Asknish Bay

There are two excellent things to do here. Visit Arduaine Garden and eat in the Loch Melfort Hotel.

The garden was started in 1895 by James Arthur Campbell who bought the land and named it Arduaine (pronounced Ardoonie). He also built the house which became the Loch Melfort Hotel in 1965. As usual for the West Coast, the success of the garden depended on the planting of numerous trees as a wind break. The trees are magnificent and tucked away in their shelter at the bottom of the rocky promontory are some very pretty water gardens connected up by tiny tinkling streams. A stone heron presides over one of the larger ponds. Now the garden belongs to the National Trust for Scotland who took it over in 1992 from the two Wright brothers who in 1965 had rescued and greatly improved it after the Campbell family could no longer keep it going. Sadly in 2009 the Trust looked as though it was going to close the gardens because of its financial difficulties, a threat that has been temporarily withdrawn – I think closure would be a travesty and all us Trust members should be making a fuss; there must be better ways for the Trust to save money, and at the same time their rather conservative image could be sharpened up. Indeed, a support group was launched and all contributions are welcome (email arduainegardensupportgroup@googlemail.com).

The hotel has laid some very convenient moorings in the bay but if there is a lot of south westerly weather you may have to anchor around the north side of Rudh' Arduaine which is very sheltered - North Asknish Bay. The moorings here do not these days belong to the hotel, but are tempting nonetheless. There is a small jetty and then a farm track steeply up the hill to the hotel. The hotel advertises itself as having the best view in Scotland, and this may well be true if you avert your gaze from Craobh Haven, a ghastly pastiche of a Scottish fishing village And don’t look too hard at the hotel itself which when it started as the Loch Melfort Motor Inn added the very ugly 'Cedar Wing' to the side of the splendid Edwardian House, presumably trying to ape the American concept of a motel because with car parking next to your bedroom door this is exactly what it looks like. The owners who took over in 2009 are extremely accommodating and helpful, the hotel is very child friendly with a small outdoor play area, and the food is excellent - definitely worth a detour. You can eat in the hotel dining room but may feel more at ease in your sailing clothes in the Chartroom Bistro and Bar which sadly lost the charts on the walls some years ago - the charts on the blinds are a poor substitute (and you can get a shower here too). Personally I find the Bistro a bit of dull space, the dining room is far preferable for a relaxed evening (ph 01852 200233).