The Scotsman Hotel

I stayed here with my mother for 2 nights and really enjoyed the experience. The room was spacious and had everything we needed to enjoy our stay. Staff were very friedly and couldn't do enough to help. As soon as we got out of the taxi, our cases were taken from us and looked after until we could check in. We knew when we booked, we wouldn't be able to check in until 3pm so wasn't a problem for us. The Health club facilities are great and are complimentary to hotel guest (usually £25 a day for visitors). We booked 3 weeks before we went & got a great rate on their website (strangly cheaper than any other website). The hotel has a great location. It is a little noisey at night, as on a main road (if you aren't use to city living). Negatives - the room was a little warm & the lift was very slow - but if you are there for a relaxing break what's the hurry!! I don't think I'd pay the 'rack rate' for the delux room, but for what we paid it was great value for money (especially as using the health club for 3 days would cost £150 for 2 people.) Can't wait until my next stay!!

This is the second time that we have stayed in within the year . Aug 2004 and June 2005. We have stayes at some wonderful place in Europe ,but this is one of the best. When you s tep inside it is like being inside a Scottish castle The rooms are ultra modern , luxurious and have every amenity you can imagine. The fitness center is AMAZING. THis is my favorite hotel when we go througout the UK!!!! It is a MUST!!Also if you book through Expedia you get a GREAT discount rate

Booked initially using a corporate rate which was very good. The room we were shown on arrival was very dark and claustrophobic. The bed was teeny - supposed to be a double but looked more like a 4ft. I guess it is the room with the usual rack rate of £250. We were pretty disappointed as usually we would get much better room on a corporate rate in 4/5 star hotels. Decided to express our disappointment to staff and that there was no harm in asking if there were other rooms available .....bingo!....got a complimentary upgrade to a much bigger and brighter double delux room. Pros: - Staff seemed professional and nice - Right bang smack in the middle of everything. 2 mins walk to Princes Street and 2 mins walk to Royal Mile. - Fantastic 180 deg view of Edinburgh from bedroom bay window. - Curtains completely block light for those mornings you want to lie in - Pillows are divine - 'Cowshed' toiletries cool - Service hatch in bedroom a novel idea - usual mod cons in room i.e. tv, email/internet access, coffee making machine, dvd/cd player Cons: - Could hear the train station announcements from bedroom on 6th floor (although this didn't bother us but might bother others) - Room got quite warm and we wanted to keep windows closed at night to minimise noise from train station. - Smaller rooms aren't that great for a 5 star - Lift is scruffy and painfully slow - not a problem really unless you are impatient. We just laughed about it. - Decor in corridors perhaps getting a little scruffy too which takes away from the supposed 5 star feel.

My husband and I stayed here for one night during our honeymoon across Scotland. We both had mixed feelings about this hotel. First, the good: -nice, large room -very comfortable bed with soft linens and excellent pillows and comforter -good lighting -curtains are dark and heavy, so light does not stream into the room in the morning when you are trying to get a few extra minutes' sleep -great pool/sauna/steam room area and locker rooms -the shower pressure was wonderful with a full range of molten brown products -the hotel is very close to many main attractions -we saw James Brown in the lobby (no kidding) the bad: -room was warm so we tried to open the windows which was difficult. A small fan was provided in the room which was enough but had it been warmer, we would have been sweltering. -shower was constructed with only a small pane of glass to prevent water from splashing all over but this was inadequate and our bathroom floor ended up quite wet each time one of us showered -tv had a strange color to it- everything looked purplish -when first turning on the tv, the default volume is extremely loud. If someone is in the bathroom and the speaker is on in there, you can frighten someone half to death with the noise. -buzzer to the room is extremely loud and unpleasant -elevator is unbelievably slow and fits a maximum of 4 people -layout of building is extremely confusing- we arrived by train (station is right next to the hotel) and could not figure how to enter the hotel from the ground floor. the main entrance is actually on the hotel's 4th floor which is street level. also, because the elevator was so slow, we often took the stairs which are not continuous. if you need to go from the 6th to the 7th floor, you need to exit on the 6th floor, walk down the hall, and take another set of stairs up. also, getting to the gym was like going on a scavenger hunt involving multiple elevators, staircases, and searching of signs. -after going out on saturday night, we returned to our hotel to find that the front door was locked. after ringing the bell three times, we finally banged on the window at which point the night clerk let us in. it turns out that the bell was broken. definitely not a five-star experience and not worth the expense.

