Brilliant lodge Jayne and Andrew awesome hosts with great local knowledge, and as the title suggests the wildlife both from the lodge and in the area was stunning ( except the wee timorous beasties) aka the Scottish midge.
Would thoroughly recommend to anyone who loves wildlife and its also a great area for walking and cycling.

We had an idea of what the Mingarry Lodges provided as we had googled them prior to booking. However, we were completly bowled over by what we found when we arrived after a long journey from West Sussex. The Lodge was, in our opinion, 5 star in everything and we found that apart from food we needed nothing for our stay. There was even the nice touch by Jayne of providing us with basics of milk, tea and other items including a scrumptious lemon drizzle cake and Scottish shortbread which we felt had to be eaten. The location was outstanding, for us coming from the crowded South it was quiet and peaceful with very little traffic on the roads. As for the wildlife, it was fantastic to see one of the Pine Martins come as near as 2 feet away to eat the food provided by Jayne. We also saw a Badger, Squirrels, Woodpecker and many other birds. We even saw, thanks to the cam, accessible from the TV, blue tit chicks in their nest and the parents feeding them which was an eye opener for us. Overall, we were very happy with the Lodge and the area and intend to go back in the near future. Only have two words of caution, neither of which is down to Mingarry. Firstly, we went in early June and got severly bitten by the pesky Scottish midges so make sure you take insect repellent and cream and secondly, if travelling to Fort William we suggest you use the road via Invergarry rather than the ferry which at £8.20 each way for a 5 minute journey was very expensive. Enjoy!

Spent a lovely week at Tooting Lodge. Had amazing weather (no rain all week). Lovely hosts, providing everything plus more you may need. Cosy lodge, great wildlife and peaceful. Lovely area of Scotland, very picturesque. All 4 of us really enjoyed our stay.

We had a wonderful break at Tooting Lodge. It has been very comfortably appointed with a great deal of thoughtfulness to make it homely and a great place to stay. The welcome pack was generous and comprehensive and the equipment, reference books and dvd collection and games provided in the Lodge were excellent. Andrew and Jayne clearly invest a lot of time and thought into ensuring everything is catered for.
The spring break we had was like being in a private episode of Springwatch, with live access to cameras in nest boxes and views of feeders within 2-3 metres of the lodge windows, which attracted a huge variety of birds and, to our delight, red squirrels. We also encountered deer and, thanks to Andrew and Jayne's advice, were able to see a white tailed Sea Eagle.
Local walks were excellent, with comprehensive notes and maps provided in the lodge and we also went on a trip to see the puffins at Lunga and Fingal's Cave, which was well worth the effort.
In short, this was a break where we totally slowed down and had time to actually see and appreciate all that nature has to offer- often from our very own comfortable sofa inside Tooting Lodge!

A fabulous location with amazing wildlife. A beautiful lodge with all the comforts of home. Perfectly situated for exploring the stunning area. Our hosts could not have been more welcoming and went to great lengths to ensure we had a great holiday.

Mingarry lodges are in a wonderful setting - in a remote area but accessible to delightful villages , coves, nature reserves and wildlife hides. Jayne and Andrew have created a wonderful place to visit and so much love and care has been put in to making us comfortable and welcome. We have had a wonderful stay cycling and walking the ardnamurcan peninsula which is stunningly beautiful . We can recommend loch shiel cruises to see the White tip Eagles and a visit to arnamurcan lighthouse and new distillery is recommended . The nature centre at glenberg is also recommended - lovely owners and great lunches - we were spoiled ! Back to tooting lodge - it is spotless and so cosy and warm - beautiful scenery to the woods behind to watch the wildlife , opportunity to feed birds and other magical creatures. Jayne and Andrew have put so much thought and care into creating a wonderful holiday experience for people who appreciate nature and wildlife xx we will hope to return one day as we are very lucky to have found this special place in an untouched part of the U.K. . Xxxx

Five star everything - the welcome, the wonderful lodge accommodation, the wildlife on the doorstep (literally) - and even the weather! (on this trip!). Beautiful & peaceful retreat, great area for walking and just getting away from it all.

Hooting Lodge is a perfect location for visiting the Ardnamurchan area. Plenty of local wildlife and excellent facilities in the Lodge, including helpful information about the area.

What can I say.. from the moment we arrived it was like heaven. A cacophony of birdsong greeted us as we opened the car door, and I've never seen so many siskins! The lodge was by far the best and most luxurious place we've ever stayed at, and was so warm and cosy. Jayne and Andrew have thought of absolutely everything you could require for a week away and the welcome tray was such a lovely touch. We had the most glorious weather and saw so much wildlife including sea eagles and pine martens.. but if it had rained all week we'd have been more than happy watching all the wildlife from the lodge! A dream to sit having a cup of tea in the morning watching red squirrels only feet away on the feeders.. I was up at 6am each morning watching them and all the different birds from each window. We hardly watched any regular TV all week.. preferring to watch the live webcams from the nest boxes and 'rodent cam' which was usually visited by 'Roger' the red deer stag! Jayne even let us borrow a bat detector which was great fun at dusk. She was so friendly and informative on the local area. We've fallen in love with the whole area and Mingarry lodges are the perfect place to stay.. Can't wait for our next visit.

