Have you ever stayed in Scottish cottages?

I live on Skye, and self-catering generally works out cheaper for a week compared to hotels (neither being all that cheap, and hotel tariffs generally being per person.) But if you want a traditional cottage (e.g. thatched), then yeah, you'll pay over the odds. Some examples from where I live:-

1. My colleague's non-traditional self catering: http://www.lephincottageskye.co.uk/tariff.php (£300 off-peak, to £525 height of summer)

2. Random thatched cottage I just Googled (also on Skye): http://www.maryscottages.co.uk/booking.html (£545 off-peak, £795 height of summer)

3. And I'd estimate hotels around here average out at around £50-65/per night, per person.

I'd go with self-catering. You'll get a better feel for the character of a place, more privacy, more space.

Im from scotland and the scottish cottages are lovely it would be much more of an experience staying in a cottage than a hotel :) the majority of them are gorgeous

Yes , i live in Coatbridge which is part of the lowland of Scotland , but i used to work up north and some of the cottages are beautiful . My advice to you is when you come to Scotland go up north , best cottages and best scenery in the whole world.