orkneybabe

Could anyone tell me about the Polrudden Guest House in Kirkwall, Orkney Scotland?
Thank-you Orkneybabe

caroline_edinburgh

I'm just looking for Kirkwall accommo myself. Have you checked Tripadvisor ? The Polrudden gets quite good reviews, the main drawback I can see (for us) is it being out of town, and being a B&B rather than a hotel.

I'm currently leaning towards the Ayre or the Albert, but just starting to search this site for views.

caroline_edinburgh

P.S. Hope you don't mind me piggybacking - I am looking for hote or pub or cottage accommodation for 6 nights (7 if necessary - Fri-Thu/Fri) during next year's St Magnus Festival. As mentioned above I'm thinking the Ayre or Albert look the best hotel options but haven't tried looking at cottages yet. Would like to be central & able to walk everywhere easily - the Lynnfield sounds too far out.

caroline_edinburgh

Anybody ? Sheila - I see you stayed at the Ayre some time ago ? Janis ?

I've now also come across The Shore which seems central & the rooms look quite nice.

Haven't found any cottages which both look nice and are definitely central.

sheila

Actually I think Orkney pretty much sucks for accommodataion, at least of the hotel variety. The Ayre is probably the poshest in Kirkwall....

My pal, the MP tells me the Foveran is probably the best the islands have to offer, but it's a bit out of town.

Some of the self catering stuff on the islands is lovely. Some was lovely in the 1960s.

caroline_edinburgh

Thanks Sheila. Yes, the Foveran is too far away from the centre, for us, at 3 miles out. I think I will go ahead and try for the Ayre - though I suspect we may already be too late for next year ! I don't suppose you know any s/c places which are lovely now in central kirkwall ?

Btw are you coming to any festival stuff here this year ?

auldyins

The Ayre is a good hotel but don't go for the attic rooms unless you are very short or enjoy head banging. Haven't stayed in the Albert for years and it has been refurbished since then due to a fire. The Shore is right at the pier but the food was awful. I don't know what the rooms in the Kirkwall are like but evening meals are reasonably cheap and the quality of food is excellent. The Orkney Hotel is very central too. I still like the Lynnfield best despite the walk into town. We just took a taxi.

caroline_edinburgh

Thanks auldyins. Oh dear, I've already sent an availability request to the Ayre saying I'd ideally like a top floor room, thinking that would be quietest.

The refurbished Albert rooms look v. groovy & it seems to be the closest Kirkwall has to a boutique hotel : take a look at the website - www.alberthotel.co.uk. But it looks as though it may already be full & Tripadvisor makes it sound noisy.

The Kirkwall & the Orkney both get bad TA reviews.

Not too concerned about the quality of dinner where we stay as I only intend to book B&B anyway (unless full board is compulsory during the festival ?!).

The Ayre, Albert & Shore were the only central hotels with nice-looking rooms, although unfortunately they like everywhere else apparently all seem to be carpeted (which we don't like).

We may have to settle for somewhere further out, but I don't really want a lengthy round trip every time we want to pop back to the room to change or whatever - or a long walk or a taxi needed after the late shows - and the pub

auldyins

All top floor rooms may not have the wall beside the window I smacked my head on. The only suggestion I would make is to have the sea view as the car park side is next door to a nightclub and could be a tad noisy in the wee small hours. You may find all hotels there are carpeted to keep feet cosy in the winter. I'm sure you will love Orkney. I was born there so there may be a bias!

caroline_edinburgh

Thanks again auldyins. Sorry you banged your head and if we go & get a similar room, I'll make sure to warn DH ! (I am pretty short.) Glad to hear the sea view side (which I also requested) isn't the noisy side as I wasn't sure about that - one TA report did mention noise from the car park.

I take your point about carpets in winter, but we still prefer our wooden floors here in Edinburgh in the winter ! Apart from thinking wooden or tiled floors look nicer, we've come to the conclusion that carpets make DH snore

auldyins

Nah - it's the drink that makes you snore!

Trophywife007

We stayed at the Ayre (in 2002 -- sorry so long ago) and it was nice, clean, etc. The only thing that stands out in my mind was that our room was a bit warm (during the summer) due to its proximity to the kitchen. Not noisy at all, just warm.

caroline_edinburgh

Carpets make him snore more

Thanks also Tw - I have now booked a room at the Ayre as I was getting worried I might have left it too late (the Albert appearted to be full) so gald to hear another endorsement.