Chartroom II Bistro is open for teas, coffees and home baking all day from 11am, Lunch is served 12pm – 2:30pm, which includes a snapshot of the dinner menu along with delicious soups and hearty sandwiches, and Dinner 6pm – 8:45pm (July/August 5:30pm) consisting of locally caught seafood and wholesome meals, not forgetting our new pizza menu!

Enjoy a pizza in Loch Melfort's Chartroom II Bistro

Our new pizza menu will complement our seafood and grill specialities, with locally sourced meats and children’s menu. Our famous Music Nights take place as usual every 1^st and 3^rd Friday of the month, 9pm onwards.

We now have our own homemade jams, chutneys, marmalades and fudge for sale, both at Reception and in the Bistro, all made in house by Head Chef David Bell. You may recognise some of these as your favourites from breakfast!

Guests enjoying good food on Loch Melfort’s terrace overlooking Asknish Bay

Guests enjoying good food on Loch Melfort's terrace overlooking Asknish Bay

Our 2 AA Rosette Asknish Bay Restaurant is open for fine dining, 6:30pm – 8:45pm with a daily changing 4 course Table d’hôte menu at £36.95pp, along with a diverse À la carte.  Booking essential.

Our four free moorings have been raised for summer and can take boats 35-40ft and 15 tonne. Perfect for a leisurely sail in Asknish Bay, followed by a bite to eat and a wee tipple.

Pizza Menu

Margherita
Vine Ripened Tomato, Mozzarella
12 inch – £7.50

Chilli Margherita
As above but with chillies added after cooking
12 inch – £7.95

Ayrshire Cured Ham and Fresh Pineapple
12 inch £9.95

Classic Pepperoni
12 inch – £9.95

Virtuous Veg
Mixed Peppers, Red Onion, Mushrooms and Cherry Tomatoes
12 inch £8.95

Haggis – The One and Only Wee Scottish Beastie on a Pizza
with Mull Cheddar and Tomato
12 inch – £9.95

Roast Free-range Chicken, Sun Dried Tomato and Basil
12 inch – £10.95

Diavola
Mozzarella, Tomato and Smoked Salmon and King Prawns
12 inch – £10.95

Quattro Fromaggi
Mozzarella, Tomato, Parmesan, Dunsyre Blue and Mature Mull Cheddar, topped with Rocket
12 inch – £9.95

Garlic Pizza Bread - 9 inch – £5.75

Additional Toppings - £1.50

Country House Hotel sums us up to a tee, what with the miles of beautiful West Coast countryside we are located in and our own animal family consisting of highland cattle, lambs, ducks and hens roaming outside the hotel. We even get a steady supply of eggs from the hens which are sold at the hotel reception.

Loch Melfort Country House Hotel

One of the main reasons people come to stay with us is to relax and enjoy a slower pace of life, whiling away an afternoon with a good book or magazine in front of a view to die for from our guest lounges or bedrooms. Feeling the country air in your lungs on a brisk walk around the neighbouring NTS Arduaine Garden or walking along the beach and skimming stones is something that just couldn’t happen in a busy city hotel.

Loch Melfort Hotel was originally built to be a country house by J Arthur Campbell in 1897, named Arduaine House, the Gaelic for green point, so to carry on the name of country house is an honour and something we’re sure our predecessor would be proud of. We look forward to continuing our room upgrade this year and hope we can welcome you here at Loch Melfort Hotel for a lovely break sometime soon.

Loch Melfort Hotel was part of a whole host of locally based companies who exhibited at the Oban Wedding Fair on 2nd October hosted by Highland Functions in the Corran Halls. We were there to help potential brides and grooms pick a magical place for their wedding and anyone who has ever looked out across Asknish Bay from our dining room or down by the beach house must agree with how fantastic the view is. Other exhibitors included Oban Chocolate Company, Apple Blossom Time Bridal wear and Skipinnish Ceildh Band.

The Loch Melfort stand at the Oban Wedding Fair.

Our first wedding of the month started off with a small simple wedding for eleven in our Binocular lounge followed by a cosy meal in the panelled Library.

Piping in the bride and groom.

The second was a slightly bigger affair with 27 people, again in the Lounge for the ceremony but with the wedding breakfast taking place in the Dining room with breathtaking views over Asknish Bay. Many guests made a weekend of it and staying the night before and after to completely indulge themselves in the magic of the Hotel.

The bride and groom.

The last of the month was a local couple who wanted a real family get together, with the younger members of the family making it picture perfect all dressed up in their little kilts and flower girl outfits.

Delicious wedding cake made by the Loch Melfort Chef.

Unfortunately, the weather has not been very cooperative and the plans to marry outside were not feasible which was such a shame as our grounds are an ideal setting for a wedding and many people opt for this or even in  the National Trust for Scotland Arduaine Garden next door.

The newlyweds enjoying an extra special Guy Fawkes Night.

November’s wedding is one of our larger weddings with 100 guests taking over the whole Hotel and as it is the 5th November there will be a bonfire in the field to round things off. Don’t worry, we’ll make sure that the Highland cows and lambs are in the adjacent field!

Starfish on Asknish Bay beach

Luckily the chef hadn’t seen these toadstools at the top of the driveway or they might have ended up on the menu!

Toadstools at Loch Melfort Hotel

Toadstool closeup

Following the closure of the majority of the Cedar Wing rooms for the time it took to fix the roof and damaged rooms, our builders have spent the last three weeks completely repairing the roof, taking down internal walls between rooms where water damage had occurred and redecorating with paint, soft furnishings and new carpet.

