Bridgend Hotel

On our return to this fabulous island we again chose to stay at the “Heart of Islay”, the Bridgend Hotel. The Hotel is a perfect base to travel around the island with the bus stop at the front door and a convenience shop across the road. The incredible staff really do make the place with award winning manager, Megan providing a warm Islay welcome and great local knowledge.  The rooms have very large and incredibly comfortable beds and thanks to Fay are spotlessly clean. The restaurant and bar areas are perfect as is the impressive menu on offer whether it be breakfast, lunch or dinner. As such a well respected venue it can be busy, especially for dinner, so book well in advance. The friendly and professional front of house staff of Martika, Margaret, Gemma, Lauren and Elise work tirelessly to make sure you enjoy your visit and are made very welcome. Megan and her team are undoubtedly the reason people continually revisit and that’s not just locals. Thanks to Storm Kathleen we had to stay an extra night which for many would have been a concern but not at the Bridgend it was a delight! There will undoubtedly be other staff members who I have not mentioned, such as the chef and his team, who make a significant contribution to the success of the hotel so thank you to them as well. Whether you’re staying, dining or simply having a drink in the bar it comes highly recommended. We will return soon to once again appreciate the original Islay experience.

Well located to get around Islay, welcoming and friendly staff, pleasant and clean room, good breakfast and overall a great spot, would definitely go back! If anyone at the hotel reads this, pleeaaase help me find the wonderful smelling toiletries you provided, as I neglected to write the name!

After spending time in Edinburgh and Glasgow, this was the perfect place to end our stay in Scotland. Islay is magical and the Bridgend is the picture perfect bed and breakfast on the island. The staff is so accommodating; so welcoming. Our room overlooked the green across the road; the stars that came out at might were gorgeous. The dinners we had there on both nights of our stay were 5-star delicious. Can recommend very highly - you will enjoy every bit of our stay.

I stayed here for 5 nights as part of a birdwatching tour. The room was comfortable, clean and tidy. Plenty of hot water good shower. WiFi available. The food was of a good standard, service excellent. All staff were friendly and helpful. Popular with locals, restaurant always busy. Good selection of Islay malts. Comfortable lounge to enjoy a dram. Highly recommended.

We visited Bridgend Hotel for 3 nights in September. We had an amazing time . The rooms were beautiful and clean. The food was delicious, we had breakfast every day and ate there twice for dinner. All the staff were so friendly and genuinely wished for you to have a wonderful stay . I would recommend this hotel .

The hotel is ideally located in the middle of the island. We had a superb time there and beyond our expectation. The room was pleasant as a standard double and the bed particularly comfortable Quality of the food was great. We enjoyed two dinners at the restaurant as well as the general cosy ambiance of the hotel. However what made our stay so enjoyable was the friendliest and helpfulness of all the staff. It feels that the manager knows what he wants from his staff and has recruited so well. Thank you Ian and the team.

We got married here on 12th August 2023 and arrived at the hotel a few days before. From the start Iain and his team did absolutely everything they could for us to make our Islay wedding easy! We had regular teams meetings to discuss logistics of the wedding and Iain's wedding expertise is second to none! I will admit (just) that I am a perfectionist and do event planning as my job although not in a wedding capacity so my expectations were high. I have no issue in saying that Iain and his team absolutely blew me away and exceeded my expectations. I honestly couldn't have made the day better infact they made it better in all the little things that were happening backstage! From the moment we got there we had amazing meals every night and on the wedding day the food was of such a high standard that my guests are still taking about the islay Estates Beef....and I regret not having that as my wedding meal as it looked beautiful! If anyone is looking for a lovely intimate venue for a wedding with extremely friendly and professional staff then you will not be disappointed! The staff that served us (which was probably the whole hotel over the few days we were there) were probably the highest standard I've had in a very very long time. All of them went over and beyond and nothing was an issue at all - a true islay trait! They all clearly like being there and will turn their hand to helping in any department. I believe this is down to good management of the hotel so thank you all very much. I really can't thank everyone enough for making our wedding day so magical and memorable. Best hotel on the island...in my opinion! Although I do have the evidence to back that statement up! Thanks again everyone! X

We stayed at the Brigend Hotel as a part of our honeymoon and had an amazing experience. One thing to say upfront (and this is not unique to Brigend) is that it is CRITICAL to book any taxis you need at least a day in advance. The taxi companies on Islay are all small companies with just a few cars so it is very difficult to get a cab on the fly. Either rent a car (also must be planned in advance) or expect to order taxi pickups/drop-offs well in advance. Now onto Brigend specifically… We arrived before check-in and Pete was very helpful getting our stuff stored and got us a pot of tea to enjoy in the lounge. When we had a hard time getting a taxi to take us into Port Ellen Pete checked on us several times and tried calling taxis himself to help us find one. The hotel room was lovely, and the bed was extremely comfortable, and the dinner was excellent (highly recommend the mac n cheese). The only negative comment I have is that when I booked the room, I emailed the hotel telling them about our plan to visit distilleries via taxi and asked if that was feasible. They never responded to the email. Had they responded, we would have been aware of the limitations and made sure we were covered. While we were able to work things out thanks to Lam Taxi, it added a lot of stress when we arrived on Islay that could have easily been avoided.

We got lucky as the hotel had a cancellation. We were having a less pleasant experience elsewhere, so moved to Brigend Hotel for our final night. All staff were very friendly and welcoming, with a special mention to Mia (I think that was her name), who we saw in the evening and at breakfast. She really made our stay. We had a small double, which was fine for us. The only thing I would say is that perhaps I’d take out the desk and put a bedside table on both sides of the bed. The shower was great, and the toiletries were lovely. The bed was comfy and the bedding was soft and cosy. Finally, breakfast was fantastic! A good choice, using a lot of tasty local produce. We definitely hope to return sometime!