A hotel with heritage
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Located on the shore of sheltered Busta Voe on mainland Shetland, Busta House Hotel is an ideal base to discover Shetland. Our fantastic location, paired with the rich history and heritage of the hotel, sense of community and service of the team come together to make a stay in Busta House Hotel a memorable experience. We look forward to welcoming you.
History
Busta House Hotel has an intriguing and storied history. It is a tale of class, love, tragedy, and deceit. Find out more about Busta House’s past, the story of the Gifford family and the ill-fated Barbara Pitcairn.




Our Team
Busta House would be nothing without all of those working both front of house and behind the scenes. Find out more about the team dedicated to making your stay as enjoyable as possible.
Reviews
- niallbristow
Took advantage of a great winter offer. Made to feel welcome from the moment we arrived. Staff attentive and available throughout. Excellent evening meal enhanced by time spent in the... read more atmospheric long room before and after eating. Comfortable and spacious room with incredible view across Busta Voe. Breakfast just what was needed to set up the day. Thoroughly recommend for locals or visitors from farther afield. Thank you.
30th January 2022Martin L
Not your average hotel, the Busta is one with plenty of character! Despite the age of the building it is well appointed with a long spacious lounge, well stocked bar... read more and serves first class food. We stayed as part of a walking group, so ate dinner in the library, which was a treat. All the staff were friendly and helpful. Accommodation was varied as one would expect from the age of the building, nevertheless we found our room more than adequate.
28th September 2021 - morvenh525
Busta is in an absolutely beautiful location, only complimented by extremely efficient friendly staff who couldn’t be more helpful. The meals in the restaurant in the evening we’re delicious as... read more was breakfast. Definitely recommended…!!!
26th October 2021MavisLeask
Very friendly welcome. Hand washing/ sanitising facilities at the door. Room was excellent although no proper chairs to sit on. Meals were excellent, as always. Pre and after meal drinks... read more in the Long room were very well organised with good social distancing - liked the individual buzzers.
21st December 2020 - hanwgeov
We visited the Busta House Hotel Restaurant several times during our stay, both for lunch and dinner, and the food was always delicious! Portions were extremely generous and the puddings... read more were lovely too. Staff were super attentive, friendly and organised. I would go so far as to say that this has been the most covid-secure restaurant I have visited, with numerous hand sanitising stations, a one-way system and pagers at the tables.
19th October 2020turtlede
It’s said all the time but our stay at Busta House really was a highlight of our five week vacation.
Just a wonderful mix of old world service,... read more friendly helpfulness and charming accommodation.
The meals were fairly simple but very well done and nothing we asked for seemed to be too much. Being taken through to dinner after enjoying one of their many, many scotch selections in front of the open fire make each evening feel like a special occasion. The young people working at Busta House couldn’t have been nicer.
16th December 2022 - Stuart P
As a fairly regular visitor to Busta, we are always delighted and impressed with the very high standard of service and customer care they provide. Saturday was no exception and... read more despite how busy the hotel was we were very well looked after and enjoyed a superb meal. A beautiful and very well run hotel with a great team of enthusiastic and friendly staff. Thank you, and we are very much looking forward to our next visit.
30th January 2023hfcastell
Three night stay here and couldn’t fault the staff and the welcome. The food is great and there is a great choice of whiskies. Lovely quiet room with view. It... read more is good to see how they are fighting back after Covid closure and many measures are in place.
20th August 2020 - Tom H
A welcoming place that is full of history and character. The kind and attentive staff made it a very special experience, especially for my son who is 7 and very... read more interested in ghosts. The staff were never too busy to listen to his ideas, and he was very sad to have to leave. In fact, I wish we hadn’t, as there is so much to see and discover in Shetland. Busta House is a hotel which is genuinely friendly to families, and where children have plenty of space to explore, both inside and outside.
24th August 2021nookiec2022
an exceptionally great place to stay , quirky and old , with lots of history and ambience around it . the staff were beyond excellent , the food and drink... read more was great , as was all the service by the the staff
27th September 2022 - HanaBana21
My husband and I were recently married here and had the most perfect day. Joel and the staff ensured everything was running on time and guests were informed of what... read more was happening and where to go etc. There was no stress, and the hotel and gardens were beautiful for taking photos. All the guests thoroughly enjoyed their day and the meal was spot on! Thank you Busta for helping make our day unforgettable.
