Booking Information
COVID
Please note that we try to keep this updated as regularly as possible, however please contact us if you have concerns not mentioned here. The latest guidelines we have at April 2022 are that the responsibility lies with the consumer to ensure that they have adequate travel insurance cover for cancellation as any cancellation in respect of Covid is to be treated the same way as any cancellation request due to any illness.
Online Bookings
Please always do check the ferry availability before booking. Here’s the link. www.calmac.co.uk This is the one website we advise you to keep checking as this controls movements to and from Arran.
Payments for Online Bookings. We now require a 20% deposit on booking. Balance payable 4 weeks prior to arrival. This should allow visitors time to ensure they can get ferry tickets before paying their balances. Booking confirmation is sent by email which has a link to pay by card using Stripe or bank transfer, Please note some owners require a Security Bond before access is given ( this may be more for same sex groups). Should there be any damage caused by you, your party or your pet then this will be fully discussed with the owner and an amount agreed. The same also applies to personal belongings left behind. An amount for postage and any expenses incurred by the owner will be discussed with you before any items can be returned.
Owner Direct Bookings.
If you already have a booking with a private owner on our website – a ‘’Contact Owner” booking please do contact the owner with whom you booked as they will have their own Terms & Conditions. We are unable to help you with these bookings.
DOGS – This is an example of the information provided to dog owners who book through our website. Some owners may have their own version of this.
“We are a Dog Friendly Cottage. But we’ve got some Doggy Rules!
Dogs are welcome in many of our self-catering holiday cottages mostly with no charge but they must be supervised at all times as there may be livestock in adjacent fields or young families on adjacent beaches. We also have guests and owners who suffer with allergies and we need to try accommodate everyone’s needs.
Most owners will ask that you observe to the following requests:-
House Rules for Dogs
Useful Information
Arran Vets – 01770 302511
https://www.arranvets.co.uk
Please remember that our next guests may not be dog lovers. Please be considerate and familiarise yourself with our House Rules for Dogs.
Please ensure that your dog’s worming and vaccinations are up to date.
Dogs must not be left alone in the Property.
We may have a fenced garden but we do not guarantee that it is dog proof and dogs must not be left unattended in our garden. Please note that there must be no evidence of your dog on departure including our garden ground.
Bring your dog’s own favourite toys, blankets and their own towels and poo bags. We do not supply poo bags and we do expect you to bring your own. Extra can be purchased in the Co-op in Lamlash and Brodick and we think the Homes & Gardens shop in Brodick. Please don’t rely on local supplies though, bring your own supplies with you.
We’d prefer you to bring a cage for your dog to sleep in
Please do not allow your dogs up onto our furniture or beds.
Please do not allow your dogs into our bedrooms.
Please clean your dog after a muddy walk before allowing them into the property. Do not use our cottage bathrooms, or showers or kitchen to clean your dog.
Before departure
Please vacuum all evidence of your dog’s hairs. If you think the vacuum bag is becomes full please leave a note for our housekeeper.
Please clean up after your dog including our garden ground. There should be no evidence of your dog left behind.
Your dog must be supervised at all times and on a lead near any livestock so please be vigilant when entering fields of livestock and ensure gates are closed behind you.
Good Housekeeping Bond
Please note that this property has a Bond of £150 refundable within 2 weeks of departure subject to a satisfactory housekeeper’s report.
This includes a check that no evidence of your dog has been left behind including garden ground. Should additional cleaning be required this will be deducted from your Bond at a rate of £25 for the first hour or part of an hour and every hour thereafter.
Finally, most of our dog owners do understand that not all guests like dogs, they leave our cottage spotless and look forward to returning and we hope you will too.
Electric Vehicles
Please ensure you are aware of the electric vehicle charging points on Arran. This website will help you. Input our postcode KA27 for Arran. We suggest you also input Ardrossan, the harbour departure point, so you can check whether you have enough charge to get to your holiday cottage on Arran with probably some initial shopping, to take in the surrounding area and to get to the nearest charging point to the cottage. You may be travelling via the Claonaig-Lochranza ferry in which case we suggest you input Tarbert(Loch Fyne), which should give you a pointer to check the surrounding areas.
The costs of charging an electric vehicle.
