On Islay, the sea is never far away. It is in the salt carried by the wind, the dark peat underfoot, the weathered stone, and the smoky character of the island’s most famous whisky. At Ardbeg House, that elemental landscape moves indoors, transformed into an intimate, highly imaginative boutique hotel where design and storytelling are inseparable.
The former Islay Hotel has been reinvented in collaboration with Russell Sage Studio as a twelve-room celebration of the island’s culture, folklore, and two-century-old whisky heritage. Each room tells a different story, drawing on everything from Viking legends and smugglers to mysterious sea creatures and the mythical “Islay-gator.” Rather than imposing a single aesthetic, the interiors unfold like a collection of individual chapters, each with its own atmosphere and visual language.
More than 20 Scottish craftspeople contributed to the transformation, giving the hotel a distinctly local sense of place. At reception, a monumental “A” forged from a discarded whisky still immediately establishes the tone: industrial, artisanal, and deeply connected to Ardbeg’s heritage. In the Islay Bar, an extraordinary boat-shaped chandelier made from green Ardbeg bottles becomes a glowing centerpiece, while natural textures and richly layered surfaces echo the island’s geology and unpredictable climate.
The bathrooms continue this dialogue between landscape and craftsmanship. Marble surfaces provide a sophisticated backdrop for Kaldewei steel-enamel bathtubs and shower surfaces in Warm Grey and matte black. Their crisp architectural silhouettes introduce a note of restraint amid the hotel’s more expressive details, allowing the materials, colors, and individual narratives of each room to take center stage. The result is not a bathroom conceived as an afterthought, but a private refuge—somewhere to retreat after a day exploring windswept beaches, ancient ruins, or the Ardbeg Distillery itself.
Ardbeg House ultimately feels like a portrait of the island assembled from fragments: whisky glass, marble, forged metal, dark woods, local craftsmanship, folklore, and the ever-present sea. It is a place where luxury becomes more personal and less polished, rooted in character rather than convention. For travelers drawn to both design and whisky, it offers an unusually intimate way into Islay—one room, one legend, and one beautifully considered detail at a time.
A stay comes with a distillery tour, a daily Whisky Hour, access to exclusive bottlings.
Architecture
Russell Sage Studio
Interior Design
Russell Sage Studio
Design
Kaldewei, custom made
