Opening Hours

Raasay House Hotel

We are now closed until 15:00 March 31st 2023. We may open out of season for a entire hotel bookings. Please enquire via email to info@raasay-house.co.uk.

We reserve the right to change our opening days/hours without notice.

2021 Newsletter

What a year!

We were not sure what to expect when we reopened in May and we were pleasantly surprised to find such a high number of bookings even without our overseas visitors. A big thank you to all of our staycation guests, our day visitors and of course our group guests who finally made it back to us after missing out in 2020. We were delighted to welcome so many families who may have usually gone overseas for their summer holidays. Our average stay length was much longer this year and our All-Inclusive Activity Holidays were more popular than ever!

UK reality fans got another dose of Raasay!

In May the 6th season of the Channel 4 show “SAS: Who dares Wins” aired and the Isle of Raasay was once again streaming into front rooms all over the UK. It’s amazing how many people have discovered Raasay through the show and have come to explore the activity locations here on the island this summer. Fans of the show have been surprised to find that Raasay has a much milder climate in the summer months than in the winter when the show was filmed with markedly less mud! Here is our post about our SAS Experience.

Spreading out to stop the spread

Like all hospitality businesses in the UK, we had some real challenges this year due to the pandemic. To meet government requirements for physical distancing and to keep our customers safe we had to get creative with our space. We decided to transform our ‘West Wing Hall’ into a pool and beer hall which ended up being the perfect place to watch the world cup on a projector! We are always keen to embrace technology so we also trialled app ordering in this area with some success. With some tweaking, we may expand on that in the coming years

Climavore

We were honoured to continue our involvement with this thought-provoking and important project in 2021. We were particularly excited to see CLIMAVORE on the list of finalists for this year’s Turner prize. Operating a CLIMAVORE menu has helped us to think more deeply about sustainability and where our produce comes from. If you would like to read more about CLIMAVORE check out our post by clicking here.

Star team

2021 was a very busy season, albeit shorter than usual as we only reopened in May. Like many hospitality businesses we have really struggled with recruitment this year. Brexit and uncertainly in the UK hospitality industry brought on by the pandemic have created a sort of perfect storm which has hit hotels, bars and restaurants hard. For us this meant that many of our team accepted more responsibility or worked in departments and positions which were outside of their comfort zone. We were especially impressed and proud of the way the school aged part-time Raasay staff and those home on holiday from university stepped up and took excellent care of our customers. You only have to read our reviews to see how our team and especially our young people really shone brightly in 2021.

2022 Opening Hours

We will reopen on Friday the 1st of April 2022. You may remember that due to staff shortages we had to close on some Sundays and Mondays this year. We plan to do this again in 2022 and we advise our guests to check our opening dates post before hitting the “Book Now” button. If you search for dates that fall over a day when we are closed you may see a message that we have no rooms available when actually it’s just the Sunday or Monday that you cannot book. You can still check out on closed days, we close after check outs on closed days. Jump to a calendar with all our 2022 opening and closing by clicking here.

2022 Jobs

We have started our recruitment for 2022 and whilst we have plenty of our team returning, we also have a have a number of positions available in waiting, housekeeping, kitchen and reception. Positions are live in and we are happy to receive joint applications for couples and friends who would like to be housed together. Would you or someone you know be great asset to our team? Check out this post or Send a CV with availability to employment@raasay-house.co.uk and we will match your CV to any opening that we have.

Closed but still here if you need us

We may be closed just now but we assure you we are not hibernating. We are busy painting, updating some of the rooms and getting geared up for next year. We have just installed a brand new TV system which is much more user friendly and reliable and we are making other improvements around the hotel and grounds too. During this closed time we are of course still picking up emails and voicemails and we will be delighted to help with your enquiry. If you have any queries or would like some booking advice or help please email us on info@raasay-house.co.uk.

We hope that you all have a fantastic and safe Christmas, and we wish you, and yours all the best for 2022!
Warmest wishes from the Raasay House Management Team.

Jobs at Raasay House

Raasay House Hotel is a fantastic place to work. We are a happy, friendly team who support each other and make time for team events.

