Dollag's Cottage at 7 South Shawbost

Dollag's Cottage

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The cottage is a refurbished traditional croft house offering self catering accommodation for 6 and sitting within the small community of South Shawbost on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Dollag's Cottage has a downstairs bedroom and a shower adapted for persons with restricted mobility. On a quiet day the visitor to Dollag's Cottage who listens hard will hear the constant click-clack of looms as Harris Tweed is woven in the loom sheds to be found across the village. During the lamb sales, or when sheep are being moved from the moor, it may even be necessary to join a traffic jam, or more correctly a sheep jam, as a pair of sheep dogs move their charges down to the shore and across the beach to crofts on the other side of the village. Life in Dollag's Cottage still happens at a different pace to the hectic and noisy rough and tumble to be found elsewhere. While the environment and traditional way of life of the islands may reflect a different time and slower pace, long since lost in most destinations today, that is no reason not to spend your holiday in comfort and with all the modern labour saving appliances The cottage has oil fired central heating throughout (recently extended to the upstairs bedrooms) to keep you warm in the cooler nights of autumn when the Northern Lights illuminate the night sky. The kitchen is newly installed and includes a dishwasher, microwave, fridge freezer and washing machine so there is no need to be stuck doing chores when you could be enjoying the beach or watching the otters play on the nearby loch. With Dollanna being a professional cook every possible meal can be prepared using the facilities she provides and cleaning materials, dish towels and so on are also provided so you can just walk into the cottage and cook as if you were in your own house. For those wishing to keep in touch the cottage has wireless internet access.

Terms and Conditions.

Terms and conditions may be viewed on the following page:

Terms and Conditions

Pets.

Unfortunately as Dollag's Cottage is located on a working croft pets are not allowed. This was a difficult decision to make but the community here in Shawbost revolves around sheep and there are usually lambs on the croft, and also on the neighbour's crofts. Dollanna is very sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sat Nav.

The postcode for Dollag's Cottage is HS2 9BJ. As the cottage is located in a rural area with relatively few houses this postcode covers a large tract of land and so your car SatNav device actually has no idea where the Cottage is located and will take you to the geographical centre of the postcode area, this is not Dollag's Cottage. Exact directions to the cottage are given in the travel information page which may be accessed from the link below and Dollanna will also send you an "arrival information" email before your trip giving exact directions and other useful information. Traffic on Lewis is very light and navigation is very simple in the countryside, where there are very few roads, and not much more difficult in the town of Stornoway which has a population of only a few thousand people. Given all of this your SatNav might be useful to get you in the right general area but it is really not necessary and it may be better just to follow the instructions Dollanna provides, once you leave Stornoway there is one left turn and one right turn to take you to the cottage.

MAP showing the location of South Shawbost

Your host.

Dollanna Maclennan, your host, lives just a short distance from the cottage in South Shawbost and so can easily be contacted should you have any questions. As well as cutting peats for winter on the moor, tending her sheep on the croft and looking after the cottage Dollanna also cooks dinner for the 200 school children on the West Side who get school dinners. In the spring time Dollanna usually has some pet lambs on the croft so if you are visiting with children be sure to ask if they might try their hand at feeding the lambs.

The cottage is named after Dollanna's granny who used to live there - there is a tradition in the area of naming cottages after well known figures in the local community who used to live in them.