The Ayre Hotel

We arrived to find that I'd booked the night before our arrival by mistake. Ida and the hotel manager were incredibly kind and offered us two apartments at no extra charge. They were spacious and very comfortable.

The harbour and shops were an easy walk away, and I really enjoyed both the breakfast and the dinner restaurant, with plenty to choose from. My room was so cramped, though, that I had to put my bag on the floor to open it, then keep stepping over it. I know a solo traveller shouldn't expect the fanciest room, but this was very small.

I’m writing as the Owner and Director of Wanderlust Tours after a deeply unpleasant evening at the Ayre. I had twelve passengers staying there, and the group paid for their rooms, dinner and drinks. They enjoyed most of the meal and intended to pay the bill, but disputed one steak that was inadequate and left uneaten. Even after evidence was shown, the person claiming to be the hotel manager became aggressive and tried to pressure them into paying for it, using what seemed to me like nonsensical reasoning. The exchange left my passengers feeling intimidated and uncomfortable. He repeatedly threatened to call the police over what I understood to be a minor civil matter covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. I wish he had actually called, as I believe the police could have explained that this was a waste of their time. He also misrepresented what I had said and tried to “play the race card”, despite several witnesses being present for the whole conversation. Ila was the only professional person there. She handled things with legal and professional competence, recognised how unreasonable the manager was being, and intervened when someone was shouting at my group. She told that person to leave and said the police would not deal with this sort of matter, even though we had been threatened with jail. She confirmed we were right not to pay for the substandard dish. The party paid every other item on the bill. The atmosphere was so hostile that my group felt unable to stay for more drinks. The hotel lost hundreds of pounds in bar revenue as a result, and I see this man as a liability to its reputation. Perhaps Ila should be promoted to manager. If the person we dealt with was you, I suggest you consider a role without direct contact with customers. I’ll be formally advising members of the Scottish Independent Tour Operators Association (SITOA) to avoid this hotel until remedial action is taken. The manager needs serious retraining, or a position where he no longer deals with the public. It was a disappointing and abusive display of “hospitality”. Your reply is another fabrication. Nobody in my party threatened social media or made threats of any kind. Ila having to step in to uphold what was proper and legal, after others threatened to call the police but did not, says a lot. It suggests someone realised the police might not attend, or that you could be charged with wasting police time. My review already describes the false threats of legal action. I will not pay for the inadequate steak you are still trying to charge us for. This correspondence and my negative review end the matter. Since that night I’ve made an active effort to let people know about the bullying, false legal threats and behaviour we experienced.

At 7 in the morning, there can be 30 people waiting to get into the breakfast room, with more arriving. This hotel seems to cater for a lot of tour bus groups, and their early starts made for noisy mornings. I was woken several times around 6:30 by people hurrying to the 7 o’clock breakfast and talking loudly in the hall. The spring-loaded doors slam constantly, with no apparent effort to close them quietly, and there wasn’t much thought for guests still asleep. The rooms are small and noisy, and most look onto the neighbouring building. The hotel is right on Kirkwell Harbour.