We stayed here for 4 nights in August and loved this place. The rooms were clean, the bed was…read morecomfortable, and the hotel was quiet. More importantly, the bathrooms had been updated recently, with a good shower and heated towel rack. My only complaint about the bathroom was that the hot water took a bit to heat up but it got plenty warm and had good water pressure. We also ate in the bar for lunch and at the restaurant for dinner. Both meals were excellent. The staff was very helpful, let us use left luggage when we arrived early and let us settle our bill the night before/gave us instructions for leaving our keys when we checked out very early. Location is convenient to buses at the visitor center and to the city center for shopping, sight seeing, and dining.

The shore provides some lovely rooms, a restaurant, a back bar and a bar open to the public. The…read morefood is always delicious, the staff friendly and everything is spotless. The bar is the only place in town where you can get a proper cocktail, which are always delicious. The interior is stylish, with leather sofas, a tv showing sports and a tempting display of bottles behind the bar. It is right by the harbour and open for lunch and dinner for food.

The Albert Hotel is a delightful guest house in the centre of Kirkwall. It has plenty of character…read moreand smart rooms newly refurbished to a very high spec, cracking Orkney breakfasts with plenty of choice for vegetarians too, and inexpensive metered parking alongside. There was free wifi throughout the hotel and our room had a flat screen tv, a proper hairdryer and one of the most comfartable beds I've slept in. A lift to each floor came in handy when we had cases in tow. The welcome was warm and staff went the extra mile to ensure our comfort. The Bothy Bar at the front of the hotel was warm and cosy with a nice selection of drinks and a homely vibe. The Bothy was also very popular with the locals and was a good spot to wind down and relax after a day of sightseeing. The meals served in the rear bar weren't amazing, and the dried out Hunter's Chicken had seen better days, but everything else about The Albert Hotel was pretty darned perfect. The tea and coffee making tray was generously replenished daily with the makings for multiple cuppas, and some very nice shortbread. We also got a bottle of water each every day. Its those little touches that make a place special. We'd come so close to not staying in Kirkwall, frightened off by hotels where woodchip wallpaper, swirly-whirly patterned carpets, chintz curtains and migraine-inducing bedspreads were a feature. So glad I persisted in my search for somewhere smart, fresh and clean with all mod cons. Mind you, there's not much competition when it comes to Hotels in Kirkwall - there just aren't that many of them. If you want to visit in high season, be prepared to splash some cash! Highly recommended.

I would've given this a much higher review but the music thumping all night long was beyond…read moreannoying. Trying to get restful sleep was virtually impossible. It's a shame that hey allow the bar to get so noisy. The hotel was clean and comfortable but good does that do a guest if they cannot sleep?! Wouldn't recommend this hotel if you want to sleep peacefully. A big letdown.

Very much a dump. The rooms are loud and the bed is like a board. Bathrooms are dark and very…read moresmall. You need a step stool to get in and out of the shower. Breakfast was below average. Avoid this place.

We came to Kirkwall to tour the lovely island of Orkney. The Ayre is on the main drag of town,…read moreparking in the front and more in the back. The registration is adjacent to the back door, the front is entries to the pub and dining room. The employees were pleasant and we were into our room quick enough. The room is beyond several fire doors, was kinda fhnny, so many doors, but it's a good thing. The room was adequate, clean, and comfy. The bath was nice, a great shower....ahhhh. The restaurant was lovely, nice draught of local beer, ample wines I think, and a good menu. The breakfast is in a large back hall, buffet of Scottish breakfast. The location to touring is fine as well. I enjoyed the harbor and the back streets for walking.

My travel companion and I were on a walkabout of Kirkwall and decided we were in need of a…read morerefreshment. We stepped into the Kirkwall Hotel Bar and were very pleased with the ambiance. We debated what to order and the bar tender (Kelvin maybe? such a great gentleman) - suggested trying some local gin.

We really came here solely for the 8 pages of Highland Park scotch they have at the bar and did…read morelunch at the same time to avoid being too tipsy and feed the kids. My wife and I are huge scotch fans and we really wanted to do a Highland Park tasting, but there was no way to do that with our kids. The distillery instead pointed us here, where they supposedly have the biggest selection of Highland Park scotch anywhere in the world and I believe it because they had 8 full pages. We wound up tasting our way through a relatively expensive collection of six different selections going as far back as 1973, which was awesome to do. That said, it was a bit disappointing because we basically had to do the selecting entirely on our own. I would have expected somebody there to be able to help some with what we might like given how extensive their collection is. Also, there were at least a few times where what we asked for wasn't available anymore. We still had a great time drinking very good and rare scotch. Beyond the scotch, the food was good, if not exceptional. My wife and I both got salads we enjoyed and finding a good salad with vegetables in Scotland isn't always easy. Our kids didn't really eat the mac and cheese, but that's sort of par for the course with them. The ambiance with the view of the bay and a very fancy dining room was actually quite nice. The only real downside (beyond wishing there was more Highland Park scotch expertise) was that the whole hotel filled up with people from the cruise ship in the harbor pretty soon after we sat down, which then resulted in very slow service for a while.