About Us: A unique island hotel and outdoor activity provider. With our roots in outdoor activities we have evolved over the last 35 years into a highly rated hotel & activity provider with a good reputation for providing a range of services at a high standard. We offer experiences from half day kayaking sessions to relaxing stays in deluxe rooms and lots in between. We are a family hotel operating in a beautiful tastefully renovated country house overlooking some of the most stunning scenery you will see anywhere in Scotland. Our guests rave about our food and our staff. If we get something wrong we listen to our guests. We are constantly looking for ways to improve and provide an even better experience to the thousands of guests we welcome to this unique Scottish island every year.

We have 20 bedrooms and we can sleep 60-70. Our style is relaxed, welcoming and friendly. We offer high quality rooms, food and activities delivered in a warm and unstuffy manner.

In the daytime we serve food to 30-60 covers, in the evening we serve 80-125 covers, breakfast 30-70 covers and staff food for up to 30 staff.

Our food is Scottish, with good vegan and vegetarian options, plenty seafood and local produce.

Work-Life Balance
We know that hospitality has quite a bad reputation for long hours and a poor work life balance. Following the pandemic and Brexit we have begun to reassess our operating hours and our ways of working to better suit our workforce. We understand that couples or friends would like matching shifts so we always endeavour to make this happen.

In 2022 we were closed certain days of the week which allowed more time off for relaxation and downtime. 
We will be continuing this into 2023 and beyond with all Sundays and a lot of Mondays being closed days. This means that most staff have matching days off and the Sunday half day crew who serve breakfast and complete check outs then has Monday and Tuesday off.

Benefits for all Staff

  • Share of tips- all departments
  • Personal and friends and family discount on rooms, food and drink (rooms 25%, food 30%, drinks and sweets 15%, shop gifts 30%)
  • Free meals on shift
  • Free outdoor activity sessions & bike hire
  • Subsidised accommodation in a shared staff house or a cabin on site

Subsidised Staff Accommodation – a chance to save
Our staff accommodation is subsidised so the cost of living is very low here. Accommodation will either be in a wooden cabin on site or in terraced house in the main village oft Inverarish. All accommodation has high speed internet and all bills are taken care of. This coupled with that fact that you have very little to spend your money on means it’s relatively easy to save money here.

Free Meals
We provide a basic meal package for our staff consisting of 3 meals a day. Team members can supplement this by purchasing any extras at the community shop or over at the coop on Skye.

***Right to work in the UK
All candidates must be able to demonstrate that they are legally allowed to work in the UK before your application will be considered. Please DO NOT APPLY if you cannot provide documentation right now that shows you currently have the right to work in the UK***

Holidays & Breaks

  • Breaks: 30 Minutes unpaid break every day you work more than 6 hours
  • Holidays: Statutory (28 days p/a)
Raasay House Hotel Jobs for 2024

We are now recruiting for the following positions with start dates in March/early April:

  • Head Chef
  • Sous Chef
  • Hotel Manager
  • Bar & Restaurant Manager
  • Chef De Partie x 3
  • Breakfast Chef x 1
  • KP x 2
  • Housekeepers x 2
  • Waiting x 5
  • Bar x 1


How to Apply
Please click here and complete an application form.

Climavore on Raasay

raasay house hotel climavore skye

Becoming CLIMAVORE explores the gap between the appearance and the reality of salmon—their inability to escape intensive farms. For this UK-wide project, 21 museums have removed farmed salmon from the menus of their cafés and restaurants, and introduced CLIMAVORE dishes made with ingredients that improve soil and water quality, and cultivate marine habitats. This move continues our multi-year collaboration with restaurants in Skye and Raasay since 2017.

from http://www.cooking-sections.com/Becoming-CLIMAVORE

Raasay House Hotel & CLIMAVORE

In 2017 we were approached by Atlas Arts on Skye about an exciting project which focused on the negative impact of salmon farming on Scottish shores and which looks at sustainable ways to reconnect with tidal produce.

CLIMAVORE asks “how do we eat as humans change climates?”

As a business with a strong relationship to our natural environment, especially the marine life we are extremely concerned with the impact of fish farming in the area and about how our changing climates will affect local marine life. We had previously had a very positive experience working with Atlas Arts on the Patterns of Flora project which you can see here in Raasay House so we were delighted to get involved in this. The main element was a tidal oyster table in Portree Bay where guests could dine on a special menu featuring tidal produce right there in the environment where it came from. For our part, we produced a CLIMAVORE menu and removed all farmed salmon from our regular menu. We used local mackerel and hake where we once we used salmon. It’s four years on now and we have not put salmon back on the menu.

