St Magnus Bay Hotel

Lovely night in this hotel.

Liked: Very good breakfast. Lovely dinner. Very helpful and friendly staff. Very comfortable room.
Disliked: N/A

Hotel in Hillswick, scenic and...

Liked: Very friendly, helpful staff. Beautiful, peaceful location overlooking water and surrounded by small farms. Apartment we stayed in was spacious and separate to old hotel, short walk to enjoy breakfast (hill climb walk OK for us, but might be a problem for those with low fitness or mobility challenge, but those people drive everywhere anyway (for us a nice way to stretch the legs). We also got to enjoy a couple of local community events in Hillswick during our stay which were great fun.
Disliked: The bedroom ceiling in the apartment is VERY low - not possible to stand up in it. Mezzanine area.

The hotel is in a...

Liked: Location was good overlooking the bayParking was good,staff very friendly
Disliked: Food choice poor.Wine choice very poor.Toiletries very basic,tea/coffee facilities limitedCleanliness could be better.

Where else are you going...

Liked: The Magnus Bay Hotel was actually built in Norway, and featured in the Glasgow Great Exhibition in 1899, being moved up to Hillswick, in kit form, a year later. Its hard to imagine now, as this is so fantastically remote, but in the 1920s there were cruises from Edinburgh, and the hotel was something of a feature as it dominated the bay, in a landscape where there are no trees. Now the cruise ships are long gone, but the hotel is still something of a feature, and is very popular in the summer, as there is some of the most spectacular scenery in the UK within easy walking distance. Its a lovely hotel with friendly staff, a large bar (very welcome after the 5 hour hike round the amazing Ness of Hillswick), a restaurant and a huge, very tasty buffet breakfast included in the price. It also has tables outside with a great view over the bay, if you, like me, live in Shetland and are acclimatised to the wind. I was in a single room, and it was actually pretty spacious, comfy and the bed was the larger single size which was just fine. The room had all the amenities you would expect, but i did really like the kitkat biscuits next to the coffee, and the USB ports in the electric sockets. I may as well say that Shetland is expensive and this hotel, nor any other, is a bargain basement price, but after a strenuous walk in bracing wind, it was an absolute pleasure to hobble up to my cosy room. It was a very enjoyable stay.
Disliked: nothing

Wonderful location and great meals.

Liked: Views from the house.
Disliked: Height of ceiling in bedroom.

Superb

Friendly and generous comfort with...

Liked: Friendly staff led by generous and thoughtful hosts. Excellent food, and plenty of it: perfect when you've been battling a northern wind all day! Good options for vegetarians. A comfortable room with great supply of hot water. And a pretty decent whisky selection too!
Disliked: Only improvement I can think of for us southerners not used to the "simmer dim", would be blackout blinds for the windows.

Well run hotel, friendly staff...

Liked: Full breakfast was included and was very good with a wide range of choices. We stayed in an Airb&b apartment separate from the hotel, this was comfortable with amazing views. We had two dogs with us, the hotel were very accommodating with them which is unusual for Shetland. We ate all our evening meals at the hotel. Having worked through most of the menu choices I can say that they were all excellent. The staff were amazing, really friendly and nothing was too much for them to help. Thoroughly recommend. Paul and Andrea, the owners were very welcoming. A great place to stay.
Disliked: There is some ongoing building work but this does not affect the quality of the stay at the hotel. I am unable to find anything that I didn't like.

Very comfortable stay

Liked: Great location Comfortable roomFriendly staffBrilliant breakfast