Recently stayed here for two nights but simply had to move to another hotel for my own sanity.! the pictures online are not a representaion of what you will actually experience. You struggle to make it through the front door due to the amount of clutter, books, dead animals, plants,kids toys, random furniture, collection of shells, the dog, numerous brightly coloured sheepskins, hats and horrendous pictures of hunting kills and thats just reception.! The decor gives you a headache and the service was shocking even although there was me and only one other in the dining room for a meal. Two and half hours later i was eventually able to return to my room after the extremely poor service, poor meal, all whilst the dog sat at my table asleep and snoring.! The attention recieved was like that of faulty towers without the comic value, the staff/owners were clearly strange and eccentric to be polite.! Their policies are not what id call in the customers interest - such as having to give a specific time i was going to be down for breakfast and for my evening meal, even although i was unable to due to work commitments the man seemed to struggle to understand why i couldnt be specific and I was told its "for the smooth operation of the hotel", along with their strange "green policy" which is basically using flowers from outside to add to the clutter and to not provide clean towels for 3/4 days !
I would not recommend anyone to stay here there are far more superior hotels very close by namely scallaway hotel which i would thoroughly recommend and enjoyed.

this hotel is typical of all hotels in shetland - overpriced and outdated. what makes herrislea worse is that it used to be good - i stayed here a couple of years ago and it was good. however, its clear now that things have declined badly. service is awful. staff are clueless. food is appaling.

food - i got served half a pickled betroot (sliced) and a single boiled potato (again, sliced) with my fish, and was charged £11 for it. the starter was described as fresh, but clearly came out of the supermarket freezer. very few of the drinks listed on the wine list are in stock. i was finished my starter before my drink arrived. the staff have even managed to turn ordering breakfast into a embarrassment. all the time at dinner i could hear other guests discussing how bad their meals were. THERE WAS A BLOODY DOG IN THE DINING ROOM.

room - old and dated, with cracked tiles on the floor. the taps werent fixed to the sink.

What a wonderfull visit!Owners were warm and welcoming and could not be more helpfull.Decor was very attractive,rooms were warm and cosy.A highlight of the visit was to sit and relax with coffee and biscuits in the evening while enjoying the special atmosphere much enhanced with antiques and inspiring hunting trophys from around the world,bringing to mind the smoke and smell of Africa!And how cheering it was to be greeted by the hotel dog! what a charming rascal!

Be warned, the owners of this hotel are huge fans of hunting. There are exotic animal skins on the walls and draped over the furniture, skins on the floors, animal heads on the walls, photos of the owner on safari posing over dead animals with a rifle on display in the lounge, photos of their friends on safari posing over dead animals with rifles displayed on the reception desk, photos of the owner and dead fish, ivory carvings, a stuffed turtle... and the one living animal - their dog - bit me!! The male owner wore his American shooting and hunting club shirt when he was serving dinner in the evenings, and regaled us with the story of when he rode into Lerwick Town Hall to protest in favour of fox hunting - Shetland doesn't even have foxes.

The hotel is vastly overpriced, totally pretentious and horrendously decorated downstairs. The bedroom was nice but near the front and porch doors so very loud when they slammed shut. The restaurant has serious delusions of grandeur without the substance to back it up. My dinner of dried pasta shells with button mushrooms and cream was £11.95, more expensive than most of the meat and fish dishes!!! It must have cost at least £1.00 to make, and it tasted much cheaper. My colleague's meal had very obviously come from the freezer before being microwaved. Their cheek really was quite disgraceful - I know it's Shetland, but how patronising and offensive to assume that people will be happy to pay £12 for such a cheap dish. More likely I suspect that they despise vegetarians and were taking the ****

The whole experience at the hotel was uncomfortable for me as an animal lover, and not worth the money in any way, shape or form, unless you're a fan of killing/dead animals and brazenly overpriced food served in an 80s inspired dining room, in which case you'll love it! None of the photos on the website give any indication of the hunting-themed decor which is incredibly misleading and must be deliberate. If I had known I certainly would not have given them my money. Local B&Bs were far superior with better and fresher food, better service (constantly replenished tea and coffee in the room, biscuits etc - a home-made cake in one instance!) and the bedrooms better, larger, quieter and cheaper on every occasion.