The Shetland Hotel

We stayed here for 5 nights when touring the Shetlands on a group holiday. Overall it was very good, with some caveats. Good points: - the room was huge, it would have been very big just as a room but we stayed in a suite and it was genuinely enormous (it was clearly just two rooms knocked into one) - plenty of storage space in the room - decent shower; I like an over-bath one which this was, and plenty of (very) hot water - staff lovely and extremely helpful with issues some of our tour group (not us) had during our stay - help yourself tea (various varieties)/coffee/bisuits/toiletries/towels/toilet rolls in reception in lieu of room cleaning, unless you asked for the room to be cleaned, which suited us fine - very nice breakfast with plenty of fruit available on the continental buffet, cooked and porridge made to order (and you could even specify whether you wanted porridge made with milk, water or a mixture) - excellent dinners from our group’s set menu - we were at the back of the hotel and there was very little external noise - good location right opposite the ferry terminal and a short walk (10-15 mins) into central Lerwick, with the co-op only a few minutes’ walk away Not so good points - despite the huge room, only a standard double sized bed, which is quite unusual these days - no fridge in the room despite there being an obvious cupboard space for one under the kettle area - small single use plastic bottles of shower gel/shampoo (although there were small bars of soap too) - the lift broke down at the beginning of our stay, and then remained broken, not a problem for us but there were several people in our group of about 30 with mobility issues, for whom it was a problem as there are quite a lot of stairs. - decor really needs redoing throughout! Our room had a 1980s premier inn decor feel, whilst our corridor had blood red wallpaper, peeling in places, which gave a somewhat “cheesy horror movie” feel! The stairs, reception and restaurant were better but still a bit dated. - gluten free and vegetarian options available for dinner, presumably breakfast too, but no signs at all of other dietary needs eg dairy free options etc - quite a lot of internal noise such as from the room next door and the corridor - it would have been nice to have more lighting in the room eg above the kettle area, which was the darkest part of the room, and a central light in the lounge part of the suite would have helped. Overall we enjoyed our stay very much and would happily stay here again.

Just back from here , first of all , yes the hotel is dated but the bedrooms are clean , and comfortable. Bathroom is spotless and fresh towels always available. I liked the idea of replenishing your own supplies from reception. Food is very good, breakfast is hot and tasty . Dinners are excellent and great gf selection, very reasonable prices. Staff are very efficient but friendly too . Didn’t get everyone’s names but Julie , Valerie and Stephen are lovely. Would definitely recommend, but you do need a car to get around.

We stayed here for three nights our room was clean but had peeling wallpaper dated furniture. Bed was comfortable with four posts in each corner (no top ) . Shower over bath was very good and clean . All corridors were a deep red like walking through hell !! Lift was broken so had to use stairs whole time . Meal in restaurant was ok had a bit of a wait due to large coach party in and staff did tell us about wait which was ok . Breakfast was a bit limited but cooked food very good . Staff were very helpful and friendly especially Valerie and bar gentleman in evening . Hotel is a good 20 mins away from town centre. For tea/coffee in room you can help yourself to more items from reception as towels if you did not request room service daily .