The Kirkwall Hotel

Lovely comfortable room, great food, friendly staff. Nice location overlooking the harbour and handy for the bus terminal. I would definitely stay here again.

The hotel is traditional and has a classic beauty but is tired and needs updating. It’s probably the best hotel around, and all the tour companies use it….it appeared very busy with tours. That’s good and glad they have the business. I booked 2 single rooms for 6 nights ( travelling with a friend), and when we arrived we were taken over the road next door to their ‘annex’ hotel. The Shore. It is foul, awful, terrible and smells of damp. I had no idea that this hotel even existed. No one had told me and it was so disappointing that I made up my mind we weren’t going to stay there. It want what I thought I had booked and I hadn’t been told. Lovely Fiona, on reception, totally understood and managed to get us into rooms in the main hotel for 5 out of our 6 nights. Our 1 night in the Shore was awful. However, the other 5 nights in the actual Kirkwall Hotel was lovely. The staff are amazing….and friendly….Fiona, Heidi, David, Cameron, Alan, Stuart, Silviu……all wonderful. They must dread guested having to stay in the Shore. Tour operators obviously know to routine. So…..if you book a room at the Kirkwall hotel, check, check and check again that you are not being put in the Shore. Breakfasts are good and dinners are nice. The bar was lovely. Would go back there…..but not to the Shore.

This is a hotel that has been updated with expensive throw pillows and nice tile in the bathrooms . The decorating is lovely but the attention to small details is missing for instance, the blind in our bedroom was lopsided. There was a coffee stain on the stool in the room and there were other areas of painting that were neglected. I’ve attached some photos to this review whilst the dinner was excellent, the breakfast was very poor. I would highly recommend skipping breakfast and getting it somewhere else. The yogurts provided were cheap supermarket variety with sweet fruit thickend yoghurt and watery zero fat plain in little tubs. The fruit salad was mostly chopped apple. They were also out of eggs even though we arrives at 8.45am. When I asked about eggs, the waiter said they take care of it, but nobody ever alerted me so I never had any eggs. The cereals are nothing special. I asked for hot milk to accompany my coffee and was brought a tiny weenie jug of warm semi fat milk. Personally, I prefer whole milk and there was none available, yet they make a big deal of having fresh milk from a special dairy. I don’t think I would stay here again. It seems overpriced quite frankly for what you get and there are lots of items that are worn.

Amazing hotel right in the heart of Kirkwall on Orkney Island. This heritage Hotel has been upgraded in beautiful Scottish decor. So many details to list. Food was excellent. Staff so friendly. Their is a nice bar near lobby, a locals bar (great prices) and a large sitting area on first floor. Most rooms overlook the harbour. Beds are so comfy. Freshly ground coffee, teas and oat cakes. I highly recommend. We look forward to our next visit.

We had a great overnight stay in the Kirkwall Hotel. We stayed in 204 overlooking the harbour, which was a beautifully decorated room. The location was perfect for the ferry, which we had disembarked at 11pm following a rough crossing from Shetland. Despite the late hour, we got a warm welcome at reception and our room was all ready with an extra bed made up for our son. We were particularly delighted by the real coffee and cafetière in the room - a lovely and much appreciated touch! All the staff were friendly and welcoming. Unfortunately we had to depart quite quickly this morning for the ferry to Scrabster, but we had time for breakfast which wasn’t a huge selection but had everything we needed. We would definitely stay again if we needed accommodation in Kirkwall.

The hotel is perfectly located next to the harbour and close to the town centre but the hotel itself has no parking. There are parking bays close by but these are available generally for all road users so you might be unlucky. Not so good for someone who is disabled. It is fitted and furnished in a classic period style. This was attractive but meant that there were some limiting features for those with a physical disability. It has a period lift so the two doors have to be opened and closed manually. If someone has exited the lift without closing the doors, the up/down control button will not work. Sometimes the lift was not flush with the floor which meant there was a step to negotiate. No problem for me but difficult for my disabled wife. Breakfasts were the most disappointing feature - no fresh fruit. Not even a banana. Premier Inns provide fruit and a better selection of food so I would say that breakfast at a PI is much superior to this hotel. Our room was spacious and very comfortable and had beautiful views of the harbour. The bathroom was huge too but there wasn’t much space available for setting toiletries etc on. Although the shower tray was large, it was slippy despite a small mat being provided. Again, no where to set toiletries on so for someone who is disabled this was an issue. Overall we thoroughly enjoyed our stay but for the price charged it was not value for money, given the disappointing breakfasts. The staff were friendly, helpful and attentive and I would recommend this hotel to other travellers.