By the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

The National

27-04-2025

I usually stay at the main Cameron House hotel, but this time fancied something different so booked one of the two-bedroom Loch Lomond Apartments at Mansion House (www.cameronhouse.co.uk). These self-catering retreats recline a few miles north up in woodland by the loch's banks, overlooking the Carrick golf course; near the award-winning Cameron Spa. It immediately felt like a real escape with an even more relaxed vibe than the main hotel.
Our apartment proved an ideal base. The central living area was a massive open plan space with a large dining room in the window, twin sofas (one converts to a sofa bed so we brought along my nephew Kyle, as well as our two daughters) and a well-equipped kitchen. We arranged to have the fridge stocked with local bacon, sausages and milk. And we picked up further local foodie goodies from Auchentullich Farm Shop just across the road.
Self-catering was a real joy, cooking here peering over the loch and enjoying eating out on our huge terrace, finishing the days playing board games as a family.
As we were here for a few days we also tried a brace of hotel restaurants.
Cameron House has struggled in the past to make their boathouse-style restaurant down at the marina work despite it being a great space by the loch. They've got it nailed now with their Italian, La Vista. We tucked into starters like Orkney hand-dived king scallops and truffle arancini, trying various pasta dishes and a Florentine T-bone steak as mains. The Italian wines are well chosen to match the food; the views impressive too over the marina and loch.
Cameron House is just about to open a new fine dining restaurant in their quest to recapture the Michelin star they held before the devastating fire in 2017. For now, the Cameron Grill is my favourite place to eat, a lovely venue, especially if you love steaks. They do a superb chateaubriand, as well as more unusual daily specials like sirloin on the bone and cote de boeuf. All their steaks are Scotch beef aged for between 21 and 45 days.
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They've kept things fresh too, with some creative starters like Cumbrae oysters three ways – with a lime granita, then also a granita spiced with chilli and tomato and a Verjus granita. Decent wine list too.
Staying at Mansion House also gave us access to the Cameron Spa just a short walk away through the woods. Having two 17-year-olds and a 14-year-old in tow meant pool access hours were limited and the kids couldn't bubble in the outdoor rooftop thermal pool, but they enjoyed the large swimming pool downstairs anyway. One morning my wife and I nipped down to the spa on our own and chilled around the thermal circuit and checked out that rooftop pool. It's a sublime experience peering out across the waters towards the hulk of Ben Lomond as the rest of the busy world slips away and Runrig plays in your head and heart.
You can also use the Leisure Club at the main hotel with a free shuttle bus every hour. There are flumes and a large pool there with noodles and floats for wee ones to mess about with. This pool experience was much more suited to kids and there are no block-out times so I would recommend this if you're travelling as a family.
The main hotel also has a cinema and more grounds you can explore, as well as activities flagged up on their website. You can access all of these when you're self-catering.
Missing my seaplane ride, I went in search of different ways of exploring the famous loch. One morning I struck out on a lovely stretch of the West Highland Way, which sweeps you up towards Conic Hill, one of my favourite wee hills in Scotland. In the past we've also bashed out on Cameron House's Celtic Warrior speedboat, another fab way to see the loch as zoom across the Highland Boundary Fault and survey some of the tree-shrouded isles.
Cameron House also team up with 4x4 Adventures Scotland from nearby Luss to offer a unique way of exploring the national park's scenery. Paddy, a dashing driver in a kilt, picked us up at our apartment (handy on a showery day) for a thrilling 4x4 off-roading driving adventure up and down the Loch Lomond hinterland's hills. We even got a go at driving, with Paddy a patient tutor.
On our last morning, we popped down to the Leisure Club for one last swim. I walked by the wee jetty where the seaplanes used to leave from. I'm sad that they're no more, but also delighted to report there is plenty else going on the southwestern shores of this deservedly popular, perennially bonnie, loch.