Reviews of St Magnus Bay Hotel

Wonderful location and high quality staying for a somehow remote place. Great restaurant. Nice room, very quiet.

Days are long in summer... it's a pity that dinner times are so early

Beautiful, quiet location.

Could use some maintenance.

Excellent location for otter watching early in the morning in the quiet bay in front of the hotel. The breakfast was fantastic and the staff were wonderful. Very helpful and friendly at all times.

The linen was a bit tired but other than that everything was fine.

The staff were fantastic. They were incredibly friendly and helpful and made our stay really enjoyable. The location was fabulous over looking the bay. The bedroom was large with a very comfortable bed.

We stayed in the self-contained Loft apartment associated with the St Magnus Bay Hotel, about 300 metres up the hill from the hotel on the edge of the village. We had fantastic views over the bay from the front windows and great views from the kitchen over another bay. From the front door it was a short walk to a beach and the start of the Ness of Hillswick circuit. There was a good store in the village if you wanted to be self-sufficient. We ate in the St Magnus Bay Hotel every night and had the included breakfasts there too. Excellent food. We stayed several nights and met most of the staff - all genuinely lovely people. Great accomodation in a dramatic out of the way location - yet only 45 minutes drive to Lerwick.

The Loft bedroom is spacious but the ceiling is relatively low. At 5 ft 7 inches I had to bend slightly. We used the washing machine while there but it was difficult to get going despite being relatively new - something that needs to be fixed. One of the front windows needs some repair work as it didn't close completely at the top - tissue paper pushed into the gaps minimized the inflow of cold air during a storm, but it obviously needs attention.

The staff were wonderful and the owner was very friendly the food was some of the best we have had . The views from the location were unrivalled and we held our breath round every corner of the beautiful island

Couldn't improve upon what was offered

Very good breakfast. Lovely dinner. Very helpful and friendly staff. Very comfortable room.

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Very friendly, helpful staff. Beautiful, peaceful location overlooking water and surrounded by small farms. Apartment we stayed in was spacious and separate to old hotel, short walk to enjoy breakfast (hill climb walk OK for us, but might be a problem for those with low fitness or mobility challenge, but those people drive everywhere anyway (for us a nice way to stretch the legs). We also got to enjoy a couple of local community events in Hillswick during our stay which were great fun.

The bedroom ceiling in the apartment is VERY low - not possible to stand up in it. Mezzanine area.

Location was good overlooking the bay Parking was good,staff very friendly

Food choice poor.Wine choice very poor. Toiletries very basic,tea/coffee facilities limited Cleanliness could be better.

The Magnus Bay Hotel was actually built in Norway, and featured in the Glasgow Great Exhibition in 1899, being moved up to Hillswick, in kit form, a year later. Its hard to imagine now, as this is so fantastically remote, but in the 1920s there were cruises from Edinburgh, and the hotel was something of a feature as it dominated the bay, in a landscape where there are no trees. Now the cruise ships are long gone, but the hotel is still something of a feature, and is very popular in the summer, as there is some of the most spectacular scenery in the UK within easy walking distance. Its a lovely hotel with friendly staff, a large bar (very welcome after the 5 hour hike round the amazing Ness of Hillswick), a restaurant and a huge, very tasty buffet breakfast included in the price. It also has tables outside with a great view over the bay, if you, like me, live in Shetland and are acclimatised to the wind. I was in a single room, and it was actually pretty spacious, comfy and the bed was the larger single size which was just fine. The room had all the amenities you would expect, but i did really like the kitkat biscuits next to the coffee, and the USB ports in the electric sockets. I may as well say that Shetland is expensive and this hotel, nor any other, is a bargain basement price, but after a strenuous walk in bracing wind, it was an absolute pleasure to hobble up to my cosy room. It was a very enjoyable stay.

nothing

Views from the house.

Height of ceiling in bedroom.

Friendly staff led by generous and thoughtful hosts. Excellent food, and plenty of it: perfect when you've been battling a northern wind all day! Good options for vegetarians. A comfortable room with great supply of hot water. And a pretty decent whisky selection too!

Only improvement I can think of for us southerners not used to the "simmer dim", would be blackout blinds for the windows.

Full breakfast was included and was very good with a wide range of choices. We stayed in an Airb&b apartment separate from the hotel, this was comfortable with amazing views. We had two dogs with us, the hotel were very accommodating with them which is unusual for Shetland. We ate all our evening meals at the hotel. Having worked through most of the menu choices I can say that they were all excellent. The staff were amazing, really friendly and nothing was too much for them to help. Thoroughly recommend. Paul and Andrea, the owners were very welcoming. A great place to stay.

There is some ongoing building work but this does not affect the quality of the stay at the hotel. I am unable to find anything that I didn't like.

Great location Comfortable room Friendly staff Brilliant breakfast

Superb location. Excellent food and super friendly and helpful staff