Brander Lodge Hotel

The hotel sits at Bridge of Awe, a hamlet on the A85 between Taynuilt and the head of Loch Awe. The setting is dramatic: the road runs through the Pass of Brander, a narrow defile between Ben Cruachan to the north and the loch shore to the south, and the hotel grounds open directly on to the river Awe as it leaves the loch through the pass.

Cruachan rises above the hotel to 1,126 metres, one of the highest of the southern Highland peaks. The road and railway both squeeze under its flank along the loch. The hollowed-out heart of the mountain holds Cruachan Power Station, the original “Hollow Mountain” pumped-storage hydro scheme, opened in 1965, with a public visitor centre a couple of miles east of the hotel along the A85 toward Lochawe village.

The position makes Brander Lodge a practical base for the inland half of Argyll: Kilchurn Castle at the head of Loch Awe (a ruined Campbell stronghold accessible by short walk from the A85 layby), the Bonawe Iron Furnace at Taynuilt, and Inveraray a half-hour further south. Oban itself is twenty minutes west by road, with the CalMac terminal for the Inner Hebrides ferries.

The road through the pass is fast and busy; the hotel’s drive turns off it sharply, so slow well before the entrance. Booking and current rates at the Brander Lodge Hotel website.