The Royal Hotel Stromness

Very comfortable hotel Karen on reception fantastic

Stayed here for a couple of nights. Nice stay. Our rooms on the top floor were not big but perfectly OK for our needs. Very nice breakfast too in the rather elegant breakfast room. The hotel is connected to a pub with two bars one at the front (which was quite busy) and a much quieter and nicer lounge bar at the back. Noise from the pub was not a problem. Some car parking outside but we left the car overnight in the well lit pay and display car park at the ferry terminal, a few minutes walk away. Stromness has a nice main street and the hotel is on it. We thought Kirkwall was nice too and if visiting the Orkneys again we would probably stay there.

Our room was very nice. The Hotel is situated down a narrow street parallel with the harbour. The restaurant was closed for the season, however, the Ferry Inn also under the same ownership was opened for evening meals.

Very nice friendly staff, great location and offered a very nice breakfast. There are a lot of stairs and no elevators, luckily they offered to take our suitcase up and down when asked. Very clean and I really liked everyone there.

Front desk was very nice, helped us by carrying our luggage 2 flights of stairs. No elevator.

Generally comfortable, and plenty of room in the bedroom and bathroom. Although it’s on the street, there is no noise from any traffic whatsoever at night. However there was some sound coming through from the room above, nothing major. It was a pity of the restaurant was closed at the time, but the ferry inn did us ever a good meal

The exterior is original however the rooms have been updated and were very luxurious. Parking is down the street about an 1/2 mile in the free long term parking. Plan dinner accordingly as there is limited options in the town. There is a CO-OP that has some options.

Generally an enjoyable stay. Great breakfast and okay room. I had a single room. Very small room in the attic which was fine for me as I quite like “quirky” but the bathroom is a bit too small to be honest. Think a ferry berth bathroom. Also, I didn’t spend much time in my room so I was less bothered. Very thin walls so I could hear neighbours and their arguing into the night. Pre-arrival communication is poor. I had emailed twice before arriving asking if I could store my bags there (ferry arrived in the morning) and had no reply. On arrival I walked up to the hotel (only a few minutes walk from the ferry terminal) to ask if I could leave luggage. Nobody on reception. Rang bell nobody came. Rang hotel (and could hear phone ringing!!!) and nobody answered. Waited maybe 10-15 minutes and kept trying the various options but nobody responded. Walked away with all my bags and came back 15 minutes later after getting a coffee. Went through same routine and ended up giving up. Luckily a local told me that there was left luggage facility in the ferry terminal and I left my bags there for £5.

This hotel was very good, clean and comfortable. Post COVID meant restaurant was limited. Very friendly staff and good breakfast. Great evening meals were had at sister establishment, The Ferry Inn.

Lovely central location of the hotel but walls are so paper thin we could hear the next room's occupant snore loudly one evening.