In 2018 following the success of CLIMAVORE Cooking Sections, we went a little further into the project where we not only produced a special menu but we had the pleasure of taking on an apprentice from Portree High School to prepare the dishes. 20 students from Portree were given the opportunity to complete a course using tidal produce and then to go on to complete a placement in one of the participating restaurants like Raasay House Hotel.

Fast forward to 2021 and CLIMAVORE has grown and spread across the UK with many museums and restaurants taking the CLIMAVORE message on board as well as changing the produce they use on their menus. The project has now gained even more momentum and recognition and it has been shortlisted for the very prodigious 2021 Turner Prize. We are launching our very own CLIMAVORE menu this evening which will run along side or regular menu.  Please click here for a preview. 

We wish CLIMAVORE all the best for the Turner Prize and we are very thankful to have been given a chance to be involved and to open our eyes even further to the opportunities and challenges of the changing shores around us.

From today, you can taste CLIMAVORE dishes at:
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
BFI Southbank, London
Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry
Holburne Museum, Bath
London Transport Museum
Manchester Art Gallery
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
Royal Museums Greenwich
Science Museum, London
Science and Industry Museum, Manchester
Serpentine, London
Tate Britain, London
Tate Liverpool
Tate Modern, London
Tate St Ives
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Turner Contemporary, Margate
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Wellcome Collection, London

And in Skye and Raasay:
Edinbane Lodge
Eòlach
Isle of Skye Baking Company
Loch Bay
Raasay House Hotel
Rosedale Hotel
Scorrybreac
The Ferry Inn
Three Chimneys

Visitors can taste a CLIMAVORE meal and collect one of the postcards from a twelve-part mosaic at participating restaurants filled with CLIMAVORE stories and recipes.

Raasay House Hotel – Economy Rooms, a closer look

Economy Rooms

We have 2 types of Economy Room, Economy Twin & Economy Double. Both types have fixed beds and cannot be converted into any other bed configuration. Aside form the double or twin difference the other main distinction is that the Economy Twin rooms are not en-suite whereas the Economy Double has an en-suite toilet and shower.

Economy Double Room Features – at a glance

  • Standard Double Bed
  • Small window – looks onto courtyard
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • One room is on the first floor with 30 stairs to reach it and one is on the top floor with 50 stairs to reach it.
  • Flat Screen TV
  • Sloped Ceiling on one of these rooms

 

Economy Twin Room (not en-suite) Features – at a glance

  • Twin Beds(cannot be changed for a double)
  • Small Window – No View/Roof slope
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • External toilet with step in shower – lockable and private for your use only, located either across the hallway or about 5 metres down the corridor.
  • One room is on the first floor with 30 stairs to reach it and one is on the top floor with 50 stairs to reach it.
  • Flat Screen TV

 

Economy Family Room Features – at a glance

  • Super King Bed OR 2 Twin beds (let us know you preference before arrival)
  • View of the Walled Garden at the rear of the property
  • Set of Bunk Beds – best suited for children or smaller persons (please let us know you will be using these before arrival)
  • Pull out bed (please let us know you will be using this before arrival)
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • One room is on the first floor with 30 stairs to reach it and one is on the top floor with 50 stairs to reach it.
  • Flat Screen TV
  • NOT EN-SUITE BUT WITH PRIVATE LOCKABLE TOILET/ SHOWER NEARBY

Booking Tip!: Remember to always book direct for the best rates. Check out our price promise here. 

Raasay House Hotel – Classic Rooms, a closer look

Classic Rooms – Our range

We have a variety of classic rooms for you to choose from, from classic doubles to large classic family rooms which sleep 5 people.

Classic Double Room Features – at a glance

  • Standard Double Bed
  • View of the Walled Garden at the rear of the property
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • One of these rooms is up 25 stairs and one of these rooms is up 50 stairs
  • Flat Screen TV

 

Classic Family Double Room Features – at a glance

  • Standard Double Bed
  • Set of Bunk Beds – best suited for children or smaller persons (please let us know you will be using these before arrival)
  • Sofa sitting area
  • View of the Walled Garden at the rear of the property
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • This room is up 50 stairs
  • Flat Screen TV

 

Classic Family Superking/Twin Room Features – at a glance

  • Super King Bed OR 2 Twin beds (let us know you preference before arrival)
  • View of the Walled Garden at the rear of the property
  • Set of Bunk Beds – best suited for children or smaller persons (please let us know you will be using these before arrival)
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • One room is on the first floor with 30 stairs to reach it and one is on the top floor with 50 stairs to reach it.
  • Flat Screen TV

