Hotel Føroyar — Restaurant in Tórshavn

I hate to do this review because it is only for the restaurant Ruts. They inconveniently do not have their own Google Maps location, so I have to attach it to the hotel. Disclaimer: The reception at the hotel was very friendly and professional. We also thought the room was cozy and the price was great for the off season. So no complaints about the hotel itself!

We ordered a 6 course menu and a 3 course menu, as well as some beers, totaling around 1500 kr.

The tartare and shellfish dishes were tasty and the view from the restaurant of the city is beautiful.

Our server (young Asian lady) was completely distracted the entire night, looking frazzled, and it was obvious she could not pay attention to our table. Perhaps she is too inexperienced to be working at a more fancy restaurant? After we were done eating I could hear that she consistently communicated with the kitchen very late about our next course. It took us 20 minutes between us finishing the entree and her telling the kitchen we needed dessert, which was right after closing time. They were already cleaning the kitchen before she remembered she should stop talking to her colleague in the back to do her job. When you spend 1500 kr for dinner, this is unforgivable. We let her know about it and all she could do was make up an excuse about how busy she was. I have worked years in the service industry and can tell you good restaurant management tells the service team to focus on the guests. You will always have time later to clean up, polish cutlery, fold napkins, etc. There were very few people in the restaurant and at least one server should have paid attention to us.

Another couple ordered the 6 course menu next to us, and they had started at least 20 minutes before I did. They ended up finishing dinner way before us and had a different server, which confirms that it was not the kitchen's fault.

The beef entree was very unremarkable and the rhubarb pie tasted so raw in both the crust and rhubarb I could not even finish it.

If you want to see the nice view, perhaps get a glass of wine, and avoid the...

I have mixed feelings about this hotel. It was booked for me through Green Gate travel company. The room was nice and the view was amazing, but it is a steep 30 minute walk to downtown with no close public transit or grocery stores. For a hotel that is so far north, I would expect it to have good black out curtains to block out the sunlight for sleeping during summer, but the sun shines brightly through the curtains which made it difficult to sleep. Also, Green Gate told me the hotel restaurant would have vegan options, but they only had one vegetarian dish, no vegan menu items. I went to the store to buy some groceries and discovered my refrigerator did not work. The receptionist said she put in a work order but it was friday night and the maintenance worker did not work on the weekend and monday was a holiday. When I asked about my refrigerator on tuesday the receptionist said the maintenance worker went in to look at it, but left no notes on the progress and my refrigerator still did not work. They had been letting me use the kitchen fridge but that was obviously an inconvenience to go to the bar kitchen every time I needed one of my items.

Conversly, one morning there was a miscommunication on what time the tour company would pick me up. I tried calling the tour company in the morning after waiting in the lobby for 40 minutes but no one answered. I called Green Gate and they said they would call the tour company and call me back but they never did. Tired of waiting over an hour at this point, I explained the situation to the receptionist and asked her to call me in my room if the tour bus showed up. She ended up being the only helpful person and went above and beyond to help me. She was able to get ahold of the tour company and clarified the time for me. I certainly didn't expect her to do that for me but I was grateful. Also, the gym was pretty great. Well equipped with a lot of weight machines, dumb bells, kettle bells, squat rack and...

Loved our stay in this hotel.

Location: This hotel is NOT in downtown Torshavn (where all the restaurants, shops, groceries are). It is on the hillside, about 4 kms from the harbor. There are no shops or restaurants near the hotel. But since we had a car, none of those were our requirements and knew that going in.

What does it have? Modern looks, cozy feeling Spacious, sound proof rooms: initially, I wasn't happy with our room - it was a junior suite, VERY FAR from the lobby. But we made it work - shortcuts etc. (sshh - patio door to get groceries and luggage in and out!). And the junior suite - has a kitchenette. Good staff; helpful bartenders: I got milk for my daughter every night from them!) Free washer/dryer: mountain area = crazy car drives; unlimited hiking; getting dirty; smelly clothes/socks; throw ups; spilling food. You name it! This was a life-saver! Breakfast buffet: AWESOME spread. By the bar and 2 levels in the restaurant. Never had to wait during our stay. Multi-cultural waiters/waitresses. Food was awesome. Filled our water bottles and daughter's milk everyday. Nice views of the harbor. Ample self-parking space: We parked right outside our room. :-)

After our day drive, we would drive down to the harbor - park the car (free after 6pm); take in the sights; have dinner (recommend reservations); do some grocery for next day; drive back. There were horses and sheep roaming near our room - kids loved it. Sunset was after 10pm.

Definitely recommend for those who don't want to be 'in the action' but 'near...