The Shore

It's 11pm and currently I'm listening to other guests call out to each other in the hallway, then slamming their feet around, then someone tried my door handle, and now someone is thundering up the stairs, oh and that's the side dish to the conversation I can clearly hear in the room above me. Hands down the absolute worst hotel I have ever stayed at

An excellent place to explore the magical Orkney islands. The Shore is effectively an annex of the Kirkwall Hotel. The rooms are modern, but with some charming period features. It's a short walk to the charming Kirkwall Hotel where you can eat excellent food, drink local whiskies and listen to traditional music. There is free parking a short distance away and nothing on Mainland if too far away. We ended up there by accident after our ferry was cancelled, but we do not regret it and had a wonderful time. The highlight was either the whisky or the breakfasts.

I was travelling back from a week diving in Scapa Flow and had a night's stopover before flying the following day.||After a week in a tiny cabin on a hard bunk on an old fishing boat (not complaining, though, the diving was excellent and the boat very stable even in quite rough conditons) it was a joy to have a lovely comfortable double bed to sleep in and a roomy shower room all to myself!||I arrived about 10:30 at the Kirkwall Hotel (which runs The Shore now) and was told (as I expected) that my room wasn't yet ready, but I was told, by the very helpful lady on reception whose name I forget, but was on duty in the morning of 11th October, so thank you) it would be ready earlier than the 15:00 check in time I expected.||I was directed to the hotel's lovely first floor lounge and sat there for a few hours, enjoying a cup of tea and updating my dive logs, warm and out of the drizzle.||My room was actually ready about 12 and the helpful lady took me and showed me my room in The Shore. ||It was a single, but big enough for a couple. The view was of nothing but internal walls of the hotel, but the room itself was clean, modern and bright, far nicer than the rather drab exterior suggested (the photos here are pretty representative).||I wandered around Kirkwall for a few hours, ate an excellent meal at an indian restaurant and then returned to enjoy an excellent night's sleep.||As I'd booked through Booking.com I didn't get breakfast included, sadly, so after a shower I wondered into town again and had a large Breakfast Waffle (piled high with egg, bacon and beans) in The Daily Scoop ice cream shop, which was plenty to keep me going for the journey home.||The Shore is a very comfortable place to stay in Kirkwall and the staff at the Kirkwall Hotel all very helpful and friendly - If I'm ever back I will certainly stay in one or the other.||The only word of caution I would offer is that there seemed to be no lift at The Shore and the stairs were quite windy, making it hard to carry a large bag up and down - I managed, but I'm still reasonably fit and had been lugging twin dive cylinders around all week, some might find it hard work.||Otherwise, a great place to stay while in Kirkwall.

Be aware - this hotel has been purchased by the Kirkwall Hotel next door, and they are in the process of renovating the entire property. Right now, only the rooms have been renovated, and ours was clean, well-outfitted, spacious, and very comfortable. The location is perfect; just across from the harbor and with an easy walk to town and restaurants. The check-in (next door at the Kirkwall Hotel) was easy, and the staff there went above and beyond to provide information and assistance! Breakfast was provided in the Kirkwall Hotel, and their restaurant and bar are pleasant, although the breakfast food offerings weren't as broad as at other locations we stayed. Staff in key positions, like the front desk, were knowledgeable, professional, and helpful; however, other staff members almost seemed like they hadn't yet been fully directed on work expectations and their job responsibilities. The front door to the Shore (which we were provided a key to enter through) led through a maze of stuffy, dated, moldy smelling halls before arriving at the renovated areas. Doors to storage, the old bar, and restaurant, were all left open providing views of junky, dirty spaces. And most concerning, the front and back doors were left propped open for housekeeping throughout the day, and one day, after dinner we came back to the room, and the outer back door was still propped open. It was convenient for us, certainly, but was for us also a security concern. I think this property has tremendous future potential, and there are many wonderful staff members in place. If you can overlook a few issues, this could be a worthwhile stay for you until then. We could overlook most issues and enjoyed our visit although could not say it was worth the cost we were charged given all the issues presented above.

