Name: The Royal Hotel
Address: 55-57 Victoria Street, Stromness
Telephone: 0800 031 8416
Rating: 4

Comfortable and clean

Liked: Very comfortable room
Disliked: Reception not staffed

Pleasant

Superb

Good

An interesting holiday spoilt by...

Liked: The room was warm, pleasant & comfortable. Breakfast was very good and the Chef and young lady looking after us were very friendly and informative. The Hotel is located on what can be considered the main street, next to the harbour in Stromness with very quick access to ferries to the other islands. The street is narrow in places and winds between old houses and shops, very typical for what was probably at one time an old fishing village. The Isle of Hoy dominates the skyline. Journey time via Kirkwell to and from the Main Ferry Terminal of ST. MARGARETS HOPE is around 45 minutes, if you travelled as we did all the way up to Wick or Thurso before commencing your crossing to orkney. The Island is so interesting both with the recent history of the Royal Navy at Scapa Flow (you can still see the remnants of vessels sunk to block the approaches from submarines) and sites such as Scara Brae around 5000 years old and built & lived in before the pyramids were built. We enjoyed our visit and glad we went, we wouldnt have missed it.
Disliked: Orkney & the North of Scotland, seems to have a general staffing problem and if you intend to eat either in the hotels or in any of the restaurants it is a necesity to book. If you turn up on the off chance for a table you will probably be disappointed. I cannot emphasise this enough. You have been warned. Our Hotel send us an update as we were travelling to advise the restaurant was closed and to use their sister restaurant, The Ferry Inn, recommending we booked. As usual, we thought this recommendation a sales ploy - no it wasn't, we couldnt eat in Stromness and drove 16 miles down to Kirkwell where we did manage to find somewhere to eat but still had to wait for a table.