This lovely lodge was so cosy and comfortable and felt like home as soon as we arrived. The location is fantastic and a treat for nature lovers. For anyone who loves the outdoors and the stunning beauty of Scotland this is the place to stay.

My stay at Mingarry Lodges was a wonderful experience in every way. The accommodation could not have been better, the level of equipment being beyond all reasonable expectations.
Jayne and Andrew spared no effort to enhance our stay, making us comfortable, giving us information about the local area, the wildlife, and places to go, even to the extent of providing a weather forecast and tide information for the week ahead! Our frequent chats about what we had seen and where we had visited were a delight, and I very quickly felt as if I had known them a considerable time.
I heard about Mingarry Lodges form a former guest, and like that family, would highly recommend staying there to anybody who likes comfort, wildlife, has an interest in geology, and amazing scenery.

This was our second time at Mingarry Lodges and Tooting Lodge was every bit as good as Hooting Lodge. Although we knew what to expect, the extra little touch of an Easter Egg awaiting us on arrival, alongside the welcome tray with all its goodies, and all the comforts of the lodge made it a pleasure to be back again.

As well as the high quality of the accommodation, it was again wonderful to enjoy the wildlife right on the doorstep. Although we did not see some of those who came visiting in the dead of night, the highlight, that we were even able to capture on camera, was a reindeer, enjoying the grass in the front garden!!!

The location is also a perfect base from which to explore the many of the hidden treasures of the area. For us, this included returning to some of the places we previously explored such as Sanna Bay, Castle Tioram and Smirisary. However, new ground was broken through completing several of the walks right on the doorstep of Mingarry, the most notable of which was the Silver Walk along the edge of Loch Moidart.

Another first was lunch at the Acharacle Tearoom, next door to the village Post Office. Although the car park was jam packed when we arrived and the Tearoom was bustling we were able to get a seat and highly recommend the food and service. Although we would strongly suggest leaving space for the delicious home baked cakes. Our only regret was that we didn’t manage to get back for a second visit but we will be back next time we are in the area.

We would highly recommend Mingarry Lodges and look forward to returning again.

We had a brilliant week in Tooting Lodge at the end of October. The weather was variable but there are some wonderful walks and beautiful scenery only a short distance from the lodge. The wildlife was spectacular whatever the weather with red squirrels, pine martens, a pair of jays and so many other birds visiting daily thanks to Jayne's assiduous feeding programme. The lodge itself was cosy, homely and immaculately clean, stocked with a huge number of books, maps, guides, DVDs and CDs. We could not have wished for more and we intend to return!

Jayne & Andrew were perfect hosts, friendly, informative & welcoming. The log cabin was very well equipped with everything we needed for a comfortable stay. Bedding & towels supplied were of good quality with lovely big towels. Heating system was very efficient. We enjoyed watching a wide variety of wildlife around the cabin and many species of birds. We would definitely recommend the log cabins to anyone wanting to explore the Ardnamurchan peninsula, we visited Sanna Bay & the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula, went across the ferry from Kilchoan to Tobermory on Mull for the day, Castle Tioram is quite near to the cabins as is the beach at Ardtoe, another good day trip is to Arisaig and the singing sands at Morar, then on to Mallaig.

I would say that Mingarry lodges made the perfect base. We will hopefully visit again and have already recommend to our family & friends.

Very good holiday, accommodation very good and weather helped. Jayne full of information to help plan you're days out. Pinemartin on veranda table every night was a special treat, even looked in window on first night

My husband and I love nature and decided to spend a week at Mingarry lodge, we stayed at the Tooting lodge, it is immaculate, clean and tidy, with a very well equipped kitchen. The owners have thought of every little detail. They also have wonderful feeding stations for birds and squirrels we were very fortunate to see beautiful red squirrels playing in the little forest where the lodge is situated. The view from the veranda is lovely overlooking a loch in the distance. We cycled, walked and took many a photograph in the area. There is an adequately stocked grocery shop a few miles away, and we found every-one to be friendly, and we felt welcome in the area. The bedroom was clean and comfortable, the bed cosy. The fact that the lodge has a bath and shower is a bonus! We recommend this lodge very highly.

the stay was perfect. everything was clean and we both wished we booked a longer stay. the area was perfect and it was a great stay away from the city.

