Corriemar House

Corriemar House stands on the Corran Esplanade, the wide curving seafront road that follows the north shore of Oban Bay from the railway pier round to the cathedral and on toward Ganavan. The bay it faces is sheltered by the island of Kerrera, a low, green island a mile across the water, with the higher hills of Mull rising behind on a clear day. From this side of the bay the harbour lights pick out the CalMac terminal in the evenings; ferries arrive and depart through the night on the Mull, Lismore, Coll, Tiree, Barra and South Uist routes.

The esplanade was laid out in the late nineteenth century when Oban was settling into its second life as a Victorian resort town, and the villas along it were built in the same period, substantial stone three-storey houses, most now in use as guest houses, small hotels and apartments. Corriemar is one of the row.

The position is what makes it work for travellers: ten minutes’ walk along the seafront brings you to the railway station, the ferry terminal, George Street’s shops and restaurants, and St Columba’s Cathedral. McCaig’s Tower, the unfinished Colosseum-style folly raised by John Stuart McCaig in the 1890s, sits on the hill directly behind the esplanade and is a steep but rewarding climb for the view.

Current rates and booking at the Corriemar House website.