@LabsUpNorth: Our Long Weekend at Loch Awe Holiday Park

Popular Instagrammer Emma and her @labsupnorth came to stay with us at our Loch Awe Holiday Park. And she left with so much more…

Scotland is by far our favourite place to be when on holiday in the UK. We’ve explored a handful of places so far but have never visited Argyll and Bute, so were really looking forward to our next adventure.

Accommodation

For our long weekend - Friday to Monday morning - we stayed at Loch Awe Holiday Park in the Ben Cruachan hot tub lodge . This lodge has three bedrooms, one double with an en-suite bathroom and two twin rooms, as well as an open plan kitching/dining and living area. The kitchen is well equipped with with a dishwasher, cooker, hob, and plenty of storage space. The hot tub and patio doors which look out onto the park are private, so we weren’t overlooked at all and could relax comfortably. The terrace had a lockable gate - so the dogs could come and go as they pleased, without ever being able to escape into the park!

An Eventful First Day…

We arrived at the lodge around 6pm on Friday and were greeted by extremely friendly staff who gave us a welcome bag for the sogs, complete with a towel, biscuits, and poo bags - which came in very handy! We had a little look around the lodge before we went to Kilchurn Castle and spent some time out on the paddle board taking in the beautiful views around us. 

Then my partner popped the question and obviously I said yes! So that kickstarted the weekend nicely. We spent most of our first night in the hot tub and had a great night’s sleep in some of the most comfortable beds I’ve ever slept in!

Saturday

We woke up on the Saturday feeling relaxed and refreshed. We decided to take advantage of the amazing weather and go for a wander around the park and through the burn across the road. The views were so stunning! Once the dogs were tired out, we came back to the lodge and spent the afternoon on the terrace and chilling in the hot tub while the dogs slept off their walk.

That evening we had dinner at the Brander Lodge and Bistro which is a 10 minute walk down the road from the holiday park. And guests at the holiday park get 10% off their food! We sat in the back looking out onto the gardens and hills around us. The food was so tasty. The bonus is that they’re dog friendly so we could take the dogs out to eat with us. 

We spent the evening chilling out in front of the fire watching TV and having a celebratory drink for both our engagement and my birthday! It was so nice to celebrate in our home away from home, and I couldn’t think of a more beautiful, peaceful place to make such memories in.

Sunday

We took a trip back to Kilchurn Castle and explored the ruins. It wasn’t particularly busy - so that was a bonus! The livestock has moved onto the other side of the loch, so they weren’t disturbed by the dogs. It does have a sign saying to keep your dogs on a lead incase of livestock, so it’s not completely dog friendly in that sense. But we used flexi leads so the dogs had some space to explore whilst still being attached to us. Once we had a good look around, we went back to the holiday park and spent the afternoon in the hot tub on the terrace. We were very kindly given a bottle of champagne for our engagement from the staff at the holiday park which was a lovely personal touch. 

There’s a path that follows the river at the bottom of the holiday park which is great to let the dogs run off some steam. It’s so peaceful and has beautiful, picturesque scenery. The dogs needed cleaning after being in the burn, so it was ideal to just pop down there before we went back for dinner.

The Final Night...

We spent our final night in front of the fire while my other half and step-son spent time in the games room playing pool and table tennis. The games room is great for kids and there’s a play park next to it for younger ones too. It also has darts and magnetic darts if you’re worried the kids will hurt themselves. The games room is also dog friendly so the dogs can go in there with you!

We’ll always have this place to go back to and the memories that go with it.

On the Monday morning, we left feeling fully recharged and relaxed after our weekend away, dreaming of the next time we’ll be visiting Scotland!