Is Beautiful Cottage by the Bay, Isle of Islay pet-friendly?

Yes, this property allows cats and dogs (limit 1 total). Some restrictions may apply, so please contact the property for more details.

Where is Beautiful Cottage by the Bay, Isle of Islay located?

Located in Islay Island, this beachfront holiday home is next to a golf course and within 1 mi (2 km) of Port bhaigh and Port Bhith Sgeir. Currie Sands and Lossit are also within 3 miles (5 km).

Beautiful Cottage by the Bay, Isle of Islay Reviews, Deals & Photos 2025

10/10 Excellent

Joe L.

26 Jul 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

True Paradise!

This dog-friendly cottage was overlooking the harbour and little beach.There were lovely wee touches that demomstrated that the owners cared about those staying there. One example was the detachable support handle in the bathroom for anyone requiring such support in the shower room/toilet.The cottage was immaculate and so comfortable and cosy.The village of Portnahaven was so beautiful and the people so amazingly friendly.We absolutely loved our stay and hope some day to return.We have stayed in many beautiful cottages and this one is definitely one of the best.We absolutely adored it.

Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2025

10/10 Excellent

Julia B.

1 Jun 2025

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Cosy and comfortable seaside cottage

We had the perfect stay at the Old Salt House. Kim had taken care of everything we needed. The beds were super comfortable, the shower was fab, the deck gave us stunning views, the pub round the bay was just sublime, and the cottage was always a joy to return to; a cosy neuk after the Portnahaven winds. Portnahaven and Port Wymss are gorgeous island villages. They’re off the beaten track but with so much to see, do and learn. We had an amazing time at the Whisky Festival but also on the many beautiful walks around this amazing part of the world. We’d thoroughly recommend Kim’s beautiful cottage as the perfect place to stay.

Stayed 7 nights in May 2025

10/10 Excellent

Susan

24 May 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities, communication

Lovely cottage overlooking the bay. Cottage was well equipped and comfortable. Enjoyed the seals and birds.

Stayed 3 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Robert M.

30 Aug 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Peaceful portnahaven

Lovely place to relax. Thoroughly recommend the property a d the area.

Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2022

8/10 Good

David O.

13 Oct 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, listing accuracy

Islay trip

Lovely location but it is very remote. House was great, clean, tidy, nice decor, great location but sofa was a bit hard - lol.

Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Rachael T.

16 Jun 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

A Gem!

A beautiful, comfortable cottage in a fabulous location overlooking the harbour. Watching the seals bask in front of the cottage and the changing sea and sky scapes was amazing. Our host was very helpful and easy to communicate with as we experienced ferry problems. Definitely recommend and hope to return one day!

Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

alan l.

26 Jun 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Islay whiskey

Portnahaven is at the end of the island. Very quaint, quiet, away from the crowds. There is bus service but we rented a car for our time. The property is right above the bay. Seals play, fishing vessels, great walks. There was one small bar that had a few dishes for dinner. We would drive into the main area of the island, tour a distillery, grab groceries and make dinner at the property. During June, the nights are very short. This place would be great for a couple with or without a couple kids.

Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2023

10/10 Excellent

Astrid S.

4 Jun 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Wonderful iconic gem of a home in a delightful village setting with stunning views

We really enjoyed our stay in this iconic home. There was a great deal of attention to detail in all the tasteful furnishings and items provided. We appreciated the cosey throws, the comfortable mattress and well-equipped kitchen. The street in which the home is situated we saw featured in several artists' works on the island. It faces the bay for you to enjoy evening sunsets and the sounds of water lapping or the seals talking with one another about the weather. We enjoyed the quiet and friendly village of Portnahaven, walking along the coastline, stopping in at the pub or picking up home baked cake at the “cake cupboard, all a short walk from the house. The Port Charlotte Hotel is a short drive for a wonderful meal. We will look forward to returning in the future to this special gem of a house.

Stayed 10 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

DiAnn P.

2 Jun 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Portnahaven home

Lovely accommodations with a fully equipped kitchen. Beautiful views from the front windows and lovely coastal walks. We took the local buses to enjoy the whiskey and distillery tastings (to be sure we didn’t have any issues with driving and alcohol). Luckily we purchased food on Bowmore because the bus run times are limited. If you have a car you are able to drive to Bowmore or Fort Ellen for dinner. Suggest rolling your luggage down to the front entrance. The lane is narrow in front and there is no turn around. The local pub is not open at this time. If you walk to Port Wemyss along the coastal path there is a lovely coffee, pastry, and pie take away window/shop. We thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of Portnahaven and the VRBO home.

Stayed 4 nights in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Simon B.

18 Jul 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Portnahaven and the company of seals.

A lovely cozy cottage right in the bay of Portnahaven, where the seals will gather most of the day, and sing to you into the night! All the roads to Portnahaven are single track with passing places, to be prepared for oncoming vehicles, and the road surfaces can be somewhat "rough" to say the least. The cozy cottage has all you need, with a well equipped kitchen and a large walk-in shower, although no shelving to put your shower gel and shampoo's on, so it's a bend down job onto the shower tray base, and there are no grab bars, so watch the slippery shower base. Car parking is at the rear of the property and access to the back door (and key safe) are down some VERY steep stairs, so great care is needed! I recommend getting someone to volunteer to climb these steep steps, use the key safe to get in and open the front door, where someone else has driven the car down the narrow lane at the front of the cottage and unload the car from there! BTW, the shop in Portnahaven is no longer open, so make sure you have plenty of supplies before you arrive. All in all, a great place to visit!

Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2023

8/10 Good

Jane

25 Aug 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, communication

This is a beautiful cottage in a stunningly picturesque area. The cottage is well equipped and easy to live in. However I would not recommend it for more than two people. My partner and I were away for 2 weeks and only managed by spreading our stuff over both bedrooms. We also did not fine the sofa very comfortable for more than one person. Portnahaven bay is beautiful and the cottage faces West so gets great sunsets. However, not many people actually live there now (only 62 according to one person we met) which does mean a fair amount of the properties are holiday lets, so there is little feel of community. We did use the tiny local put a couple of times, and buy a lovely lobster from a local, but that was about it. The local shop is now closed and most of our row of cottages was not in use while we were there, which is a great shame. The nearest next town is about a 15 minute drive away. Despite all this, we had a very lovely 5 days and definitely recommend food and music in The Port Charlotte Hotel. And the amazing RSPB walk at The Oa where we were lucky enough to see Golden Eagles.

Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

CAITLIN M.

30 Aug 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, listing accuracy

Disliked: Location

Visit to see relatives on the island.

Property is lovely inside, very well decorated and immaculately clean. Shower was phenomenal. Kitchen was well kitted out with everything we needed as we did cook. The living/relaxing area was okay, it had everything we needed and myself and the two other adults had a place to sit on the small couch or at dining table, it just wasn't comfortable after a full day of exploring - The couch was hard and the dining chairs/bench, you could only sit on these for a limited amount of time before having to move. There were packs of cards in the media unit and a TV with a NowTV box which was good. My sister in law slept on the lower bunk of the room which is directed at children, she mentioned the bed was quite uncomfortable and felt as though it was propped up and lumpy. Myself and my husband slept in the king bed and this was excellent, it was extremely comfortable. We made use of the iron which was handy. The view from the living room window is brilliant. The back garden area has extremely steep stairs. Whilst the owner is making guests aware, I think signage on the outside of the gate would be helpful and could potentially avoid a nasty complaint. Decking area was nice but, unsafe! The ''fencing'' is rope which children/dogs could go through to a 8-10ft drop. We noticed damp humidifier tubs placed around the property and have all returned with a nasty cough and I am asthmatic - hoping dampness hasn't caused this! I do understand it is an older cottage and can be susceptible to damp.

Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Martin M.

10 Aug 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Stayed 3 nights in May 2024

10/10 Excellent

Gail V.

30 Jun 2024

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Home from home

Cottage was as clean and inviting as on our previous stay. It felt like home from home. It is a wonderful cottage in a beautiful location.

Stayed 6 nights in Jun 2024

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

30 Jul 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Portnahaven

Lovely little fisherman’s cottage, right on the water at Portnahaven. Had everything we needed and helpful touches like beach towels were appreciated! We loved exploring Islay.

Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2023

10/10 Excellent

Colette C.

21 May 2023

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Beautiful cottage, beautiful setting

Excellent, beautiful, comfortable cottage. Tastefully decorated and furnished. Beautiful setting with breathtaking views, we saw seals every day, and watched them for hours, sometimes just below the cottage.

Stayed 7 nights in May 2023

10/10 Excellent

Marion H.

3 Oct 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Peaceful, idyllic location

A lovely cottage and location, an excellent standard of accommodation and immaculately clean. A lot of thought from the host regarding home comforts made our stay in Islay very enjoyable.

Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2022

8/10 Good

Richard N.

16 Jun 2022

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication

Disliked: Listing accuracy

Great host, nice cottage, but needs to change listing about “clothes dryer”

The good: 1) the host was super responsive about questions or issues (with the exception of one issue, see below). 2) the town was postcard perfect 3) the cottage was as described and pictured (which one exception). 4) rain-head shower and water pressure were awesome The problem I have is that the cottage does not have an effective, usable, mechanical clothes dryer. It is advertised as having one. The owner needs to either change the listing or fix this. It technically has an “combo” washing machine and clothes dryer. However, the drying function appears to be broken. We found no noticeable difference when we had the unit wash and dry clothes and when we had it just wash them. The clothes were equally wet at the end. We have nearly 10 years worth of experience using combo washer/dryers. We understand all the quirks and issues with them. This was not that. This unit does not dry properly. The owner admitted this in a message to us AFTER we had checked in. We were in Scotland for nearly a month. We planned our stay to do all of our laundry at this cottage. It was a pain and took literally five times the time it should have to do our laundry. This cut down on our exploring time. The owner really needs to update the listing and call out this defect, or fix it. Another problem? There technically is an outdoor laundry clothes line area. However, it is so overgrown with weeds and brush, that we couldn’t get the clothes there. We tried but kept slipping on the tall, overgrown weeds. Plus, the clothes got dirty from the weeds. We sent a message to the owner explaining this problem, and we got no reply. That’s a shame, because she was super responsive every other time. Finally, because the outdoor clothes line is as not effectively accessible, we had to dry the clothes on the heated towel rack in the bathroom. The problem is it’s so small that we could only wash and dry a few clothes at a time. This wasted a lot of time we could have been exploring the island. If VRBO would let me I would rate this a 3.5. I picked 4 because the owner seemed nice. They just need to address the clothes dryer issue and the fact you can’t effectively use the clothes line.

Stayed 9 nights in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Duncan M.

16 Aug 2021

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Holiday Happiness

Fantastic little cottage (genuinely) a stone’s throw from the beach. Perfect for families. The cottage has been revamped and is ideally located next to the beach. We loved it. I recommend it to all families with young kids. We had a week making magical memories.

Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Charlotta H.

14 Jun 2021

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Lovely wee house

Lovely cottage of high standard, fully equipped kitchen and stunning views. Little extra bits and bobs (box of lego came out straight away) that made the stay even more enjoyable. Amazing patio if wether is good. Very friendly and accommodating hosts. Highly recommend!

Beautiful Cottage by the Bay, Isle of Islay

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