56.71°N 6.83°WIsle of Skerrach · Inner HebridesBortle class 1
Somewhere,the dark isstill whole.
A twelve-room retreat on a small Hebridean island, where the nearest streetlight is a ferry ride away and on a clear night you can see your breath and the Milky Way at the same time.
Skerrach has no streetlights, no mains-lit roads and a population that goes to bed early. We measure the dark every evening from the roof of the kitchen, and it has not let us down yet.
0
Bortle class. The darkest rating a sky can get.
9
Streetlights on the island. We checked. Twice.
0
Stars visible to the naked eye on a good night.
0SQM
Average sky quality reading, measured nightly.
What's here
Twelve rooms. One very large ceiling.
Everything on the croft is built around one idea: keeping your eyes dark-adapted from supper until sunrise.
The Dome
A 20-inch telescope under a roof that rolls away.
Mhairi, our resident astronomer, runs the dome every clear night from ten. Saturn's rings, the Orion Nebula, and whatever she's in the mood for. No experience needed, just warm socks.
Aurora alerts
02:14 · Green to the north. Coats on.
The night kitchen
Supper at nine. Porridge at three for anyone still out on the machair.
Red light, everywhere
Every lamp on the croft turns red after dusk, so your eyes stay open for business.
Shore sauna
Cedar, woodfired, ten metres from the Atlantic. Watch the stars come out through the steam.
No wifi in rooms
It's in the kitchen if you need it. Most people forget by the second night.
A night at Hollow Sky
Twelve hours, one sky.
Keep scrolling. The sky will do the rest.
18:00
The ferry drops you off.
A Land Rover, a flask of tea, and eleven minutes of single-track road. Your phone signal goes somewhere around the second cattle grid.
20:30
Supper by red lamp.
Langoustines from the pier, bread from the Aga, and a table of strangers who will be friends by the time the Plough rises.
22:00
The roof rolls back.
Mhairi opens the dome. Your first look at Saturn through proper glass tends to get a noise out of people. It's usually a swear.
00:40
Green to the north.
If the aurora shows, we knock. If it doesn't, the Milky Way is doing its best impression of weather, straight overhead.
03:00
The deep dark.
The quietest hour. Porridge in the kitchen for the stubborn, a hot water bottle for everyone else.
06:10
First light over Tiree.
The stars go out one at a time. Breakfast is whenever you wake up, which is usually lunchtime.
18:00
06:10
Rooms and rates
Pick a room. The sky is included.
All rates are per night for two, with supper, breakfast and the dome. Made-up prices for a made-up island.
A bright moon washes out the faint stuff. This is tonight's real moon, worked out from today's date, and the darkest week coming up.
Phase…
Illuminated…
Next new moon…
Darkest nights…
Guests, after
People come back quieter.
"I've lived in Glasgow for thirty years and I didn't know the sky had that many layers."
"They knocked at two in the morning. I have never been so happy to be woken up."
"Cloudy for two nights. Third night, Saturn. Worth every grey hour."
Questions
Before you pack.
What if it's cloudy the whole time?
It's the Hebrides, so it might be. We run talks, films and a very competitive pub quiz in the kitchen, and Dome Suite guests get a free night if we lose three in a row.
Do I need to know anything about astronomy?
Not a thing. Most guests can't find the Plough on arrival. By the second night they're pointing it out to the new arrivals.
Will I see the northern lights?
Maybe. We see some aurora on around one in five dark-season nights. Nobody can promise it, and anyone who does is selling something.
How do I get there?
Train to Oban, then the ferry. We meet every boat at the pier. If you drive, leave the car in Oban. You won't need it.
Is Skerrach a real place?
No. Neither is Mhairi, sadly. This whole site is a demo built to show off a web design toolkit. Press the green button in the corner to see how.
Colophon
What this page is made of.
Every library and pattern on this page came from the Supasites design resources repo. Hit Show the kit bottom left and each section labels itself.