5 Cool and Eco-Friendly Places to Stay in Scotland
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This article was written by Martin Dunford from Cool Places, who shares some of his favourite sustainable places to stay in Scotland.
Scotland’s stunning natural landscapes, nature and wildlife make this country an obvious choice for an environmentally friendly holiday, and to some extent, it is ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability.
There’s an emphasis on low-impact tourism pretty much everywhere, even in the most visited parts of the country: Scottish cuisine and ingredients have been rediscovered in recent years and as a result seasonal and local produce feature heavily on many menus; nature is resurgent in many parts of the country; and there are lots of places to stay that tick all the right boxes, aiming to not only limit their impact on the local environment but also give something back to local economies.
They also often offer high levels of service, comfort and amenities. Here are a few favourite places to stay in Scotland that are doing their best for the environment and for tourism.
East Cambusmoon
East Cambusmoon is a luxury Loch Lomond self-catering retreat. It has been kind to the environment since we all started worrying about such things, when owners Deborah and Steve Macken adapted their knowledge of renewables to set up their dream holiday home.
These cottages are not only fabulously well insulated, they get their heat and hot water from a ground-source heat pump and energy from a set of solar panels. They also have no less than three charging points for electric vehicles.
Not only that, both cottages (one sleeps four, the other eight) are open, airy spaces with lots of light that bring the surrounding countryside in while at the same time offering cosy boltholes that are proof that attention to the basics of sustainability doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice anything on comfort.
The location is as good as it gets for outdoor activities, with lots of great bike rides, walks and plenty of outdoor action around Loch Lomond on your doorstep. You can also bring your four-legged friend, too.
Gartocharn, Loch Lomond & Trossachs National Park, West Dunbartonshire G83 8RZ
Craighead Howfs
It would be hard to find a place anywhere in the UK that blended luxury and quirkiness quite as effectively as they do at Craighead Howfs – a collection of unique and luxurious self-catering properties set in natural gardens and wooded hills amid beautiful countryside not far from Dunblane.
For those not familiar with the word, a ‘howf’ is a favourite shelter, haunt or abode, and these seven properties fit the bill. They range from a couple of characterful stone cottages with handmade furniture to two curvy hobbit houses dug into a grassy bank, to several magnificent treehouses, one of which has a huge star-gazing lookout above a king-size bed.
Wood-fired hot tubs, eco-friendly compost toilets, hand-hewn furnishings and beautiful grounds complete with donkeys, pygmy goats and Highland cows, together make up a picture which is at one with nature, supremely comfortable and utterly unique.
Craighead Farm, Braco, Dunblane, Perthshire FK15 9LP
Tallavey Cottages
Situated just outside Pitlochry, in the heart of the Perthshire Highlands, Tallavey Cottages claim to offer ‘more than just self-catering’, and they are not kidding, with a sauna, a hot tub, all sorts of spa treatments and the robes to go with them that are just some of the little extras available.
It’s all delivered with oodles of eco-conscious style and enthusiasm, with heat from an eco-friendly biomass boiler, an EV charging point outside and electricity from a renewables-only provider.
Above all, it’s a properly romantic retreat for two, and you might not want to leave its cosy four walls, but there are plenty of outdoor delights on offer and things to do in Pitlochry, from private tours of the nearby lochs and glens to walking on the long-distance Cateran Trail and kayaking on Loch Tummel.
Or you might prefer to stay right here at Tallavey. By day, you might be lucky enough to spot a red squirrel or deer. By night, you can lie in your tub and just gaze at the stars.
Tigh na Croft, Enochdhu, Perthshire PH10 7PW
Ecotone Cabins
‘Eco’ by name and by nature, Ecotone Cabins are sustainable wooden cabins, perched in a woodland clearing overlooking the clear and glassy waters of Loch Broom. As ‘Scottish’ a scene as you are likely to find – pitch you deep into a different world, one in which wildlife and nature set the tone.
The cabins are part of their owners’ plan to increase the biodiversity of this former pine plantation in a way that is as friendly to people as it is to the planet. They are slick and comfortable abodes, with modern kitchens, dining and living rooms, covered decks, glass fronts and plentiful windows to connect you to the outdoors. They are also designed to be as sustainable as possible, built with local timber and insulated to make them brilliantly energy efficient.
One cabin sleeps two, the other four, and you couldn’t be more immersed in nature if you tried, with birdsong in the woods, startlingly clear constellations in the skies, and the odd pine marten or red squirrel paying a call now and then.
Leckmelm Wood, Ullapool, Ross & Cromarty IV23 2RH
Cairngorm Lodges
Pine martens and red squirrels also feature prominently at Cairngorm Lodges, located up near Ballater in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, where the 750-acre Blelack Estate provides a natural playground for all sorts of indigenous wildlife.
You’ll also spot plentiful red deer in the dense woods here, not to mention lots of birds of prey like sparrowhawks and kestrels, and the estate has a couple of dozen marked paths that make it easy to explore.
They do everything here with the local environment in mind, building the lodges with sustainable timber, recycling absolutely everything, and conserving local flora and fauna by encouraging dragonflies, running bee-keeping courses and offering lots of advice on where to spot the abundant local wildlife.
Each lodge comfortably sleeps four people, and there’s something very special about waking up deep in what is by any standards a uniquely off-the-beaten-track woodland location. As such, it’s a proper get-away-from-it-all break, with no WiFi, no reception building and no additional facilities – just the lodges, the woods, and you!
Logie Coldstone, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire AB34 5PQ
Cool Places is a celebration of the UK, home to some of the best independently owned places to stay in the UK and lots more besides.
