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Hours
Sun
10:00 - 0:00
Mon
11:00 - 23:30
Tue
11:00 - 23:30
Wed
11:00 - 23:30
Thu
11:00 - 0:00
Fri
11:00 - 1:00
Sat
10:00 - 1:00
Details
Someone from this business manages this listing.
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PRICE RANGE
£2.00 – £13.00
CUISINES
Bar, British, Pub, Scottish
Special Diets
Gluten free options
meals, features
Is this restaurant good for brunch?
Details
PRICE RANGE
£2.00 – £13.00
CUISINES
Bar, British, Pub, Scottish
Special Diets
Gluten free options
Meals
Lunch, Dinner, Drinks
FEATURES
Reservations, Seating, Street Parking, Television, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Accepts Mastercard, Accepts Visa, Cash Only, Free Wifi, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service
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4.0
251 reviews
Excellent
107
Very good
92
Average
35
Poor
9
Terrible
8
sheenat321
Hot Springs51 contributions
Oct 2022 • none
Clean and basic accommodation. We had a one night stay after coming off the ferry and before going on to our Airbnb. Cooked breakfast was not available, despite having said when we arrived that we would want it in the morning. Neither staff we saw were particularly friendly.
Written 25 October 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Expatvisitors
Versailles87 contributions
Jul 2022 • family
The standard rooms were a good size and we really appreciated the complimentary toiletries & flannel provided in the bathroom.
There were about 6 choices of hot breakfast. Portion sizes were good & the food tasty. A smallish range of cold options to self serve.
The staff were really friendly & helpful and offered to carry cases (there is no lift).
The sound proofing of the rooms could be improved, but we were not kept awake by noise.
The kitchen is on the 1st floor & food is carried down the main stairs. This is a little impractical & maybe why with an order of 7 hot breakfast some did not arrive very warm.
Written 9 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
NicolaScot123
Inverness5 contributions
Nov 2023 • family
bang average. Very cold bar to sit in for a lunch, wasn't able to take jacket of the whole time I was here, even when eating. Service was slow, fizzy juice was flat, food didn't have much flavour and was cold in parts so i suspect it was just heated up in the microwave as some parts were piping hot and some parts were stone cold. This place has unfortunately gone very downhill so wouldn't return next time I am in Orkney and wouldn't recommend to anyone else visiting. Much better options available. the menu looked very promising and had a good variety of choices but unfortunately they just didn't have the chef to live up to it.
Written 7 December 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter C
Bournemouth1018 contributions
Jun 2021 • none
St Ola looks depressing from the outside. And it proved to be ‘depressing’. The only good thing about the room was the view over the commercial docks. Our room was decidedly dated. The shower was ancient. Breakfast was a joke. We ate there twice. Breakfast was served in the shabby hotel bar. One look in the evening sent us scurrying to the bar next door. On the first occasion we ate breakfast there my wife ordered a boiled egg. Unbelievably St Ola’s does not possess egg cups so the egg arrived in a poached egg container. The coffee I ordered proved to be powdered Nescafe from a jar. – awful! I had to go and find cutlery myself. My Scottish breakfast was OK. On the second occasion, although we were the only people there for breakfast we had to wait half an hour for our food. The barman explained that “there has been a problem”. The only saving grace was that the staff were pleasant.
Written 10 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Matt S
Sandy101 contributions
Aug 2022 • family
We ordered a portion of piri piri chicken wings and they were raw. Still pink and bleeding. Obviously we sent them back, and when the waitress returned we were told that the chef had checked and he had said that 'the chicken is cooked through, it is meant to be pink and bleeding around the bone'. I'm not an expert, but I know this is blatently untrue. My wife chose not to have a starter rather than risk more uncooked food, and we were then told 'we won't charge you for the chicken starter' as if this was doing us a favour!!!
The rest of the food was OK. It was nice, but nothing special. You can definitely get better value food elsewhere on the island.
Written 4 August 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
RPC
5 contributions
Nov 2022 • family
We arrived at 1745 for a meal, served fast and order taken. By 1845, 2/4 of the group had only just received their starter… an hour later!
The bar staff stood behind the bar, with drinks and just chatting amongst each other, no explanation on why the food was taking so long, nor bothering to serve us our drinks that we’d ordered
3/4 of the group eventually got their main course, whilst the 4th member continued waiting. The food eventually arrived and it was awful. Overcooked / as though it had been reheated. Really not good at all.
The female toilets were in a state, only 2 out of 3 working, toilet roll all over the floor, ladies sanitary products left on the floor of the one stall. Will certainly not be returning in a hurry.
Written 11 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
St-Ola-Hotel
Hello,
I am very sorry that this was your experience within our restaurant. Could you please let us know the date in which you visited us as so we can find out why you had such a bad experience?