Special Summer Offer

Now that we are back in action, we have a special offer for the summer to celebrate the re-opening of the Cedar Wing. Stay one night at £98 per person Dinner, Bed and Breakfast and get the 2nd night for £25 per person Bed and Breakfast, valid through until the end of September. With the weather being absolutely stunning recently, you’ll feel as if you’d been to the Argyll Riviera!

For further enquiries and to make a booking, call us on 01852 200 233.

Along with the power cut, which the Hotel endured with the help of a backup generator and plenty of candles, we also suffered damage to part of the Cedar Wing roof at 2pm on the Monday afternoon. With guests due to check-in at 3pm, it was a frantic rush to find alternative accommodation for those booked into the top floor of the Cedar Wing, which we wanted to vacate until the storm damage had been assessed. From the guests who did stay with us that night we received such comments as “the hotel resembled a scene from Victorian times with the candles and the warm glow from the log fire adding to a very peaceful evening”. All the guests banded together with a real emergency spirit.

Our roof remains intact, watertight and safe, although the jazzy blue tarpaulin covering the initial repair work it is not the prettiest view! However, the main thing guests notice as they arrive down our driveway are the magnificent sea views beyond awaiting them from their rooms!

We will soon begin the final repairs to make our roof good as new and renovate any interiors of rooms that may have been damaged in the storm.

To commemorate the bicentenary, the town is hosting a range of celebratory events over ten days, beginning Saturday July 9th 2011. With the town centered around the harbour, the Tall Ship will be open for tours along with yacht and kayak races around the bay and harbour activities run by Stramash Outdoor Activity Company. The Oban Distillery is one of the town’s oldest attractions dating back to 1794 so there is no surprise to see their involvement with weeklong celebrations taking place there. On Saturday 16th there will be a Guinness World record attempt for the biggest Highland Dance ‘strip the willow’ on the North Pier. Join in if you wear tartan!

The highlight of the events will be an appearance from HRH Princess Royal when she will visit The Oban Times and The Oban War and Peace Museum on Tuesday July 12. Princess Anne is no stranger to Oban and the Islands with a visit in 2010 on the Hebridean Princess along with the rest of the Royal Family. She frequents the waters near the hotel on many occasions in her yacht and you may even catch a peep of her this time if she pops in for a scone!

For more information of events taking place, please visit the following sites:
http://www.oban.org.uk/Oban-Bicentenary-Scotland
http://www.oban.org.uk/pdfs/bicentennialbrochure.pdf

Now to make it even easier for hotel guests, locals and visitors to the area to enjoy our wonderful view and locally sourced food, we are introducing a newly designed four course Table D’hôte menu for £32.00 per person along with a brand new A la Carte Menu. We hope the choice of the two menus will give dinner guests more options when it come to dining with us. After all, there are some nights when guests just fancy one course not four!

The menus have been personally written by our Head Chef, David  Bell, in conjunction with local suppliers to include as much of our superb, locally produced products, as possible. Loch Fyne Langoustines, Tarbet Crab, Argyll Beef, Clachan Seil Oysters, Ardfern Organic Rocket, Gigha Halibut and Argyll Hill Lamb will feature heavily,  as well as some Scottish Favourites such as Stornoway Black Pudding and interesting Scottish Cheeses.

We hope that whatever the occasion, you’ll be certain to find something special to suit all appetites without having to break the bank or your belt!

Please visit our website to view our new A la Carte menu and Table D’hôte menu.

We set off from Loch Melfort earlier than some like to get out of bed and arrived at the restaurant in time for a reviving  oyster – yes that’s right an oyster at 10.30am! MHORFish has a demonstration room above its fish restaurant and the staff were taught how to open an oyster and details such as how to tell if they were off. Obviously the chefs in our group knew this, but it was interesting for the other staff, some of whom had never dared try one before, to learn about this delicacy.

Next on our fishy itinerary was learning the skills of filleting – plaice and then squid. After preparing the fish ourselves, Tom Lewis then gave us a demonstration of what to serve with the seasonal fish and cooked up a storm for our lunch.

Tom showing us how it's done.

The staff with the squid.

The finished meal.

After a delicious feast we were then taken to Glengoyne Distillery where we were given a tour of the distillery and got to sample their 10 year, 12 year, 17 year and 21 year old single malts. We were then given the chance to be whisky makers ourselves in the state-of-the-art “Sample Room” where we blended together our own whisky using Glengoyne, Islay, Speyside amongst others.

The day was enjoyed by all that took part and we all came away having learned a little bit extra, tried something new and brimming with new ideas for our menu which always has locally caught fish.

Rachel Ross accepting one of Loch Melfort's awards.

Recruiting and keeping quality local employees gave us the basis for forming a great team with visible continuity. Guests love speaking to locals who have knowledge of the area and can advise them on things to do and see. They also love to see someone they recognise when they return!

Nothing is too much trouble. On bonfire night last year, one family left their 4 year old with Rachel to watch the hotel bonfire and have sparklers with the other children whilst they had a lovely romantic dinner and watched through the window. When they left they said it was the most magical weekend they had ever had!

We aim to provide a home from home experience in our hotel, with the personal touch at every level, for example a selection of toys put in rooms for arrival or fresh flowers in our suites.

In 2010 the hotel also won a Social Responsibility Award for their work with the NTS Arduaine Garden next door.

Visit the HRS Hotel Excellence Awards website to read the full case studies on Excellent Customer Service and Best Family Friendly Hotel.