Royal Thurso Hotel

We only stayed for one night as we were getting the ferry the next morning. The first room was noisey so we asked to change it. This was kindly done and had a lovely quiet night. The free car park was very welcome. Breakfast was available but we wanted to get away early. Overall it was a pleasant stay and I would definitely recommend it.

I have previously as a last resort had to stay here when all other hotels in town were full so this time when work booked me in I went prepared (sleeping bag in car), hoping to have benefited from reported refurbishments since I last stayed. Check in was fine and efficient, I was surprised not to be asked my name or a booking reference and left to select a room key off the pegboard myself. For the price, I'd have to say my room was, small, dingy, damp and the view was poor (over the parking area and kitchen fans at the back). I went back to ask for a room in better condition but couldn't find any staff. So I went for food with work colleagues. I came back. I couldn't find any staff at 11pm. So I went and slept in my car in my sleeping bag. I woke early to go get my breakfast at Tesco, which brightened up my day (even though it was still dark here at 8am) when upon leaving the store eating the last of my baguette a Seagull stole it from me. I retuned to my room for a shower and freshen up. Outside, perched on the roof was a seagull eating part of a french baguette, I swear it looked at me and smirked. When I left no staff. Not seen a bill in a month since the stay. So for a free stay much better than sleeping in Thurso station. If you have paid to stay here, beware freeloading walking in off the street and taking rooms for the night, security doesn't seem great so 0/10 for that.

My friend & I popped in for coffee the other day & when I tell you the service was dreadful, I can’t quite express how awful it was. I was shocked, my friend was shocked! We asked for two lattes to the bumbling staff member who didn’t seem to know if he was coming or going from the get go & waited what quite frankly seemed like ages before he realised we hadn’t got our lattes yet to go “bloody hell”ing his way into the kitchen & to within about 20 seconds get served two instant coffees (that were lukewarm) - once he’d come back through some time later, I told him we’d asked for lattes not instant coffee to hear him once more bumble about a bit & going “oh for god sake, what is it you have then?”.. I politely said it was instant coffee & we’d asked for lattes for him to “bloody hell” again & make off for the kitchen again, only for him to turn around & say “do you just want to keep them now you’ve got them?” Which in my honest opinion left me quite shocked.. we never got our lattes as another staff member came out to let us know that the coffee machine was not working properly so that’s why “they don’t look like lattes”.. they definitely were just instant coffees! The hospitality and professionalism was dire & we are two local lassies & know the overall good standard of this town but if this is how this establishment is going to be with paying customers then god help the tourists is all I can say!

This is quite possibly the worst hotel I have ever stayed at. Bearing on disgusting. No management presence, staff pretty much left to stumble through their shift. Random bar closing times, random breakfast and dinner. On the three mornings we endured breakfast, not once, did they get the orders correct. On the 2nd morning, 25mins after placing our breakfast order, the waitress approached and said there would be a delay, as the chef needed to start cooking the breakfasts again. How hard is it to cook eggs, bacon, sausage, hash brown, haggis and black pudding (not that any of us actually ordered everything). It doesn’t sound like the lift has worked for years. It is apparently under new ownership/ management. The ground floor appears to have had a very basic redecoration, and if that is the quality that is going to be used for the rest of the hotel, I can’t see it having any future. With enough CapEx this could be a lovely and quirky hotel, but it would need proper management and staff training.

First night of a coach tour here. You only get one chance to make a first impression - oh dear. The only redeeming feature of this hotel is a young enthusiastic staff. The famous lift seems destined to remain Oot of Order forever. A member of staff asked "is there a lift ?" simply and silently walked away. Room dark, TV tiny. Joy of joy a bathtub for aching limbs - short lived joy as it proved impossible to coax hot water into it. Shower insisted on dripping all night - bundling shower curtain round it helped. Dinner was shall we say uninspired - fruit salad in particular 95% diced apple. Wine was £23 for a bottle of plonk. The coach company must be getting a good deal to use this place but their customers are not. If we ever return to Thurso and the option is Royal Hotel or sleep on the beach it will be a toss-up. They did porter baggage to the room.

The room is tired, the bathroom is terrible had put something in the bath to stop the shower dripping all night. The staff are nice and well meaning but the service is terrible. We tried to eat at the restaurant but the food came raw. So didn't try again. Breakfast is appalling, no fruit at all, no choice of milks, when ordering the cooked breakfast you would be lucky if it matched your order and was a mess. Place is a total disaster, if you don't have to stay here DON'T

Worst hotel room (11) I have stayed in. Haven’t tried the single bed yet. Don’t really want to stay in room but apparently not another one available. On coach trip and had to pay a single supplement. Wouldnt recommend to anyone doing the NC 500

I’ve been here to eat twice on my stay. The hotel has new management and a revamp. Lovely traditional decor. The reviews from previous owners aren’t relevant. Great food and lovely staff. Heartily recommended

I stayed one night. The reception staff were friendly but did say that as a coach party had arrived, I couldn't use the restaurant. The room was quite large but very dated. The bathroom was large and clean, but also very dated. I woke in the middle of the night cold and couldn't get the heating to work. The duvet was also quite thin. The windows are all single glazed and let the cold in. Breakfast was not the best. I ordered the full Scottish breakfast; it arrived looking like it had been sitting on a warming plate for an hour. It was also missing the egg and the haggis. The waiter took it away and returned with the egg but not the haggis. It looked like the reception area had been given a refurb, but not the rest of the hotel.