Overview

We stayed on this site on the Isle of Islay for two nights in our motorhome, as part of a longer road trip. The location is amazing, with stunning views over the sea to the other side of Islay. There is a huge field (great for dogs or children to play) and a facilities block in the centre but I found getting around quite challenging.

Transport & Parking

We arrived on the afternoon ferry into Port Askaig and drove across the island to Port Charlotte, which took about 40 minutes. The road surface isn't great and some of it is single track road, but when we arrived, the car park is big, has blue badge spaces and is a good tarmac surface, so we were pretty impressed. Hubby checked in and we drove down a hill to the pitches. The road surface to the pitches and the pitches themselves is a kind of compacted gravel but with large pointy stones in it.

Access

The pitches and roads around the site are really difficult to move around on in a manual wheelchair. I managed fine in my mountain trike though. There is also a route via the field but this is grass and goes uphill, so also not easy. Because the site is on a hill, there are ramps to access the main building. Some of these are very steep and I wouldn't have managed them without help. Similarly, there is a ramp to get off site onto the local paths, but this was also too steep for me to manage independently.

Toilets

Once inside, the accessible toilet and shower looked fine. I didn't actually use the shower, as I wouldn't have been able to get to it independently, so it was easier to use my own in the motorhome. Getting into the building was the first issue. The entrance door had a step so I eventually found the exit door. The exit door was better, though it was heavy and had a lip to get over, but there was a big sign on it forbidding entry. I ignored that as I had no option. Once inside, the accessible toilet appeared to be in use. After sitting and waiting for a fairly long time, we decided to knock and check that whoever was inside was okay. There was no response and we also noticed that no light was coming from under the door. Eventually my husband used a coin to unlock the door from the outside. There was nobody inside. It was just locked.

Staff

I didn't meet any staff. My husband seemed happy enough with whoever he checked in with on arrival. The main centre usually has a cafe and community area but this was closed for the 3 days that we were there.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

We would use the site again but only because we have all our own facilities. I wouldn't be able to stay there on my own, as things like toilet emptying were at the top of the hill and I would find it too difficult. That said, it was very peaceful, beautiful and dogs were allowed off lead as long as they were well behaved, so it gave us chance to give my assistance dog a free run.

Photos