Islay Vacation Rentals
April 19, 2019 6:29 AM   Subscribe

We're looking for a vacation rental on Islay some time later in the summer - what's the best way to find one?

I think I'm looking for a "self-cater" rental (is that the right term?) for 6-8 people. Is there a site other than AirBnB that's commonly used to find those kinds of rentals in the UK? I've never tried to find a rental place outside the US before, so I'm not really sure where I should be looking or what terms to be searching for.
posted by backseatpilot to Travel & Transportation around Scotland (8 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Most Scottish isles have their own island-run websites. Here's Islay's. I'd start on their accomodation page.
posted by minervous at 6:57 AM on April 19, 2019


VRBO and HomeAway might have something.
posted by dbmcd at 8:13 AM on April 19, 2019


AirBnB is common in Scotland, though I haven’t looked up Islay specifically.

‘Rental’ as a noun isn’t a common term but is probably good enough for google. ‘Self-catering accommodation’ is a more common term.
posted by penguin pie at 8:16 AM on April 19, 2019


Search for 'holiday cottage rentals'. I'm well out of date on this, so I am not going to be able to recommend specific companies, but this has been a thing in the UK since well before the internet and there are a number of companies that list and market holiday cottages on behalf of their owners.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 9:46 AM on April 19, 2019


Yes, google 'holiday cottage' to get some results. There's this website, for eg.
posted by low_horrible_immoral at 12:16 PM on April 19, 2019


I use Booking.com for European self-catering apartments, I've not used it in the UK specifically but it seems to have a few self-catering places ("holiday homes") in Islay.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 3:28 PM on April 19, 2019


My parents live on Islay. Small world on metafilter! They say the local newspaper , The Ileach, is still the best source for accommodation on the island. Here’s the link you need: http://ileach.co.uk/accommodation/index.html
posted by stevedawg at 9:54 AM on April 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks for the responses - our group ended up bailing, but we were able to find a B&B for the two of us through the Islay tourism website. Seems like a tight-knit community; several of the places with no vacancy forwarded on our request to their friends and we got several responses.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:16 PM on July 28, 2019 [1 favorite]


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