11th June 2022Julie L
Another excellent stay at Busta. We stayed in the Muckle Roe Suite which was lovely. Heating was on when we arrived and it was very comfortable and cosy.
Our... read more evening meal was delicious and the service was great. Nothing was too much trouble and the staff were very attentive.
Breakfast in the morning was equally delicious, a good choice, and the cooked Scottish breakfast certainly set us up for the day.
Would highly recommend Busta to anyone wanting a lovely, relaxing time away from home, with top notch food and service. We’ve already got another stay booked.
6th February 2022 - CBANCSE
The warmest of welcomes at this quaint outpost of the truly magical island of Shetland. The staff are exemplary. The food is plentiful and delicious. The rooms... read more comfortable and in keeping with the age of the building. Not to mention the biggest selection of whiskey ever
9th February 202312172017
On arrival, it looked very quirky and it was, but in the best possible sense. It was well appointed, with beautiful characterful public rooms. We had a large bedroom, with... read more two brass beds, overlooking the garden and the sea. OK, the sashes on windows didn't work, but the view made up for it. But the food and service were impeccable. The choice of local products and the quality of cooking were outstanding, even if the portions were large. Somewhere I would love to return to.
1st October 2021 - Stuart P
Enjoyed another fantastic evening at wonderful Busta to celebrate a birthday…comfort, food, service…perfection! Thank you to Joel, Grant and their superb team for another memorable stay and we very much... read more look forward to our next visit…cheers!
24th October 2022mikee394
Although I’ve eaten here on previous visits to Shetland this was the first time I’ve stayed here and it won’t be my last. The hotel was clean and comfortable. It... read more is rustic and traditional and although it might be considered tired by those preferring a modern hotel I loved it.
The housekeeping of the rooms was excellent but what really stood out was the standard of customer service from all the staff. Made to feel incredibly welcome with a real can do approach. The meals were first class both breakfasts (wide choice) and the extensive dinner menu.
The attention to Covid 19 safety meant our stay was worry free.
Thank you for an excellent stay
10th October 2020 - lorrainer186
We got such a lovely welcome arriving for our two nights stay. The hotel is a little tired but once you get over that you realise what a special location... read more it is. The staff are super friendly and helpful, the food is of the standard of very good pub grub. Fantastic breakfast. We enjoyed a walk around the Hams of Muckle Roe.
19th May 2021alansW7254GL
We live in Shetland and do not often have the chance to try local hotels. Busta was delightful. We felt completely safe because Covid measures were perfectly applied. Staff were... read more universally charming. Dinner was very good and the wine list was exceptional. We had a Grand Cru St Emilion at a bargain price. Our room was immaculately clean and very comfortable. Busta has definitely become the best hotel inShetland.
5th October 2020 - MavisLeask
Hotel is in nice quiet rural location. Room was perfect and a very good size. Long room is really good for relaxing - reading and having a drink. Staff are... read more excellent. Very welcoming and friendly. Really good meals - breakfast and dinner.
15th February 2022claphamwoman
This hotel was quite a distance from Lerwick, but with a beautiful view over the lake. The room at Busta House was smallish, but with good storage, although access to... read more the hanging cupboard was hampered by a trouser press hanging on the inside of the cupboard. The major problem was the shower, which did not produce hot water until the 3rd evening. We complained about it early on the morning of the second day to the staff (who in general were friendly and helpful) promised to look at it, but we think that it was our complaint to our tour company, which triggered action and I was finally able to enjoy a hot shower on the third evening. They gave us the 3rd evening meal “on the house” in recompense. Nice, but I would have rather had a hot shower. The water provided for the bath was not hot enough for my husband to have bath on the first evening, but was on the second evening. I can’t use a bath, because of 2 knee replacements. The standard of the restaurant meals (breakfast and dinner) was generally very good, of excellent value and served in huge portions. I was pleased that the restaurant offered a good choice of smoked fish dishes for breakfast. The COVID precautions were reassuringly thorough
15th October 2021
