The Shetland Hotel

Jane and her team were amazing, made me feel very welcome with nothing too much trouble. The room was lovely and spacious, bathroom newly refurbished with shower over the bath. Highly recommend, I will definitely book again new year

On entering the hotel we were stopped from proceeding to the dining room, very abruptly by the member of staff. We were not offered a drink or any other service, just told to sit down until the dining area was open. When told we could now access the dining area, we were shown to a table. After ordering, we waited 50 minutes for our starter, food was acceptable but neither the quality or quantity justified the price. The service from the waitress was poor, we had to repeat our order several times , to enable her to understand what we wanted. One the dishes ordered was not available. Why put it on the menu? We waited another 30 minutes for our mains. Again, the quality of the food was truly awful . I had the seafood salad and the prawns were tiny, shrivelled and tasted very cheap and unpleasant. Not one of us were satisfied with our meal. We then placed an order for sweet. However, it took so long to arrive that we had to cancel as we had a theatre booking that we were going to be late for, due to the appalling service in the hotel. When we came to pay the bill, the never of staff said ‘I won’t charge for the puddings’ as if he was doing us a favour! No mention of compensation, only a mumbled ‘we only have one chef’. Poor staffing levels are not the fault of the customer!! Overall , we were extremely disappointed in the service we received and of the quality of the food. The overall ambience of the hotel was unwelcoming and we felt as if we had inconvenienced the staff. We certainly won’t be repeating the experience, and will be warning others of the very poor welcome, poor food and bad service we received.

First impressions not very good, the hotel is in major need of refurbishment. Upon walking into the hotel on the ground floor I was greeted by a lift that mentioned health club (on the button for floor number), after checking in I asked about the health club and was told it closed around 20 years ago. I decided not to go any further with questions. Walking to my room on the third floor I would compare it to the shining movie. A red uninviting abyss that is not particularly appealing. The room was found to be very clean and tidy. A printed sticker on the bathroom door informed me to "slide" which wise words. It is expensive for a hotel of such poor standard. The other hotels in the area seem to follow a similar standard which is a shame considering the beautiful landscape. I hope the owners take the plunge to fully refurb the place and take it back to what a hotel of this magnitude deserves.

We stayed at this hotel for several nights as part of a tour group. It is conveniently located opposite the ferry terminal and within walking distance of the town centre. The layout results in the reception being on the fifth floor, which has level access from the car park. The general hotel decor was quite dark. Our room was quite large and had all the required facilities, but was rather dated. The windows in particular suffered badly from condensation between the double glazing. We also used the hotel's Waterfront Bar and Grill, which is the subject of a separate review. Overall our stay was pleasant enough, but the hotel does need some updating - which may have occurred by the time of this review.

The decor of this hotel has seen better days, the wallpaper in the rooms needs replaced but the en-suites appear to have been recently upgraded. The room was spacious, clean, comfy beds with 4 pillows on a double bed. Big tv with a very good range of channels. Ensuite had a bath & shower with good pressure and more than enough hot water. The staff of the hotel were lovely, very chatty and keen to make our stay as comfortable as possible. I didn’t eat in the hotel bar but the menu looked good. I had the cooked breakfast both mornings which was freshly made to order and of a really high standard. We stayed two nights for business and was perfectly happy with our stay and would return.

Very dated hotel in need of major upgrades all over. Primarily occupied by workers. Rooms were very dated with the windows in shocking condition. Wallpaper is peeling from the walls and the bathroom extractor has not been cleaned in a very long time. Food was ok. But just ok.

I booked this hotel as I was traveling solo to meet with some recently discovered cousins while undertaking a search of my late father’s mother when we discovered that her father was born in Yell. The accommodation in Shetland doesn’t have many options but I found that this hotel was better than expected and my room was much larger than the usual UK room sizes. Upon checking in the Assistant Manager Jane welcomed me to the hotel warmly and explained how the meals and bar operated. Colin at the bar was friendly and helpful as well as Jessica and the General Manager Marjory was a delightful lady also and even helping with the service along with Jane. Imagine my surprise that all of the above staff were serving dinner and then breakfast the next morning as there are acute staff shortages in Shetland and they all were smiling and clearly loved their jobs. Guests were comprised of individual tourists, a tour bus group and some great trade guys who were quite regular guests who were real characters. The hotel doesn’t look much from the outside but inside it was warm, spotless and comfortable and opposite the ferry terminal from Aberdeen and a reasonable walk into Lerwick centre and close to a Co Op for whatever needs you may have to buy. Planning a trip next year with my wife so as to explore even more of these wonderful islands.

Had a great experience at The Shetland Hotel this weekend. Rooms are large, warm, furniture is quality and the bathroom was nice and clean as well. The staff were so friendly and helpful. We are both gluten intolerant, and they advised they could cater for that. We decided to order room service breakfast, and the staff member on reception helped us fill in the card, and marked it very clearly as gluten free. Breakfast was delicious both days, came bang on the time we had requested and was presented on a tray etc. Sundries were easily available from reception, including toiletries. There was a smart TV in the room as well. Easy disabled parking for us to use right beside the front door. Our one small complaint was the WiFi disconnected a lot, but the first night there was a large function so it's likely it was just a bit overloaded, as the next day was much better. On that note, you wouldn't have known there was anything on from the room, it was very quiet! Will definitely be back, for the service alone.

This was a holiday experience now crossed off our 'to do list'. Bad bits first, we had to phone reception because we only had one hand towel & one bath towel between us but extras were sent up within 2 minutes. No grab handle to help climb into the bath to use the shower BUT there was an anti-slip mat provided. Good bits was the food, 5 choices on starters, mains & desserts which included a lamb casserole on our first night. Breakfasts were also OK with a self service on cereals & table service on hot food.