Classic Triple Room – Superking or Twin Room Features – at a glance

  • Super King Bed OR 3 Twin beds (let us know you preference before arrival)
  • View of the Walled Garden at the rear of the property
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • These rooms are on the top floor with 50 stairs to reach them
  • Flat Screen TV

Large Classic Family Superking/Twin Room Features – at a glance

  • Super King Bed OR 2 Twin beds (let us know you preference before arrival)
  • View of the Walled Garden at the rear of the property
  • Set of Bunk Beds – best suited for children or smaller persons (please let us know you will be using these before arrival)
  • Sofa or pull out Bed (please let us know you will be using this before arrival)
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • One room is on the first floor with 30 stairs to reach it and one is on the top floor with 50 stairs to reach it.
  • Flat Screen TV

Booking Tip!: Remember to always book direct for the best rates. Check out our price promise here. 

Raasay House Hotel – Premium Rooms, a closer look

Premium Rooms

We have 2 premium rooms which are both elegantly decorated with a Superking or Twin beds plus a sofa bed/sitting area.

premium super king twin raasay hotel

Room Features – at a glance

  • Super King Bed OR 2 Twin beds (let us know you preference before arrival)
  • View of the grounds at the side of the building or the Walled Garden at the rear of the property
  • 1 Sofa Bed – best suited for children or smaller persons (please let us know you will be using this before arrival)
  • Sitting area with coffee table
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Dressing table
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • You must go up 25-30 stairs to reach these rooms
  • Flat Screen TV

Booking Tip!: Remember to always book direct for the best rates. Check out our price promise here. 

Raasay House Hotel – Deluxe Rooms, a closer look

Which Deluxe Room will you choose?

Here at Raasay House Hotel we have two distinctly different types of deluxe room.

Deluxe Room Type 1

deluxe room type 1 raasay hotel

There are two which mirror each other, each with a bathtub and a private exclusive lounge in between them. These rooms make up the “Balcony Suite” and are called “Deluxe Room Type 1” on our booking page.

Important: When you book both of these rooms (type 1) you get a free private lounge with a sea facing balcony in between. If you only book one these rooms then you must share the lounge and balcony.

Room Features – at a glance
  • Super King Bed OR 2 Twin beds (let us know you preference before arrival)
  • Sea Views
  • 2 Sofa Beds – best suited for children or smaller persons
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Desk
  • Free Wifi
  • Large bathroom with bath tub and shower over
  • You must go up 30 stairs to reach these rooms
  • Flat Screen TV

Deluxe Room Type 2

The other type of Deluxe Room is further along the East side of the building front and is separate to the others with no access to the balcony lounge. However, this room does have it’s own integrated sitting area with a huge bay window offering a perfect spot to sit and enjoy the sea views towards the Cuillin range on Skye. This room is called “Deluxe Family room with superking/twin beds, bay window, sea view, 2 sofa beds” on our booking page.

Room Features – at a glance
  • Super King Bed OR 2 Twin beds (let us know you preference before arrival)
  • Sea Views
  • Large Bay Window Sitting Area
  • 2 Sofa Beds – best suited for children or smaller persons
  • Hairdryer
  • Coffee & Tea Making Facilities
  • Free Wifi
  • En-suite with step in shower
  • You must go up 30 stairs to reach this room
  • Flat Screen TV
  • Important: This room is totally separate to the other 2 deluxe rooms so access to the balcony lounge is not permitted when staying in this room unless you have booked the other 2 Type 1 deluxe rooms as well.

 

Booking Tip!: Remember to always book direct for the best rates. Check out our price promise here. 

Raasay – Price promise, book direct for best hotel room rates

Third-Party Booking Sites – they are not always cheaper

balcony sea view raasay house hotel skye

Like many hotels and other accommodation providers, we sell rooms through third-party sites to reach a greater audience. This is a double-edged sword because although we do get the benefits of reaching a wider audience we also have to pay very high commission rates. Not only that but the level of support received from these platforms can be shockingly inadequate for both ourselves and our customers despite the hefty sum they claim in commission. To counteract this extra cost to our small family run business we have to charge more through third party booking sites than we do direct.