Written 13 November 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Revatron
Kirkwall455 contributions
Oct 2020 • couples
I wasn’t sure that I’d do a review here as I don’t generally like leaving negative leaning reviews for local businesses. We went for a child free lunch for the first time in nearly a year which we were both looking forward too. We both ordered burgers. Each burger had 2 patties. Unfortunately 3 out of our 4 patties were raw in the middle. Now, when we bought this up they were immediately re-cooked and the burgers, chips and side salad were very tasty in the end. But it was very disappointing to have raw meat served to us given at the time we were the only people in. Service was good to resolve and staff were apologetic. As I say the properly cooked food was tasty. My other big gripe of the visit was once a few more people had come in to eat all we could hear was mobile phones pinging, message alerts, notification sounds. It was really annoying. Are we the only people who want a peaceful ‘phone-free’ meal? Have some common courtesy and turn your volume off. Even better, St Ola Hotel, perhaps request your guests silence their phone, a’ la the cinema?
Written 6 November 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Sean C
Lerwick2 contributions
Jan 2023 • none
Used to eat here regularly when I lived in Kirkwall, Visited recently when in Orkney visiting family, Unfortunately the food or service is not what it used to be. Waiting staff busy chatting amongst themselves and we were not at all made to feel welcome, waited a while for our food and when it arrived was disappointing and not very hot. The Bar area is also very tired looking and in need of some tlc. overall a disappointing experience, won't be rushing back.
Written 13 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
O1593GUrichardc
London58 contributions
Aug 2023 • couples
Upon arrival we were given a friendly greeting and told that, as it was the county show that day, it would be a bit loud that evening. No specifics were given. Certainly no warning as to what was to come.
Loud amplified thumping music was played by the hotel in the pub/bar below us until 1am. This was not explained nor anticipated, since the website and booking listing had mentioned nothing about being a heaving pub until the early hours. The windows provided no insulation against the noise either, so we could hear every bit of noise from the beer garden outside the back too. Needless to say we didn’t sleep and were not happy the next morning.
When I raised the issue with staff, I was sternly told that ‘we advertise ourself clearly as a pub on the website’ so we should expect noise. Yet there is no such warning on the website, nor were we informed during the booking process that it would be impossible to sleep until 1am. This is misleading and dishonest. Avoid avoid avoid. We will be making a formal complaint and asking for a full refund; the basic expectation of a hotel is that it is a place to sleep.
A shame - since the location is great and the room was clean.
Written 13 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
KB1285
Jedburgh456 contributions
Aug 2021 • family
Lovely meal and drinks, we visited this week foe my birthday while up in Orkney. 3 meals, 2 puddings and 2 rounds of drinks four 3 people (including beers) £68.
Wonderful Burger menu, loved the Hawaiian burger it was lovely!
Sign says children welcome but be aware they are only welcome if your eating. Even outside in beer garden they are not allowed for even soft drinks only if your eating in restaurant.
Lovely meal and friendly staff would recommend booking
Written 15 August 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
SusanMatthews
Western Australia26 contributions
Oct 2022 • friends
Myself and my good friends, Kymberlie, Qeera, Akita and Shethead visited the St Olas pub on a gals girly getaway after it came highly recommended by a local coffee merchant, his secret was using goats milk in his Lattes.
We started with a few rounds of VKs as they also came highly recommended. A tad sugary but boy were they moreish. I think I must’ve had 8 each day.
The issue came with the music in the pub, the issue was there wasn’t any. They did have a jukebox but this costs £1 per song and some unruly gentlemen kept queuing the same song over and over. They must be big spenders.
Aside from the music issue, the other patrons were somewhat intrusive into our group and harassed poor Kymberlie all night.
All in all we won’t be back to St Ola, or Orkney for that matter.
Susan Matthews.
Written 17 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Margaret S
7 contributions
Sept 2024 • couples
Arrived in Kirkwall on a cruise ship. We were so looking forward to a meal other than what was served on board. We were not disappointed. We had Panang Chicken Curry with Rice, served with nann bread. Orkney Beef and Ale pie served with broccoli and peas and a generous serve of chips. Both were delicious and just what we craved. £16 each but well worth it.
Written 15 September 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
maryan5456
Sydney158 contributions
Aug 2023 • couples
We arrived in Kirkwall looking for somewhere to get late lunch and this central pub fit the bill. I had a very tasty creamy carrot soup and my husband had fish and chips, he said that the batter was light and crispy. Staff were very friendly and helpful.
Written 22 August 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Peter M
Pawleys Island17 contributions
Aug 2023 • couples
We were on a cruise of the British Isles and I'm a fish and chips fan. So I order it often. Best fish and chips in the world. Seriously, as you can see, the portion was huge. The fish was haddock, lightly battered, great fries, and very good mushy peas. The waiter and bar tender were upbeat and friendly. The St. Ola draft beer was light but tasty. I had a Scapa draught and it was delicious. The price was inexpensive for our now favorite fish and chips restaurant.
Written 18 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Ken J
28 contributions
Sept 2022 • none
Just our experience and I am sure yours will differ, but we stopped for a drink and got chatting with some locals (Orcadians). We were thoroughly nicely looked after, and shown some wonderful photos, plus really heard opinions about incomers etc. Gave us the impression that the whole island is incredibly friendly. We may be wrong, but our experience was great!
Written 25 September 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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