Destination Dining: Boutique hotel, on-site restaurant and self-catering cabins on the Isle of Skye


A couple found a new life on the Isle of Skye and now they helping others find their happy place by offering warm, comfortable stays where guests enjoy creative cocktails, warming drams and hearty food, all within a few metres of the sea, set against a stunning landscape. After leaving Edinburgh when he was 18 years old to go to London to study engineering Mike Dawson found work in the capital and for almost two decades lived the fast-paced big-city life working as a motorcycle mechanic. He had a dream to return to Scotland one day with his wife, Francesca, a primary school teacher.
“It was a conscious decision. I’d reached my mid 30s and you can’t live that fast paced rat-race for ever,” he said. Whilst they were looking for a small project to do-up, they stumbled across a much larger one - a manse, an old church and a big garden for sale, which had been left untouched for almost 30 years.
This is now a 10 bedroomed boutique hotel, a restaurant , called The Sprig, serving gastro-pub style food, and home to 9 luxury cabins – all three forming The House of Juniper, a place to stay, relax, unwind and dine on the island.
For Mike, it was not just a return to Scotland, but a journey of discovery, immersing himself in the Highlands, embracing life on Skye and discovering a whole new career.


It takes around five hours to drive from Glasgow or Edinburgh to Skye, a little less from Perthshire. But it’s a journey of breath-taking beauty culminating in the equally stunning west coast and bridge to the Isle of Skye. Visitors from Scotland’s cities feel a sense of escape while sampling a more rural existence.
“So many people from the central belt have never been – they want to, but they haven’t,” said Mike. “It’s so close, and so very different; you truly feel like you are worlds away.”
The House of Juniper
This welcoming hotel and bespoke self-catering wooden cabins sit in Broadford, in an elevated position overlooking the sea, with views of the mountains and a few wee islands.
The manse building that became the hotel was virtually derelict and had to be stripped back to the bare stone walls. The floors, ceilings and roof had to be refurbished. Throughout the project, wherever possible original futures and fixings repurposed and restored which brings a distinctive sense of place.
Mike and Alasdair - the head builder - along with a small team completed much of the six-year renovation work themselves – it was a passion project. But this complete paring back gave them the opportunity to create something to their exact specifications. As a thanks to the dedication of the core team the bedrooms in the manse are named after each of them.
Rooms now feature super-comfortable beds, carefully-chosen linens, sockets beside mirrors for hairdryers, espresso machines and there is a fully accessible one-level suite and wet room.
MikeWe made the decision to go above and beyond the required specification throughout the build. We wanted to have everything the very best it could be and for everything to be the quietest, warmest and cosiest for our guests. We wanted to do the building and its history justice, to bring it back to life. If people were going to choose to stay with us, we wanted to do everything we could for them to enjoy their break. After all, The Manse and the church were originally a place to gather, to recuperated. We wanted it to be just that again.
Soon after opening the accommodation, the need for somewhere good, and reliably open, to eat, this led Mike and Alasdair to up tools again and finish the project. Renovating the abandoned church on site , converting it into a restaurant – The Sprig.
The Manse has 10 en-suite double bedrooms, including the fully accessible one. There is also a sauna, steam room, cold plunge bucket and relaxation area to help you wind down further. It opened in 2021 and whilst guests loved the hotel, they found a lack of places to eat nearby. So, Mike’s plans to “do something eventually” with the old church were brought forward, and The Sprig restaurant was born.
The Sprig is open to non-residents too – and has proved as popular with locals as it is with the thousands of visitors who visit Skye every year. It’s also where breakfast is served to guests.
The nine cabins all include a double bedroom and a sofa bed in the lounge (one large cabin boasts a double and a twin.) These are dog friendly cabins (dogs are also allowed in the restaurant) and are ideal for couples, friends or families.
“You could have a couple of little kids on the sofa bed and still have room for a cot for a third,” said Mike, who with Francesca now has a four year old and three year old, and knows what makes for a good family break.


A staff of four at thehas grown to 26. The general manager has been there from the start, the cocktail-maker is a hugely experienced mixologist. The Sprig head-chef has worked in high-end, frenzied kitchen including Gordon Ramsay restaurants. He too was looking for a better work-life balance and wanted to take his incredible skills – and his 800 cook books – and chase his dream of quality cooking and enjoying doing great things with good food, than chasing rosettes for someone else. Another of the chefs has grown up on Skye, and knows the farms and the producers.
Food here is beautifully presented and carefully, lovingly chosen and cooked. The best local produce, travelling as few miles as possible such as the crab and seafood or the lamb and venison from the hills are combined with foraged ingredients like mushrooms and blackthorn. Anything that can’t be found here is carefully sourced to be Red Tractor approved and as organic and high quality as possible.
Looking to the future there is plenty of accommodation here to take over the place for wedding guest parties – and The Sprig for the wedding breakfast. Whilst there is enough to see and do on Skye to stay for weeks this is also an accessible place for a long weekend or short break and it will remain bookable right through December and up to Hogmanay (where you can book to join the party). Then the team will take a couple of months off for a break and to refurbish.
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Mike and Francesca, now a humanist celebrant, have absolutely no regrets. He can still shock himself looking back on “just how bad” a state the buildings were in, and how much they have achieved. But he says he is always just grateful guests choose to come here and have a good time. The guests come from all over the world, and have included families directly connected to the last ministers who lived at The Manse.
“A manse was always traditionally available for anyone who needed somewhere to stay, or for someone ill to be taken care of. I like to think that we are still doing that today, that we are part of the community – we have plenty of locals coming here to eat now who are delighted that there is a new restaurant and some life in the place again,” said Mike.
Find out more
Visit the website here to find out more about the accommodation and the restaurant and to book. For enquiries for larger parties or weddings please contact the hotel to discuss your needs.