The website above also has a handy cost calculator depending on vehicle model and mileage range. It is important that you contact the holiday cottage owner if you are bringing an electric vehicle. You will be aware that there has been a large increase in utility bills and owners, whilst wishing to help, should not be expected to cover the cost of charging your vehicle overnight without any previous agreement to pay for this. Your holiday rental generally includes electricity used during your occupation of the property (there may be odd exceptions – cottages which change this separately or by meter) but does not include your electric vehicle. Regrettably we have had several instances of this being reported to us by owners so please do contact your owners if necessary.
Some owners are arranging to have home electric vehicle charging units installed but for Arran, at this time, the costs are high and the waiting list is long.
Insurance Cover.
We strongly advise that you have travel insurance cover as you may be able to claim money back from your insurers. Situations, other than has been the case with Covid over the last couple of years, do happen and all other matters should be covered by your own travel insurance including ferry cancellations and possibly overnight accommodation should the need arise. You should ensure you are adequately covered for any such eventualities as, whilst owners may do their best to help, they are not responsible for covering any such issues either with accommodation or financially. If you do have to cancel and do not have travel insurance please let the owner know as soon as possible so that they have time to try and re-let and if they do re-let you should be able to receive a partial refund less the additional marketing costs of trying to re-let their property at short notice and possibly with limited ferry spaces.
Security/Housekeeping Bonds. Some owners will require a Bond but you will be notified of this before making online bookings and if making an owner direct booking please ensure you have asked about this. Amounts vary between £125 & £250 and are usually refundable within 2 weeks of departure subject to a satisfactory housekeeper’s report.
“Contact Owner Direct” cottages –
You will come across these cottages on our website and can contact the owner of these cottages by both email and telephone if a phone number if displayed. They will have their own booking arrangements which you can discuss and arrange with them. They are required to keep their availability up to date wherever possible to avoid time wasting.
You will come across these cottages on our website and can contact the owner of these cottages by both email and telephone if a phone number if displayed. They will have their own booking arrangements which you can discuss and arrange with them. They are required to keep their availability up to date wherever possible to avoid time wasting.
Arran visitors occasionally ask us for advice regarding ferry travel.
We do not feel that we can provide specific advice because we ourselves as residents on the island of Arran must refer to the same information that is available to everyone who wants to come to the island. We are not the experts so please refer to the ferry providers when you need, Caledonian MacBrayne – www.calmac.co.uk
However we have listed below a few pointers which may be of help:-
We do advise that you look at this link for up to date information and if your travel is imminent then please set up the ferry alert text service. The instructions are here .
If you prefer you can choose the CalMac app here but please be aware that this may not always work in areas with limited wifi.
If your holiday is planned for some months ahead then the text service may be more than you need just now. You can set up a “One-time alert” for the ferry route of your choice. Please refer to the information on the link above which we give again here
You should plan to check online yourself at www.calmac.co.uk on a frequent basis. It is up to you, the traveller to make decisions but it seems reasonable that if you know the dates you want to travel to Arran and the timetable is available that you book up as soon as you can, because once in the system, Calmac will keep you informed and if necessary will contact you direct and arrange alternative sailings. At the same time we strongly advise that you take out travel insurance to cover yourself against loss of holiday or any ferry disruption costs. This is not the responsibility of the owner with whom you have booked. If you are travelling as part of a group then it is up to the individual members to have adequate insurance cover.
Speaking as local residents, if we are planning to go away, we check ferry availability, we book as soon as we can to be sure of a reservation, we keep abreast of all ferry announcements, we check the CalMac website www.calmac.co.uk and we set up text alerts. We do not make decisions on ferry bookings based on TV and radio programmes, articles in the Press, on Social Media or local gossip.
As one of our owners recently said to us, in most cases, you’ll get a ferry. Occasionally, you may have to accept a different ferry time when offered. The staff at CalMac in Brodick are very helpful but please do use the online booking system at www.calmac.co.uk to take pressure off them on the phone. (It does seem to work better on a laptop or pc).
Finally, we’re writing this on a beautiful day in February 2024, clear blue skies and warm sunshine, snowdrops and crocus, daffodils just starting to appear, snow on the mountain peaks. Arran is here and waiting for you to come and enjoy our special island.
Escape, Unwind, Enjoy
February 2024
