I just have to respond to the other two reviews.

Having stayed at the hotel twice, I have to say that the bar is one of my top 5 favourites from the many I have visited around the world. And no, I am not a drunkard. We have had some fantastic nights there and it is true you have to join in the fun but when you do it can make for some special nights.

The hotel itself has a faded charm that really appeals to my wife and I. It is a real place unlike many souless hotels.

The only sad thing is the lifeboat situation which I hope can be sorted out eventually.

We came to islay for a xmas trip in Dec 2004 Port Askaig is a shabby little dump the only thing nice was the staff who where great other than that the room was small with 1960's flower power carpet! the hotel smells like a chip shop gone wrong. The bar is nothing more than a cheap drinking den for the drunk + loud fishermen that would inhabit it 24/7 if they could!
the window in our room was cracked and our room was facing the frount of the hotel so we had a cold draft all night threw with the cold brisk wind blowing frount on the hotel.
the tarrif for the room was £280 for the two nights we stayed ha they should be paying us . i do not give this hotel a good review and will never stay there again.

Stay away from this place.
Location is beautiful, but the hotel itself is a shabby relic of the past: smelly carpets, wallpaper, furniture and fittings from the 1960s,artificial flowers, small rooms, grubby toilets, dodgy electrics (the light above our bed was hot to the touch, half an hour after being on) etc...
The covered car-park at the back is piled high with discarded mattress, cooker, old TV set, boxes...all kind of rubbish -all in full view of the guests: shameful!
Also in full view is the lifeboat station: highly "decorated " with garlands of rubbish (due to a spat between the two parties).
A drinking den: if you enjoy drinking to oblivion, then this place is for you, as you will hardly notice the state of the hotel anyway.
We stayed there one friday night and one tiny person behind the bar was well oiled by 6pm.
Next morning, at breakfast, we were told there was no orange juice (which is the only one on offer). Eventually someone got some from the bar.
One man, who had been there a few days, told us there was no bread the day before! Incredible! How bad can it get?
The staff all seem to be very nice people, but is this hotel badly run!
All in all, such a shame! In the hands of caring, self-aware people, this hotel could be a gem.

My single room was more like a broom cupboard than a room. From the smell, It may even have been a toilet in a past life. If you are thinking about it, don't, unless you are punishing yourself for something bad that you've done. Also, take earplugs, you'll need them!