Our Price Promise

When you book directly with us we do not have any commission to pay and this allows us to offer the very best direct rates to our customers. On top of receiving lower rates booking directly with us also cuts out the middle man when it comes to guest communications. This means that we receive much more accurate information about who is staying in the room and what their individual requirements are, which in turn makes for a far superior guest experience.

Our promise is this: if you find a better price than our direct prices anywhere online for the same room, same rate category, same number of guests for the same dates…. not only will we match it …we will give you an additional £10 off of your nightly rate to say thanks for pointing it out to us.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK THE CHEAPEST DIRECT RATES GUARANTEED!

Isle of Raasay – Traveller questions

In this post we have compiled a list of questions and answers based on the most asked questions by travellers who are researching Raasay online.
Raasay House Hotel
Raasay House from Tempation Hill
  1. “Can I visit Raasay?” – Yes! You can visit the island via the ferry that departs form Sconser on Skye. Check the Calmac website for the appropriate ferry timetable for the time of year that you are planning to visit.  You can visit as a day visitors or stay over in one of our 21 bedrooms.
  2. “Can you drive on Raasay?” – Yes! There are not many roads on Raasay but you may need a vehicle if you don’t cycle and you plan to explore the North of the island or some of the more out of the way spots.
  3. “Is Raasay inhabited?” – Yes! There are around 170 residents that live here on the island.
  4. “Who owns the Isle of Raasay?” –  The island is not owned by any one party. The island has areas owned by the forestry commission, independent crofters, other private owners, community organisations.
  5. “Are there any bars and restaurants on Raasay?” –  Currently there is a restaurant and bar at Raasay House Hotel.
  6. “Is there a petrol station on Raasay?” – No, so please make sure you fill up before coming over. The nearest filling stations are at Broadford or Portree on Skye (both 20 mins from the Sconser ferry terminal)
  7. “How big is the Isle of Raasay?” – The island is 14 miles by 5 miles and has a an area of 62.31 km². This is just a little smaller than Manhattan Island in New York although the population there is around 1.5 million more than the Isle of Raasay population.
  8. “Where do I get the Raasay ferry from?”– The Raasay ferry leaves from Sconser on Skye. The ferry takes about 20-25 minutes, there are 9 ferries a day except on Sundays where there are only 3.
  9. “Do I need to book the Raasay ferry?” – No, just make sure you are in the queue about 10-15 minutes before the ferry is due to depart. You buy your tickets on the ferry.
  10. “Does the Raasay ferry take card payments?” – Yes
  11. “Is there an ATM on Raasay?” – No, there isn’t but you can withdraw money from the Post Office.
  12. “Is there a supermarket on Raasay?” – No, however, there is a great community owned shop called Raasay Community Stores. There is also a Post Office within the store where you can withdraw money as you would at an ATM.
  13. “Is Raasay part of the inner Hebrides?” – Yes, the Isle of Raasay is part of an archipelago of islands which make up the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.
  14. “Is Raasay the same as Rothesay?” – No, they are not the same, Rothesay is a wee town on the Isle of Bute
  15. “Is Dun Caan a volcano?” – It’s not a volcano but is volcanic in origin and is comprised of Basalt.
  16. “Where is Raasay?” – The island of Raasay lies nestled between the Scottish mainland and the Isle of Skye. This unique position offers visitors to Raasay arguably some of the best views in Scotland.
  17. “Is Dun Caan a Monroe?” – No, Dun Caan is 1771.65 feet high whereas Munros are 3000 feet or more high.
  18. “What do people who live on Raasay do?” – The main employers for the Raasay population are: Raasay House Hotel, Raasay Distillery, Raasay Community Stores, Caledonian MacBrayne Clyde & Hebridean Ferries. There are also some independent businesses such as those making jewellery/gifts, a sawmill, building contractors, crofting of course and more.
  19. “What is the top rated hotel on Raasay” – Raasay House Hotel is rated number one on TripAdvisor.
  20. “Is there any cell reception on Raasay?” – Yes, the mobile phone or cell signal on Raasay is really quite good in most areas.
  21. “Was the UK TV show SAS Who Dares Wins filmed on Raasay?” – YES!  Raasay was the location for seasons 5 & 6 of this hit TV show and for seasons 2 & 3 of Celebrity SAS Who Dares Wins (both filmed in 2019 and 2020).  Raasay House Hotel was used as a base of operations for the crew in both instances.