Millport Pier Hotel — Hotel in Great Cumbrae

Millport Pier Hotel's owners Charmaine and Craig may be less than a year into their new business but they are certainly succeeding in their efforts to restore this once grand hotel into a welcoming, comfortable and affordable establishment.

The rooms benefit from some modernisation and are both cosy and spacious, depending on your choice of a double or suite (adjoining doubles one bed , one less forgiving sofa bed in our case), many with sea views. The downstairs bar, where you check in, dine and have breakfast (8-9.30am) looks out towards the pier and across to the main street with outdoor seating possible in warmer weather. It's a hive of weekend activity even in the supposed off season with a happy mix of friendly locals (well behaved dogs🐶🐾) and visitors along with the drawcard of Friday and Saturday evening entertainment. This can be mixed but our group lucked out with the cover songs of the talented Ellie Kennedy who who also obliged with requests 🙂.

Whilst the menu isn't extensive (limited veg options if you're staying 2+ nights, one vegan option), the food is very good. If your stay is part of a voucher deal, be aware that dinners included are based on reduced options. Breakfast is cooked standard fare. Disappointingly, no menu offered nor a variation with cereals, fruit, or continental option. (Also, best to advise in advance of vegetarian requirements). The beer garden offers a great suntrap to enjoy a quiet coffee or drink whilst taking in gorgeous views to the mainland and towards Wee Cumbrae and Arran. If you're staying, you might get to meet wee Teddy the owners' dog, amid the quieter morning time 🙂

Our hosts and staff were friendly and very helpful. Clearly, they were attentive to our needs and made every effort to ensure our stay was memorable; nothing was ever a bother.

Our group of eight (mums & daughter's) can't help but wish this family business success in their rejuvenation of Millport Pier hotel for the local community and visitors to this beautiful island. And it is certainly one if the reasons we already want to...

Me and my partner decided to go to Millport for one day and night for a wee getaway, the trains, ferry and bus from once you get off the ferry in Millport are all very well set-up and couldn’t be easier, you barely need to walk between each which is great….we got to Millport a fair bit later than expected and thought we would chill out in our hotel room after having travelled for quite some time, so normally we eat dinner late in the evening around 7/8pm so anyway, we left our hotel room to go to the round island cafe for dinner which says it’s open until 10pm which would make anyone think they serve food until 10pm like 99% of eateries/restaurants do in this day and age however we we’re very disappointed when the lady told us at 7:30pm we don’t serve food anymore and the kitchen is closed, she suggested we try the only place open for food which is the Chinese…we went to that Chinese and it’s closed on a Tuesday so that’s out the window so we then went to the few bars nearby which all don’t serve food nor where willing to make us something quick….all else failed I thought right..I’ve worked in hotels in the past for years and if a customer asked for food at any time of the day or night I’d never fail to give them a few options of actual food and go make it then serve the food….to my surprise the young guy behind the bar at the hotel told me “the chef is away, I can’t just go into the kitchen and start cooking” after I explained to him I can’t get food from anywhere around here can you serve us some food….so I had to buy crisps….on that note I’ll certainly not stay in...

This is a restaurant review only (although the hotel guests I did see appeared very content, chatting to bar staff before heading up to their rooms).

We arrived after 7 and they finish food service at 8, some places can be a bit annoyed at late arrivals (understandably but we couldn't help it). Not the case here, the young lad welcomed us, didn't rush to take our order but gave us enough time to read the menu and decide.

There's a good selection on the menu and a full bar, I don't miss the pre-pandemic days of huge menus with endless choices. A good, streamlined menu with enough variation to have options is much better imo. The refurbishment has been done well, the atmosphere is relaxing and comfortable. There's also seating outside which will be even better once the pier itself has been restored.

My son loves our Scottish variation of mac cheese so had that, it comes with a slice of garlic bread and salad. He ate the lot and really enjoyed it. I had the fish and chips, it was a good size piece of fish cooked perfectly, the batter was both crispy and juicy. For the quality and quantity of the food the prices are good. I only regret not having a dessert but we were full.

We had another drink before leaving, another friendly young lad behind the bar. Would have stayed until closing but were too tired.

Had it not been my last night on the island we would have returned for lunch or dinner and as I usually visit the island once a year (my family have had holidays in Millport for generations) I will be back next...