – from the TA family x

Before you arrive, you will receive an email from us which will help us to make your check in, check out and the time you spend with us as simple as possible.
You will be asked to confirm that you and your household are Covid 19 symptom free. If you have symptoms you will be asked to cancel your booking. If you arrive presenting symptoms or develop symptoms during your stay you will be asked to return home.
We ask you to let us know as accurately as you can what time you’ll be checking in. Check in is contactless and paperless.

On arrival
If you need help with your luggage when please let us know before hand so we can have the necessary precautions in place.
Everyone will have their temperature taken by touch free forehead thermometer when they arrive.

While you are here we know that you will wash your hands regularly, please also use the hand sanitisers that are to be found throughout the hotel.
You will be given my mobile number so if you need anything during your stay you can let me know without having to have contact (if you prefer)
The dining room and bar area are for resident use only. We will ask you to give us a time for your break fast sitting and, if you choose to eat with us, for your dinner sitting also.
Your bedroom will have been thoroughly cleaned before your stay under our enhanced cleaning procedures. If you prefer we will not service your room during your stay so that you are the only people in the room. Waste bins, damp towels etc can be left outside your room.
We will provide fresh milk and the tea, coffee etc that you need each morning. Just text me if you need refills. There will be hand soap in the rooms and we will provide shampoo and shower gel on request.
There will be a quarantine box for any books you might look at during your stay.


What you don’t see
Our updated risk assessments.
Our staff training on precautions to take at home and at work
Our detailed cleaning program between guest stays and each day in communal areas.
Social distancing in the kitchen
Staff are asked to certify themselves symptom free when they leave work each day. Regular touch free staff temperature checks recorded centrally.

Filed Under: Blog

In praise of fresh air and open spaces

March 13, 2020 by katie Leave a Comment

It’s a worrying time for all of us, the Corona virus (I still don’t feel scientific enough to use its Sunday name COVID 19 – I only got a C in Physical Science O Level) is all we seem to talk about. But at the moment we can act responsibly and keep ourselves, and each other, safe and still make the most of 2020.

We know that you need to make your own mind up about travelling, and that some of you will have the decision taken out of your hands, but for the foreseeable we are open for business and ready to welcome you with namastes, Vulcan greetings (tho annoyinglyI can’t actually do that ) or the cool thing they have developed in Wuhan with their feet.

These are anxious times. Trust me as a congenital over thinker and self employed human, I know this. The hotel and bar have the strictest hygiene procedures, and we’ve popped in a couple more just to make us all feel better. All our team have been briefed on the correct way to work, at this time and indeed at all times.

We’re not going to run out of loo roll. We have amazing food made in the most part with Scottish ingredients, many local to Skye and some local to our little peninsula. We live on an island of open spaces, fresh air and the sort of views that can lift your soul from any despond the world might throw at you. The picture with the blog is from our beer garden – we’d love to share it with you.

Check out @keeptheworldtravelling on Instagram, and don’t forget to wash your hands xxx

Filed Under: Blog

I’m feeling a bit cranky, so here are my musings

January 28, 2020 by katie Leave a Comment

…on over romanticising  Scotland.

Scotland in general is magical. Skye in particular. We have the most beautiful scenery which touches people in ways they can’t explain. People who came to stay with us when we first arrived still keep in touch because their memories are so precious. But it’s a real place, with real people doing real stuff.
Its tipping it down outside, not fluffy snow, wet sploshes of very chilly rain that soak right though my cardi. I turn on my lap top with my wee, frozen fingers. Someone on one of the Scotland fan pages on Facebook is in Glasgow. Should I go to Skye or Inverness in my campervan she asks? Not Skye, I reply. It’s foul here today. From across the world I am contradicted. No, Skye is beautiful whatever the weather, you’re so ungrateful, you’re so lucky to live there (actually not lucky, we sold everything we had and moved to the unknown to do a job also unknown, foolish maybe, brave possibly – not lucky). Trust me, today is not a day to be visiting Skye. The dog blew over, you can’t see a blimmin foot in front of your face… but hey what do I know, I’m only the one chasing the bins across the croft.
While I’m on one. It’s not coos (to rhyme with ‘ ooooh, aren’t they cute’) it’s cows (to rhyme with ‘ow I’ve been stabbed by a 12’’ horn while trying to pet the calf because I saw it on Instagram’) unless you’re actually speaking Scots. Also coorie is not the new hygge. In fact if you check with the Danes, hygge isn’t even the new hygge. Coorie is not about harris tweed cushions, tea cosies (tho I’m very in favour of teacosies, no one likes cold tea and the ladies of Portnalong make amazing ones) or paying £7 for a blondie. It comes from the Scots word meaning crouch for protection, families sheltering their children from the grinding poverty of the time – listen to the beautiful Miner’s Lullaby (Coorie doon) to get the idea. Or read Lesley Riddoch’s fabulous article in The National.

