The Shetland Hotel

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.

There are a few broken things in my room, and I could have used som instruction on how to operate heater. Staff were all friendly and helpfu!

Great hotel and very clean with everything we needed. Very friendly staff and so efficient.

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

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.

Liked that the property was near the terminal and had things to walk to. Staff was friendly and helpful. It’s an older hotel and some rooms are showing their wear. Our room was very musty.