A repulsive dump, there's no other way of saying it. Photo of the bathroom below -the en-suite 😂 of a twin room down an alleyway. It stank of drains and the loo roll holder fell out of the wall. Overhead lights didn't work nor table lamp. Milk sachets not replenished. In the restaurant, most staff had dirty clothes and the food was poor for the prices. They charged 2 sets of service charge on the bill and claimed it was a mistake 😂. Waitress told to remove them and returned with one still sitting on the bill. Waitress sent back to remove the 2nd. She was told that all tipping in the U.K. is discretionary and none was offered after this fiasco on principle. (Another restaurant locally had a high standard of food, excellent service & lower prices and no service charge.) we didn't want to rest our clothes anywhere but in our suitcases and for the pleasure of being valued guests we paid £375 for 2 nights. Out to trap the tourists especially Americans who pay added service charge.||Avoid like the plague. Utterly revolting. Left feeling unclean..

Walked past the Kirkwall Hotel to get here only to find a note pinned to the front door of the Shore telling me to go to the Kirkwall to check in. Probably would have appreciated this in an email prior to arrival. |Room clean. |Terrible view. |Plenty of teabags. |Sadly this room (number 16) gave me one of my top 3 worst hotel nights ever. Just before 4.30 there was a noise of rushing water next to my room - super loud. I thought it was an early departer in the next room having a shower. However the rushing water and loud droning noise then just carried on about every 15 minutes or so until I had to get up anyway, so I don't think it can have just been an adjacent room - maybe a water tank or pump. No sleep at all after this and the noise did drive me mad. Unacceptable to take money off people to sleep next to this row IMHO. Reception staff were polite but not very interested when I checked out.|The window wouldn't open and the blind didn't meet at the window sill so light started coming in early in June, not helping the 'no sleep' situation. (The friendly guy who showed me over to the room from the Kirkwall did say he was going to get maintenance to look at the dodgy window.) |In the day the blind really needed to be kept shut as well because the window of this room looked over the dinghy roof straight into someone else's bedroom a short distance away. Felt a bit creepy. |PS if the shower doesn't work you might need to pull the cord in the bathroom. I didn't know this, but a lovely friendly cleaner helped me when I couldn't work out why the 'on' button didn't work lol.

Our 3-night stay in Kirkwall was . Note, The Shore is cosy annex of the Kirkwall Hotel - only a couple of steps away. The rooms are modern, well-appointed and we found the bed to be very comfortable. The Shore's location put you right on the waterfront in downtown Kirkwall so you have ready access (i.e., walking) to plenty of eateries, pubs, sights and shopping. The breakfasts in the Kirkwall Hotel were lovely too.

Cozy rooms with a shower and facilities for tea and coffee. Within two blocks of most things downtown with a bus stop right in front. Grocery stores. Coffee shops, pubs and restaurants near by. Staff were very friendly and helpful. Floors are a little thin and we had a lot of footstep noise from the room above.

We stayed here for 4 nights in August and loved this place. The rooms were clean, the bed was comfortable, and the hotel was quiet. More importantly, the bathrooms had been updated recently, with a good shower and heated towel rack. My only complaint about the bathroom was that the hot water took a bit to heat up but it got plenty warm and had good water pressure. We also ate in the bar for lunch and at the restaurant for dinner. Both meals were excellent. The staff was very helpful, let us use left luggage when we arrived early and let us settle our bill the night before/gave us instructions for leaving our keys when we checked out very early. Location is convenient to buses at the visitor center and to the city center for shopping, sight seeing, and dining.

The shore provides some lovely rooms, a restaurant, a back bar and a bar open to the public. The food is always delicious, the staff friendly and everything is spotless. The bar is the only place in town where you can get a proper cocktail, which are always delicious. The interior is stylish, with leather sofas, a tv showing sports and a tempting display of bottles behind the bar. It is right by the harbour and open for lunch and dinner for food.