The Scotsman

Ardbeg House on Islay opened this month. Rosalind Erskine was one of the first to visit and stay in the new, luxury hotel from the whisky brand.

"In the corner there’s a lobster creel with knitted crabs on it. The crabs have been made by a local knitting group”, isn’t the first thing you’d expect to hear about one of 12 bespoke rooms in a newly opened, luxury Scottish island hotel, but this isn’t your average abode. This is Ardbeg - the bold brand behind the Glenmorangie Group’s smoky Islay whisky - and the transformation of the former Islay Hotel in Port Ellen by the equally as bold Russell Sage Studio, into Ardbeg House.

We’re standing in the Wee Beastie room, one of the 12 which have been designed around Islay legends, folklore, events and stories from the whisky distillery staff. Wee Beastie is, of course, Ardbeg’s five year old whisky, but this deep red room with its feature, curved copper headboard, vintage furniture, knitted crabs, real-life creel, midge artwork and mermaid-tiled bathroom, takes inspiration from the ‘beasties’ of Islay rather than its namesake whisky.