I had the good fortune to meet Jayne and Andrew at the Garbh Eilean wildlife hide during my June 2015 visit to the Scottish Highlands. Following a subsequent Google search for Mingarry Lodges which Jayne had mentioned, I eventually booked a week in Hooting Lodge commencing 19th September 2015.

Searching for availability and booking via PayPal was very straightforward and I received both an auto-generated receipt for payment and a personal confirmation e-mail from Jayne. Information provided by Jayne in respect of finding Mingarry Lodges was very good albeit we did not need this as we are familiar with the area from numerous previous visits.

The Mingarry Lodges website is very informative in terms of what is offered but even then this does not prepare you fully for the excellent standard of accommodation in all respects.

We stayed in Hooting Lodge which was warm, comfortable, spotlessly clean and fully equipped. We tried to identify something that was not provided but we failed completely. Absolutely everything you will need is provided!

Jayne and Andrew provided a genuinely warm welcome and their knowledge of the local area and what to see and do is exceptional. This is supplemented by a huge amount of information in files and folders in the lodge itself. This will be extremely helpful to any guests who are not familiar with the area.

Apart from the lodges, Jayne and Andrew deserve great credit for attracting a variety of wildlife to the grounds surrounding Mingarry Lodges. Every morning we saw Red Squirrels visiting the nut feeders at the rear of the lodges (at least 4 individuals seen at once) plus we had evening/nightly visits to the verandah table from 1 or 2 Pine Martens (at least 3 different individuals seen). Amazing!

Mingarry Lodges is located very centrally to visit all of the Ardnamurchan peninsula plus Mull and Skye can easily be reached by CalMac ferries. Stunning mountain and loch scenery and exciting wildlife, including White-tailed Eagles, Golden Eagles, Otters, Common and Grey Seals, Red Deer and much more, is on offer everywhere.

We have stayed in many self-catering cottages and cabins in the Scottish Highlands over the years but I can say without any hesitation at all that Mingarry Lodges is by far the best in terms of quality, value for money, friendly hosts and on site wildlife watching.

Well done Jayne and Andrew on all the hard work that you have evidently put in to make Mingarry Lodges so attractive and many thanks for making our stay so enjoyable.

Mingarry Lodges is highly recommended. For anyone reading the reviews, don’t just think about booking, do it!

Spent a week at Mingarry Lodges September 2015 with my wife and son and we were delighted with the accommodation. Our host Jayne was very friendly and extremely helpful, providing lots of good tips on things to do and see and making sure all was well with the lodge and provided a practical welcome pack of milk, tea, coffee, cake and shortbread! There are two lodges side by side but no problems with privacy. The lodge itself was just perfect, very well kept, spotlessly clean, spacious, all the mod-cons you could ask for in good condition and working order and the decor is fresh and homely. The lodge was very well-heated and cosy and the beds were very comfortable. There is loads of well-ordered information provided by the owners to help you out with the lodge and with local information and things to do (great collection of walking routes). There is also a great selection of OS maps (1:25000 and 1:50000) aswell as a good selection of books and games.
The lodges are reached by a short track off the main road up a slight incline and parking there was no problem. There is a beautifully well-kept garden at the front of the lodges with colourful flowers and table/benches and is nicely secluded from the main road (very little traffic on the main road anyway) The lodges also have a veranda with table/chairs that gets the sum most of the day. The owners have made the area around the lodges a haven for wildlife; with the likes of red squirrels and pine martins and birds of all sorts to be seen. The local village of Acharacle (about 5 mins drive) has a useful selection of facilities, village store, bakery, post office,
There are loads of great places to see in the surrounding area, provided you like the outdoors of course and Mingarry/Acharacle is nicely placed to head off in various directions. Here are some of the places we visited and walks we did that I would recommend
- Castle Tioram (5 min drive)
- Ardtoe beach (10 min drive)
- Singing sands at Kentra bay (10 min drive, then about an hours walk to the beach)
- Ardnamurchan peninsula. About 1.5hrs drive west.We parked at Portuairk and walked the coastal path via McNeil Bay (fantastic beach) to the lighthouse and back to the car in a circular route.
- Ariundle oakwoods and old lead mines. About 30 min drive east (up the valley behind Strontian).
- Island of Eigg. We took the passenger ferry from Arisaig (about 40 min drive north) and had about 5 hours ashore and walked up An Sgurr. We were fortunate to have a clear day and had amazing views to Rhum, Muck, Skye, Mull, Ardnamurchan peninsula and the array of mountains on the mainland.
All in all we had a great time and a good part of the reason for that was the superb accommodation. I would highly recommend it.

excellent lodge with quality furnishings and everything provided, our best moments were the red squirrels and pine martins they were fantastic...every day and every night loads different bird species on the feeders. it was great that Jayne and Andrew had the same passion for wildlife as we did it was an absolute pleasure staying at " hooting lodge " its a must to return...