Back in the dim and distant days of 1995  a new house took shape alongside the old flag-roofed croft of Rickla. Unlike the croft, this new house was orientated so that most of it’s windows faced south-west, where there were panoramic views over the fields, lochs and hills of the World Heritage Site and was designed to be a bed & breakfast.  It was something of a gamble as neither Jacky or Stewart Anderson had ever catered for anything other than their families but there was a shortage of good accommodation in Orkney and it seemed an interesting challenge.

The rest, as they say, is history.  Rickla opened as the highest rated accommodation in Orkney, rose to 5-star in 2003 and has stayed there ever since, with a grading score of 97% which places it far and away the highest rated accommodation in Orkney and firmly in Scotland’s Top 3.

In 2005 Rickla was runner-up in the prestigious Thistle Award for Customer Service, and in 2006 won the award.

beautiful and the only one in Orkney, but terrible to dust!

To keep ahead of visitor expectations the accommodation has been modified every year since it was first opened. The big change came in 2000: knowing that if we ourselves were on holiday we would prefer some privacy individual sun lounges were added to each guest bedroom. With wonderful views, visitors could relax properly, and in private.

Rickla developed a strong reputation and so many visitors returned every year that eventually repeat business exceeded 55%. By 2007 family commitments made it impossible to continue b&b so after consultation with visitors, a de-luxe kitchen, dining area and lounge were installed above the bedrooms and Rickla became  self-catering. Graded by VisitScotland  as 5-star, with the same 97% as when a b&b, the accomodation remains No 1 in Orkney and in Scotland’s Top 3.

welcome, visitor!

after fifteen years,

we have a new web site. Do you like it?

Our last site was set up when we were running

Rickla as a b&b and like the house it had grown over the years.

Many people loved it – but much has

changed since 1996 and we felt it did n0t really

reflect the present Rickla so with the invaluable assistance

of David Griffiths of VikingNew Media

www.vikingnewmedia.co.uk

it was given a complete makeover.

In the past we have worked with one or two excellent

designers and some excellent programmers but

David is a rarity:  a genuine computer geek

who can solve any  programming problem but who also

has a real flair and vision for design.

Such people are hard to

find and we can’t recommend him enough.

We need your help.

Can you find what you want to

find?

How can we improve it?

It’s all a bit strange and new to us at

the moment and if you

have any comments

we’d really like your feedback …….

Otters

For nearly four weeks from 18 December 2009 Orkney was, most unusually, icebound: the three or four inches of snow which had fallen in December froze solid and stayed frozen in a way never seen for about 30 years. Daytime would see a slight thaw, then back would come the frost with the result that the snow gradually froze deeper and deeper until it formed a solid coating over the fields and even walking on it left no traces.

One night there was a light fresh fall of snow and while out walking the dog next morning we noticed some tracks in this new snow: Orkney (to the disappointment of some American visitors a few years ago) has no coyotes and only one animal could have made these tracks. Otters are as near as Orkney has to a Mythical Beast – absolutely everyone knows they live here, but try to find someone who has seen one! Well, I still have not seen one but I have now seen some very clear tracks but even more fascinating, I have seen where it took advantage of a slope in the field it was crossing to slide on it’s belly. Click on the images below to get a bigger image. The shaggy thing is not an otter, it’s Dora, our Briard.

you can see more about otter tracks at http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1657546