So come, eat our extraordinary food, sample our world famous malts, breathe in the fresh air of Talisker Beach, check out the dolphins at Fiskavaig Bay. Chat to the incredibly hardworking housekeeping chaps in your b & b, to Neily Beag on the bus who makes a point of escorting those who find their shopping hard to manage to their door, to the hilarious locals at the bar who’ll buy you a dram and tell you All The Stories. Take photos that people back home won’t believe are real. But you’ll know. They are. Because Skye is.

Also follow the fabulous @wodieskodie on Twitter to get the best take on island life.

 

Filed Under: Blog

Planning cunning plans (and how I can help)

December 5, 2019 by katie Leave a Comment

It’s a fact. I’m a planner, My super power is planning. I’d have preferred an invisible plane but fate gave me planning. It’s a gift, just ask Johnny whose entire winter is sectioned into little job sized pieces interposed with directed fun.
And I can help you get the absolute most out of your holiday. Some of you will be epic organisers like me and just need the odd pointer and nugget of inside knowledge. Some of you will be more of the last minute lads and lassies who would benefit from all my planny goodness. So. how can we work together to make Skye 2020 your best holiday ever?

Accommodation: Obviously we think you should stay with us. And if you’d like to stay with us you do need to book as soon as you can, because we get very busy. But whatever, you do need to have your accommodation sorted before you come to Skye. I’ve looked on some Facebook pages and some people seem to think that you can rock up at 10 pm, find a friendly crofter who will provide you with a cosy bed, a plateful of haggis and lashings of ginger beer. This, my friends, is not the case. We’re a small island with a small population. The whole *Skye is full* drama llama event was a result of people arriving with no plan – don’t let that be you.

Eating out: your friendly local bar (Number 3 on Trip Advisor at the moment, I’d like to say) will serve fabulous seafood, locally foraged delights and quality pub staples with a Taigh Ailean twist. But you might want to go more chi chi for a night during your stay. A special occasion or just because you totally deserve it needs some forward thinking. There are a whole host of restaurants on Skye, many of them will need booking months in advance. We can offer you advice on whether you need a cosy Michelin star, a fancy pantsy formal do, a focus on steak or seal a l’orange avec shaved otters’ noses. We have the lowdown from personal experience and access to all the goss.

Things to do: wildlife guides, touring distilleries, foraging trips or jumping off cliffs (into the sea in a wetsuit obvs) all need to be booked. And if you want everything to fit together beautifully they need to be booked well in advance. Just email me and tell me what you want to do, or more generally where your interest lie and I can provide you with links and websites, phone numbers and names. We have our favourites of course but there are all sorts f activities to suit your budget, timeframe and the extent of your adventurous spirit.

: there are so many hidden treasures where you can spend your Scottish pounds. There’s the well known places with the big Insta presence that will give you some lovely Skye goodies. But did you know our local village hall has a gorgeous artisan market every Wednesday where you can buy ACTUAL SUE TATE teacosies like the ones we have in the hotel. Don’t spend all your money in the big cities, in the big shops on stuff that everyone else will have. Tell me what you’re after and I’ll let you know what the island has to offer.

I hope this has given you some ideas about how planning can add to your holiday. Just email me at katieheron1@icloud.com or drop me a message on the hotel Facebook page. Let the adventures begin.

Filed Under: Blog

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Welcome

Wouldn’t it be lovely to get away from it all to a Hebridean island where you can relax and unwind,  explore and learn or challenge yourself physically, whatever suits your holiday needs. An island where history and the 21st century combine to give you the best possible experience. The Taigh Ailean team would really like to help you get the most of your time on Skye. From insider tips about the quieter spots to helping you book a swanky lunch to celebrate life, we’re so happy to help.
You’ll find amazing breakfasts, cosy rooms and a warm welcome at the Taigh Ailean Hotel.

Please note, Munros Bar is not open this year, but we do provide recommendations for places to eat (including dog and child friendly) and offer help with reservations.

 

Explore Locally

  • Talisker Distillery
  • The Fairy Pools
  • The Cuillin
  • Glen Eynort
  • Crafts and Coffee

Taigh Ailean Hotel
Portnalong
Isle of Skye
IV47 8SL

Latest from the Blog

  • The Talisker Experience
  • Being in Skye, not on Skye. How our wonderful island helps foster our mental health.
  • We’re family friendly, but what does that mean?
  • Day Walks in the Isle of Skye
  • Stars, so many stars. And the Aurora too
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