A couple (64/71) stayed for two nights. Very spacious and comfortable room. Delicious breakfast with plenty of choice. We enjoyed such a warm welcome at Merkister and even though the Restaurant was closed in October, the bar meals were very good. Wonderful loch views! Highly recommended.

First trip to Orkney and so gald I stayed at the Merkister. So friendly, nothing too much trouble and the views around the hotel are magical. The food was scrumptious - the puddings delicious. Lorna makes you feel very welcome as well as everyone else (even the cleaning staff!) I had a lovely relaxing time and found the bed in the suites comfortable and enjoyed having my own private veranda. The menu in the bar and restaurant changed daily and was often spoilt for choice.

If you want to be somewhere where you are made to feel like you matter then choose The Merkister.

I could hardly wait for mid August and my fourth stay at the Merkister.The talk on my arrival was that the fishing was difficult but that hardly seemed to matter.This is without doubt the friendliest hotel i have ever stayed at,we were greeted by Lorna and given the full tour of the facilities,nothing was too much trouble.Although the trout fishing is my main priority you could not choose a better venue just to relax in.The staff are very friendly and the food is absolutely wonderful.The fishing was a little harder than previous years but all the better for that and with John's expert help the week was a huge success.The boats and engines are kept pristine and reliable by Alan but he does need to work on his weather forecasting!I will definitely return.

My husband and I recently stayed at the Merkister for five days The hotel was just as described on the hotel site and did not disappoint. The views from the hotel over Loch Harray are outstanding. It is spotless and all the staff are friendly and courteous and nothing was too much trouble. The food is good and you have the choice to eat in the restaurant, or the bar which is more informal, in the evening. There is plenty food to choose from where ever you eat. I have just read a review dated 15 Sept and the people who wrote it may have been there when we were. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but I did not experience 'rules that govern table places' in the dining room. The diningroom has a side of it with large picture windows overlooking the loch. I can't remember exactly but possibly eight tables are at the windows with more tables away from the windows. You can see the view perfectly well at all the tables. I know this because we were seated at different parts of the dining room at various times. We also had a room in the annexe. The rooms there are large with wonderful views out of the french doors towards the loch. Our room had a wet room and unlike the last reviewer I do not think that this was installed to benefit the hotel and inconvenience the guest. Rather the wet rooms allow people with disabilities to stay at the hotel...and the hotel information states that the garden rooms have wet rooms. We had a wonderful time and I have no hesitation in recommending the Merkister.