Royal Hotel

With a family visit to the island booked it was a week that from start to finish was of absolute brilliance…. And part of that was down to the warm welcom that I received at the Royal hotel in Stornoway. |From the minute I set foot in the door the staff could not have been more welcoming and attentive to my stay.|Room overlooking the main street across to the castle was brilliant each morning to wake up too.|All in the comfort of a nice, spacious and comfortable room..||Breakfast each morning was exquisite with plenty on offer from a buffet style set up and also a cooked menu that sets you up for the day ahead perfectly. (Hebridean breakfast was certainly a hit with me)||Two brilliant on site restaurants which I would also highly recommend..||A highly recommend place to stay for anyone visiting the island as your guaranteed a warm and kind welcome to your stay.

I really enjoyed my stay for 8 days at the Royal Hotel well looked after by all the staff there. Room was great looking out on the front onto the harbour and castle view! Food was also really nice no problems, I tried a lot different food and was happy every time. Would I come back yes.

The Royal was great for a long stay in Stornoway. It was so easy to pop out to do something in town then pop back in. It's right in the middle of everything, so one time I was able to go out to a street concert down the street, run back to get my umbrella when it started raining, and get back to the concert with the umbrella, all in about 8 minutes. I do recommend a harbor-facing room so you can see the fun on the street. Our rooms all had en suite bathrooms, but I think a few had their own private bathroom but in a separate room facing the main bedroom across the hall. (Like two steps, not all the way down the hall, but still.) If that's important to you, just be sure your room has the bathroom IN the room when you're booking. It's an old place, but they've done lots of renovations that are on-going to keep it nice. The rooms were comfy, the staff great (shout out to the famous Gordon at the front desk!) and the food was good. We definitely want to come back to Stornoway, and when we do, we've agreed to come back to the Royal. Shout out to the young women working in housekeeping who did a fantastic job keeping everything so clean, and I'm sorry about my men bringing back half of the mud around the Callanish Stones on them. And the Heb Celt mud on the shoes. Sorry. :-)

Went with family for Christmas dinner. The food was amazing. The manager and staff were friendly and helpful. A 5* dining experience.

10th-12th Aug 24. Won’t visit again. We spent 17 days on a roadtrip in NW Scotland and the Hebrides across 2 B&B, 2 Hotels, a Pod and a cottage and found little of value at the Royal Hotel. Location on quayside in Stornoway was excellent, access to Northern Lewis and multiple historic sites of interest. Parking was tight at rear of hotel however plenty st parking out front. We reserved standard double, harbour view with en-suite at £249 per night B&B. If you are given room key 31, return it. Bathroom was not functional, sink in front of toilet, meaning difficult to use toilet, standing or sitting at an awkward angle, with sink at teeth level and dangerous. With door closed not able to dry yourself in the bathroom, the shower was tiny. We advised reception immediately, they were unable to move us that night as hotel full, advising bathrooms in old buildings typically tight ( photo attached.) Disappointed with this response we asked them to review the room rate, as other rooms had appropriate bathrooms. Next night we were advised no reduction in room rate as configuration of bathrooms similar in old buildings unfortunately ( not true.) We shared more disappointment with the management, then late that evening we were moved for the first time to room 16 ( which was just what we’d expected for this rate ) then moved again the next night to room 7 ( shower fitting was broken ) as 16 was required for other guests. Only one of the 3 rooms came anywhere near our value for £249 per night. No reimbursement as they must have felt moving us made up for their shortcomings. On the plus side, restaurant was accommodating, despite reception losing our booking for dinner on the last evening, staff were friendly, fayre was OK. Team at reception had their hands tied, hotel was full. They had little awareness of the configuration of the rooms, which surprised us. 2 of the team had never seen the rooms ? Could they have done more, yes, admitted frailties and adjusted rate, they chose not to. Their positive manner doesn’t cover for the inefficiency of events. £750 for 3 nights B&B ( in 3 rooms ) in a dysfunctional building represents no value. All we needed was a room and a useable bathroom, nothing special. All other accommodation across our trip was as expected. Fantastic adventure, just not at the Royal Hotel for us again, very disappointing.

Absolutely fabulous stay at this lovely family hotel looking over the bay and Lewis Castle in Stornoway. Excellent food too. Can’t recommend enough!!! Angus MacDonald

I stayed here for three nights this week and I have to start by saying, I have been absolutely blown away with the cost of hotels in both Skye and Lewis. This room we picked had a harbor view, the room was four meters square with far to much furniture in it for the size and a bathroom which looked like it came from the eights, it was however clean. £300 per night, you would think with paying this kind of money you would get something pretty decent in Scotland, but no, it was actually pretty poor value for money. I'll put this aside... In terms of the staff, first class. Really great people, very friendly, more than happy to help, a real asset to the company. The restaurant was also really great, possibly a wee touch expensive for the environment, however the food was good, but nothing really more than what you would expect from a traditional harbor pub grub, hence I thought it was a wee touch rich. Had they to drop everything on the menu by a couple of pound, then it would be perfect. To summarise, when speaking to people within the industry on the island, it appears that they have no competition hence they can charge these prices. If you wish a holiday to the inner and outer Hebrides, be prepared to spend. Would I stay here again, mmm. I would look around to see if I could find better accommodation, better room etc, however it is a nice wee place albeit dated in the rooms department.

After a long drive up to Lewis. We were looking forward to some warmth and kind reception. We received this in spades. This started a couple of hours before we arrived with Gordon in front of house checking in on us to ensure that we had booked dinner during our stay. Once we arrived we had a lovely warm welcome from the ladies in reception and settled in. ||The room was a castle view and quiet, adequately maintained and with a lovely warm duvets.||We ate in both restaurants and the food and service were excellent.

The Royal Hotel is located in the middle of the town. Having recently been made up this is a great hotel to stay in on your trip to the islands. The one bad thing about it might be at the weekend; with lots of people going out on the town it could be quite noisy for guests facing the street. But the positives far out weigh the negatives. There is a fantastic restaurant called The Boatshed downstairs. The food here is delicious! They also have a bar area where you can go for a quiet drink at night. I think they have a website where you can find out all the details, although should you call their staff are friendly and helpful making your stay here even better!

The Royal Hotel (part of the caladh group) is right in the middle of town - ideal for getting about all over the island. It faces onto the Castle Grounds over the harbour, so if you get a room there the view will be great - though possibly quite noisy as the main road into town is there too! There's a cosy wee lounge bar where you can have a quiet drink, or for an evening meal there's The Boatshed restaurant - the food and service there is great! Overall decor is nice and the restaurant is sea themed. If you're after something a wee bit more modern there's also the HS1 bar/restaurant where you can have a quick bite and cocktails or a full meal. Parking up behind the hotel for guests, accessed from a one-way street. The easiest way to get to is from a wee bit away though! Hotel has a website where you can find out lots more info

The hotels is comfortable, but there's nothing really remarkable about the rooms (although the service is excellent). What makes this place stand out is the food. Scallops were spectacular; king prawn jumbalaya excellent. Stick with the seafood for a memorable meal.

Very nice place, good choice of food and drink. It's less formal than the Boatshed next door (and cheaper) so it's a nice place to relax and unwind after a long days walking.

We ate here 3 times during our holiday to Lewis, what a fantastic place! Quite trendy for the Islands I must say! Great food and service, worth checking out.

Came here each night during a walking trip. Food is from Boatshed restaurant but better value in this cafe-bar. Plenty of choice and ample servings after a day of activity.