Stayed here for a few nights whilst on business, the hotel is a good example of a 1970's building and the rooms are over dressed with dark fixtures and decor but clean and functional. Bathroom was recently refurbished and was very functional. Our overall view was that it was very overpriced for the standard but because of that it was quiet. The breakfast was ok, but nothing special, mainly deep fried. there are plenty of other places to eat on the island, the local chip shop has the best fish and chips I have ever tasted. on the plus side the location is not ideal, but it is handy for the ferry being outside the terminal and town is a 5-10 min walk away.

Firstly, I am a wheelchair user, so finding suitable accommodation in Shetland was never going to be easy. As far as I could tell, even after asking for help from the Tourist office, there were TWO rooms in all of Shetland that were wheelchair accessible.

We got to the Shetland Hotel early in the day (just off the overnight ferry), and as no on had been in the disabled accessible room the previous night, we were allowed to check in at 10 a.m. The staff were virtually all foreign, and while not the friendliest bunch, they were not rude or surly, just perhaps not 100% comfortable with using English.

The room was comfortable, the wet-room toilet had grab rails beside the toilet itself and at the shower as well.

The restaurant was o.k., nothing earth-shatteringly good but nothing horrible either. I have a dairy problem so had emailed ahead and they had soya milk in for me. They also served local Shetland beer, which was very good! My husband and I were impressed that at breakfast, the buffet bit had enough on it (cereals, fruit, cold meat and cheese, etc.) that, except for toast, neither of us felt the need for a cooked breakfast either morning. They even had no-sugar muesli, which we use at home but hotels seem to ALWAYS have only sugared cereals.

I'd have preferred a room with a double bed, but disabled accessible rooms often come with twin beds.

All in all, while not the most inspiring hotel, it was absolutely fine and was as well suited to my needs as any I have visited.

It's puzzling and sad that in such a great place as Shetland, this hotel is such a disaster area - and ridiculously over-priced!! Like another reviewer, I wasn't paying for this - I'm glad to say. On my recent stay, things went wrong as soon as we checked in. When I opened my room, I foung a man already in it !(and the receptionist seemed to think it was my fault and I was being a nuisance to request another room) . My colleague was given a room that was intolerably smoky (and again treated as as nuisance for requesting a change). The Wifi code (NOT free) I was given didn't work (twice!). the lift doesn't seem to go to any of the guest floors, I had to humph my luggage to both rooms, no help offered. The room was spacious but dingy, with a small window that didn't open/shut properly, and leaked. There was no light bulb in the bedside lamp. The dinner was really very poor. Only one bright spot - a couple of charming young (foreign) waiting staff in the dining room, one a bit inefficient but smiley and cheerful and one very well trained young male waiter who raised the quality of the experience.

My husband and myself went to the Shetland Hotel last night for dinner, so I cannot comment on the hotel as a whole or the rooms.
Based on our dining experience, I would not step foot inside this hotel again.
We made our way to the dining room, and were surprised to find no one else dining there at all. All the more curious as to why they placed us on the smallest table, beside a corridor to the back of the dining area, so had there been any other diners, they would have all been walking past in close proximity to our table. Not only that, the manageress told us it was beside a draughty window! So why put us there?? Sure enough, there was a freezing gale blowing through, so we moved to another table, tho admittedly, it wasn't much warmer.
We duly ordered, and my starter was inedible. Chicken satay, which was so overcooked and dry, it looked like animal faeces. I did mention to the waiter and the manageress came over about 10 mins later and said "I hear you didn't like your starter". Understatement my dear. They still charged me for it though!
Had steak for main, medium rare please. Also very overcooked.
Pudding was acceptable. At no point throught our dinner did any other diners come in, except residents who were obviously oil/work related. Could see no diners who were there for pleasure.
£16 for 2 glasses of wine, a pint and a coke.
The whole dining experience was cold, lacklustre, and one I will not repeat.
Staff are indifferent, and couldn't care less.
Total bill, £70 for the 2 of us. I would rather have had a fish and chip supper. At least its fresh and you get a smile from the staff.
Avoid this dour, bleak hotel, with dour bleak staff like the plague