Sanderlay Guest House

About Sanderlay Guest House

Sanderlay is a modern, purpose-built guest house on Viewfield Drive, in a quiet residential area on the outskirts of Kirkwall roughly a mile from the town centre. It is run as a family bed and breakfast rather than a hotel, and it offers the kind of value that is increasingly hard to find in Orkney during the summer, with rates commonly starting under £100 for a double.

All bedrooms are en-suite, and the house includes larger family rooms and suites with their own sitting areas, which makes it a practical option for parents travelling with children. There is off-street parking, always useful in Kirkwall, and breakfast is cooked to order with Orkney produce on the table.

The walk into the centre takes around twenty minutes, or a couple of minutes by car, and the location is convenient for the airport and for the roads west towards Stenness and Skara Brae. What guests tend to praise most is the local knowledge on offer: hosts who can tell you which ferry to take to Hoy, when Maeshowe tours need booking and where to eat on a Sunday evening are worth a good deal on a first visit to the islands.