The West End Guest House

I cannot recommend this guest house enough. Absolutely spotless with gorgeous fluffy towels, spotlessly clean beds, tea & coffee facilities and lovely biscuits left for us to enjoy. Big flat screen tv in room also. Very happy with the service.

This establishment cannot be described as as a Hotel. At best it’s a Hostel. No facilities, no personnel on site . |It’s jaded & apart from the Linen & towels is in need of major refurbishment.|The location is reasonable if visiting Kirkwall or touring from the port /airport

Self service check no one at reception. Rooms are small & a little tired, bathroom needs updating but ok for 1 night. Location great just off main street. Breakfast very good & lady serving really friendly. Shame no bar or lounge to sit in.

This place is very cute. Room was small but cosy and location couldn't be beat. It was within walking distance of downtown, restaurants, and sites. The breakfast was easy and just right for a chilly morning. The employees were very friendly and accommodating. We accidentally didn't book enough nights and the owner helped us find and book a room and even offered to take our bags there. A great start to our trip.

Great place to stay. The people are amazingly friendly and the breakfast is really nice. Stayed in a nice single room, everything is clean and maintained. Will definitely stay again when I come to the mainland. Bed was also really comfy

From an American perspective.The West End Guest House was tucked into a cozy location right off the main shopping and restaurant streets, was homey right away. The rooms are small and lack amenities like a fridge or microwave, same with stiff beds, but that seems to be the standard here. It took us a bit to figure out. A fun, Scottish style continental breakfast was provided and the staff was friendly and helpful. What an amazing introduction to Scotland! We accidentally forgot to book our final night there during a busy tourist time. Andrew helped us find another place immediately and even offered to take our luggage. If that isn't service, I don't know what is. The West End Guest House and all of Orkney was magical.

My room in this very old building had an awkward but quaint slope running towards the door with all furniture at an angle 😁. The lady at breakfast was polite, attentive and effective. The owner / manager who was around often during the day was most polite and helpful and had a wealth of local knowledge. The location was great for a wander around the centre and the private car park was a great touch. Excellent value and breakfast.

Disappointed that I had booked a double room and was given a room only suited to single occupancy. Small bed which I doubt two average people could get into, but apart from that the room was cramped, had no chairs and nowhere to sit down in the room or anywhere else on the premises. We are not disabled but sitting down is a fairly standard requirement. 12 inch tv instead of 30 inch as advertised. Generally dingy room, damaged paintwork and wallpaper. There is a dining room that is only open for breakfast, doors locked otherwise, so unable to sit down. Pics show outside garden benches which did not exist. There had been a bar and a restaurant under the previous owners, which are no longer in existence (the facilities, not the previous owners). |The room was unacceptable and we couldn't bear the thought of having to spend a night there or sleep in that bed so we left and had the stress of finding other accommodation at 7pm on an Easter Friday. We did manage to get somewhere much nicer at the same price. I cancelled the booking via booking.com and was informed that I had booked a non-refundable option. In the circumstances, we did not get what we paid for and I believed I was legally entitled to a refund. The co-owner Andrew agreed to give me a refund but that took took 12 days of phoning and emailing. This experience spoiled our visit to Orkney.

DONT ORDER A HALF PORTION. Everything seemed fine at first, outside of the Christmas menu on the front door in August and the crazy classical music playing. We were soon taken aback when my friend asked if they would do a half portion of lamb and potatoes. The waiter groaned loudly, glared at her, but agreed. When I asked for a half on my order of fish (the plates looked huge) he rolled his eyes snatched our menus and left. The food wasn't cooked to its best, nothing ghastly, but my fish was maybe a teeny, 4 bite filet, and on one side the edge was torn like it had been knawed on. Our boiled potatoes were still crunchy as well. I believe The original price was 11.85, and we were charged 8.85. Pretty high price for a teeny mangled fishy and rude service. (note:the young woman bringing our food seemed pleasant enough and the tables beside us had lovely looking dishes and desserts)

This is a rather fun and unusual hotel. Run by two gentlemen, it is best for seasoned travelers who love meeting people along the way and are happy to adjust to local ways. The building was originally built as a hospital, so there are lots of odd twists and turns. We had a lovely large room on the second floor. The dining room/bar/restaurant was a little pricey, but had some of the best cuisine we encountered on our trip -Leisurely service, cooked to order food, so expect to be there a while. Breakfast downstairs in the morning was full of options. We were there off season, so it was quiet and most all the guests were American. We had a great time chatting with others as well as the proprietors over breakfast.