There's a pub attached to the St Ola Hotel and if you walk through the bar area it takes you to a…read moresmall dining area (there's also an outside side entrance). Very straightforward, just a couple of booths and tables. We weren't terribly hungry so we got the soup of the day (Basil and Tomato), cajun fries and a very good Steak and Orkney Ale Pie. (Steak & Orkney Ale Pie £14.95 Orkney Ale Braised Beef Pie served with Mash Potato and Buttered Greens). The pie came with a massive but tasteless puff pastry topping and a delicious beef interior. My only complaint was there wasn't enough sauce, it was a little dry. I'd have asked for more sauce but the dining area wasn't really staffed well that night. The beef was memorable and delicious though. Quiet, even though the bar was busy, it was great for a quick, casual bite.

This review is for the restaurant at St. Ola Hotel. I came here for dinner with my husband and…read moreanother couple and our experience was not so great. My first impressions of the environment and ambiance were good. It was a pretty standard-looking pub. It looked like a chill environment. There were tvs and it was very relaxed. We sat down at a table and it took quite awhile before our server asked us if we wanted any drinks. My husband and I shared the "Orkney Farmhouse Crispy Cheese" as a starter. It was alright. It was nice that the cheese was local from the island, but other than that it wasn't too special. I tried to order the "Beef, Bacon, & Grimbister Cheese" specialty stuffed burger, but they were all out of it so I was bummed about that. I ended up ordering the "Ola Burger with Chili" and again, this was nothing special. I was starving but only finished half of my burger. It was just sort of bland and didn't taste very fresh. Our server never came by our table once to see how we were doing. We all had no water in our glasses for a long time. I kept trying to track down a server and no one was coming over. I was so thirsty that I eventually just walked all the way to the bar and asked if we could get a pitcher of water. She said yes, but then she continued to talk with her co-worker for awhile before she even thought about getting the pitcher of water. The prices were not bad. Overall, I was not impressed. We were all very chill about this because we were on vacation and just going with the flow, but I was pretty disappointed. I'm giving it 2 stars because the food was not the most terrible that I have ever had and the restaurant was clean, but the service was severely lacking.

A part of my heart will always be in Kirkwall and the Orkney Hotel…read more I was there under unusual circumstances, and the kindness and professionalism these people showed me were simply unbelievable; I will always be grateful. The hotel is quirky because it is an old and extremely charming place. The food, the pub, and the room were outstanding. The location couldn't be better. Please book a room there only if you want to be surrounded by kind, friendly folks, sleep well in your comfy bed, wake up to a lovely breakfast in the bright and beautiful room looking out onto the garden, and enjoy all this amazing town has to offer. I will definitely be back, I wouln't miss it if I were you!

The Orkney Hotel (or Royal Hotel as it used to be called) can be a bit hit and miss for food. I've…read morenever stayed there so can't comment first hand on that, but do know several other people who have stayed there who would happily stay there again, which is generally a good sign. The bar - the Wild West Saloon - is popular and gets very busy at weekends. There's quite a good atmosphere there, and a good range of beers available. The restaurant is the bit that can be hit and miss. It's a little pricey - and for those prices you'd expect quality all the time, not just some of the time. Sometimes the food can be fantastic but the service very slow. And other times the service can be great and the food less so - such as puddings with what was supposed to be a caramelised topping which turned out to be about 6 teaspoons full of sugar!! Now I like sweet things, but really..

DONT ORDER A HALF PORTION. Everything seemed fine at first,…read moreoutside of the Christmas menu on the front door in August and the crazy classical music playing. We were soon taken aback when my friend asked if they would do a half portion of lamb and potatoes. The waiter groaned loudly, glared at her, but agreed. When I asked for a half on my order of fish (the plates looked huge) he rolled his eyes snatched our menus and left. The food wasn't cooked to its best, nothing ghastly, but my fish was maybe a teeny, 4 bite filet, and on one side the edge was torn like it had been knawed on. Our boiled potatoes were still crunchy as well. I believe The original price was 11.85, and we were charged 8.85. Pretty high price for a teeny mangled fishy and rude service. (note:the young woman bringing our food seemed pleasant enough and the tables beside us had lovely looking dishes and desserts)

This is a rather fun and unusual hotel. Run by two gentlemen, it is best for seasoned travelers…read morewho love meeting people along the way and are happy to adjust to local ways. The building was originally built as a hospital, so there are lots of odd twists and turns. We had a lovely large room on the second floor. The dining room/bar/restaurant was a little pricey, but had some of the best cuisine we encountered on our trip -Leisurely service, cooked to order food, so expect to be there a while. Breakfast downstairs in the morning was full of options. We were there off season, so it was quiet and most all the guests were American. We had a great time chatting with others as well as the proprietors over breakfast.