Take a very good book if you're getting the ferry from Oban to Barra.
The trip takes nearly five hours, though the white beaches of this Outer Hebridean island make it well worth the journey.
When it comes to somewhere to stay, you've got four choices, including a three-star destination, The Isle of Barra Beach Hotel, which opens for the summer season from the beginning of May until the end of September.
This two-storey place which looks like something out of a Bond movie, is positioned just beside the sands of Tangasdale Beach, and is currently on sale as a going concern for offers over £1.4million via The Modern House - an estate agent that specialises in the most inspiring living spaces in the UK.
As well as two self-contained managers’ flats, so staff don’t have to commute via ferry (or plane from Glasgow to Traigh Mhor beach), the property features self-contained Bolt Hole accommodation for six guests, plus 39 bedrooms, all of which have a view out to the azure-coloured Atlantic, so there are never any disappointed guests gazing out at a car park. There’s also a cobalt painted Lounge Bar, where there are paintings of oystercatchers, and they specialise in lamb, beef and seafood dishes.
The decorative internal features include, as The Modern House says on their website, ‘sculptural forms simulating the hulls of upturned ships’, but these lines are also very reminiscent of the work of Rennie Mackintosh.
As well as indoor space, the property also includes 7.75 acres of grassy wind-blown slopes, which are dotted with red clover and bird’s foot trefoil, and other seaside blossoms. The nearest segment of beach, just down the hotel’s private path, also features a rock pool swimming spot, for fans of icy dips.
You could say this place is something of a paradise.
We spoke to the hotel’s current owner, Teresa Jenkins, about her future plans, her favourite spaces in the building, and why they’re moving on.
Why was it time to sell?
We would like to retire and travel more. We purchased the hotel in 2007. We’ve had four generations living here and playing an active role in the day-to-day life of this amazing location. We’re great grandparents, who’ve had grandchildren born here and we’ve had three amazing labradors, all of us soaking up what this remote location has to offer.
Do you hope that someone will buy it as a going concern?
If the purchase goes through during the hotel’s season then yes, as our trade is based on pre arrival bookings and we have several hundred pre-season booked guests. If the exchange was to happen outside of our operating season, then it would be up to the buyer and local planning authorities to decide what to do next.
Are you sad to be moving on?
Yes and no. Yes because I love this building and its unique location but also no, because we have lots of plans for our future including more international travel and some new personal development projects.
When was the building constructed and who designed it?
It was built by the Highlands and Islands Development Board during the early Seventies and was designed by the architects Crerar & Partners of Oban. It opened back in 1974.
Any particularly interesting features?
Lots, there are almost too many to mention - its location is spectacular, and its interior lounge and reception are designed like an African safari lodge. The hotel was awarded the Diploma of Merit 1979 ‘for the admirable design of a new hotel which harmonises well with the rugged coastline and countryside’ by Europa Nostra (International Federation of Associations for the Protection of Europe’s Cultural and Natural Heritage). The award was presented on their behalf by Lord Duncan-Sandys.
How would you describe the interior, and why were the pieces of furniture chosen to complement it?
The interior is open plan and split level with the guest bedrooms offset away from the main reception, as well as the restaurant, lounge and bar area, so the hotel offers a quiet guest bedroom facility. It’s not like furnishing a home where you are surrounded by the personal, cherished or eclectic items that you gather up through your life journey. The building’s different and expansive areas offered the opportunity to furnish a huge lounge area where colour and size was chosen to complement the internal zone and not compete with the spectacular sea views, huge skies and the constantly changing light atmosphere. It’s a reenergising zone for creative personalities or a therapeutic environment that’s so good for the souls that need a special place to escape to.
Which is your favourite space?
All of the building. it’s a real love story.
What are your best memories of living and working in the hotel?
They would include welcoming guests back who love the hotel and return time and time again. We’ve spent quality time with our family here, to celebrate Christmas all together in what becomes like living in a huge rambling modern castle, and all the other special family occasions that take place during our winter closed period of seven months.
Any particularly interesting guests through the years?
Too many to list and we have so many stories shared with guests from all over the world, with some that seem totally unbelievable. Maybe there’s a book there in the future?
Perhaps one of the many interesting stories of guests that have stayed in the hotel include the Shah of Iran’s family who stayed here after he was deposed in 1979 by the Iranian Revolution which established the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Any good wildlife spots from those big windows?
Yes. Every day brings a sighting of one or the other, whether it’s resident otters, basking sharks, dolphins, seals, gannets, oyster catchers and many more.
The Isle of Barra Beach Hotel is available via The Modern House’s website for offers over £1.4million, see www.themodernhouse.com
