The Heron

The Heron started life as Ardentinny's tea rooms, where walkers once stopped for a pot and a scone after a morning in the Argyll Forest. It is a cottage now, detached and all on one level, but it still sits 25 yards from Loch Long, and six windows still face the water. Those six windows define the stay. From the living room, the dining table, and both bedrooms, the loch fills the frame. Seals surface in the shallows. Eider ducks paddle past in loose flotillas. On still mornings, bottlenose dolphins sometimes break the surface further out. A telescope and binoculars sit ready on the windowsill, though most of the wildlife needs no magnification. Two dogs are welcome, and the enclosed garden is a genuine relief for owners whose dogs like to test boundaries. Off-lead in the garden while you sort boots and coats, then 25 yards to the loch shore for a paddle, or straight across the road into the Argyll Forest, where marked trails and cycleways run for miles. The cottage is ground-floor throughout, so muddy paws stay on one level. Back inside, the wood burner is the centrepiece of the living room, and it throws serious heat. Load it up on a cold evening and the whole cottage warms through, the loch view flickering in the stove-door glass. The kitchen has a dishwasher and a washer dryer alongside the usual cooking kit. A bathroom with both a bath and a separate shower cubicle means one person can shower while another soaks, and the dining table seats the household around a proper meal. The Ardentinny pub is five minutes on foot, serving food that settles a long walking day properly. For longer outings, the Carrick Castle loop is a 14-mile circuit along the loch, Benmore Botanic Garden is a short drive towards Dunoon, and an hourly bus connects the village to Dunoon's high street and ferry terminal. Parking for three cars gives you flexibility for days further afield. The loch is right there, the forest starts across the road, and the dog is already asleep in front of the stove. That, more or less, is The Heron.