Our scheduled stay at the Scotsman was for three days, but we had such a horrible experience after one night that we begged to be let out, and were granted a penalty-free departure, which is the only part of our transaction that wasn't horrible. The hotel fails on a number of points, and I'll enumerate them one by one: First, the buidling wasn't constructed as a hotel, but as a newspaper building/editorial offices. In designing the hotel, they decided to put their sad little bistro where the front entrance should have been, instead placing it about 300 hundred yards back and along the side of the building. In addition, there is NO provision for curbside delivery, and parking is by illegal tresspass only (inside the bus line lane). Consequently, one is forced to negotiate a gauntlet of urban inconvenience just to check in. With pedestrians hurrying around you and rain falling, it's a disaster! We arrived about 11:30 and requested our room be made up early. The desk staff, which was generally hoity-toity rude and unresponsive, told us that no effort could or would be made to accommodate us, we'd just have to wait until 1:30. Our considerable luggage was thrown into the storage closet. We went out to kill time, and returned at 12:30. The desk then offered us an "upgrade" to a "penthouse suite", but again told us the cleaning staff wouldn't have it ready one minute before 1:30. At 1:15, the concierge informed us that we were going to be offered an "alternative" suite (below-ground); and took us there for an inspection: This "suite" was decorated in black (if you can believe it), and was dank and musty (apparently because of its proximity to the vaunted "swimming pool" in the basement). We declined to accept this room. Finally, at 1:40 PM, over two hours after we arrived, we were shown the "penthouse suite." During the whole period of our waiting in the cramped foyer for our room, the desk staff snickered and whispered--it became apparent that we were being "taught a lesson" by the hotel management: Having refused the "----room" upgrade, and asking for early check-in--of all the cheek! The design of the room was absurd: An entrance door inside a cramped, closet hallway led into another two-foot square entry area, then up three steps to a tiny staging floor, then up two flights of steep stairs to a steeply inclined A-frame sleeping area, with the bathroom off of that. The room was hot and stuffy, and there was NO air conditioning. When we called down for relief, we were brought a white floor fan! Unbelievable! The shades to the slanted windows were both broken. This was by far the worst night we have had in any hotel in our adult lives: Temperature at an unrelieved 80 degrees, no air circulation, and all night the low grumbling sound of the adjacent train station, with the periodic high-pitched public address announcements!* The bathroom, tricked out in black fake marble, sported a slanted mirror--top tipped forward so you couldn't look at yourself unless you peered upward! Then, the one tiny window in the bathroom was comically placed above and behind the commode, so that the turreted rooms above and behind our suite looked directly down on the user! The shower was the usual 2'x2' closet and I could hardly negotiate it without banging my elbows against the sides. The bed had been placed back against the dark windowless end of the A-frame; the head was lower than the foot-end, so we had to sleep backwards after remaking the bed. There was inadequate lighting to read. The television was tucked inside a cabinet at right angles to the bed, and at about 6' from the floor; by pulling it all the way out and turning it on its orbit, it could still not be seen by someone lying in bed. We tried the TV screen display internet computer, but the mouse was so awkward it was unusable--even the concierge couldn't make it work. When we returned from breakfast the following morning, we found two giggling Polish maids surreptitiously snooping amongst our luggage--perhaps one explanation for the slow room preparation from the previous day! To top it all off, the incredibly tiny elevator is probably the slowest we have ever experienced--taking a full two minutes to go six floors! In all fairness, I will say the tall young concierge was civil, if a bit snooty. At least he showed a little concern for our inconviences. Unlike the desk staff, and the resident manager, whose only contribution was a sniggering exchange with the young red-haired desk clerk. I will grant that patrons can have markedly differing experiences of the same establishment, and that the design of a hotel is not the responsibility of the staff. Our experience, however, was not just mildly disappointing, but actually insulting on several levels. The management attitude at The Scotsman seems posited on the classic dumb assumption that the guests should be grateful first, that a lack of responsiveness and a general condescension on the part of staff (rather than helpfulness and respect) are the appropriate presentation. Having stayed at Claridges in London, we know the difference between real service, and the fumbling, nasty, supercilious nonsense practised at The Scotsman. We're familiar enough with hotels to know precisely what was being perpetrated on us at The Scotsman--the phony "upgrade" to the "problem suite", the refusal to prepare a room within a reasonable time (NOT 2+ hours!). Great hotel staffs maintain propriety, and go out of their way to please patrons; at The Scotsman, this tradition has been abandoned in favor of temperamental caprice and laziness. The joint needs a face-lift and a housecleaning, starting at the top, and going right down to the maids. NOT RECOMMENDED!!! *When we were planning our reservations, we noticed that the station appeared to be right next to the hotel, and we should have realized what this meant in terms of noise! Buyer beware!

We stayed in the Scotsman on a weekend break to Edinburgh in March 2005. Couldn't fault the hotel. Staff were friendly and helpful. The room was lovely - very plush and comfortable. We eat in the bar restaurant one night and had a great meal. Breakfast was nice too although pretty expensive (£17 - i guess thats 5* for you!). Overall a great hotel.

(A short walk from the Royal Mile and the best shopping. 5 minutes to Harvey Nichols and Louis Vuitton for example. Next door to Waverley Train station.) The rooms are great (I had a small one though which would have been nice if it was a little larger) and have all the gadgets – email, internet, mini bar with good wines etc. Also a nice touch are the service hatches for each room. I.E. When you order room service, they slip your food and drinks into a hatch to the left of your door. That way, you can pick up food etc without having to have a waiter inside your room. – Although I liked the room, I would not pay rack rate for it £250. It isn’t worth it. Food / drink – Two restaurants. One popular brassiere and The staff are very helpful. I read some reviews on Tripadvisor with caution and I’m really surprised at the reviews of this hotel with regard to staff. We lost a bag in a taxi and the concierge (thanks Rodney) tracked it down for us at a Police Station. How good is that?! Cowshed - The Spa - Great stuff. A spin off from Babbington House in Somerset. An all aluminium pool with low moody lighting. Very unusual and calming. Steam and sauna rooms were also good as is the large gym with TV’s on the aerobic machines etc. The treatments are great too. I had a hangover massage and my partner a facial. It is an unusual building conversion that turns the spa into a labyrinth. All in all, very good. Ask for Jemma when you call. She’s the boss and rocks the Cowshed. We had a great time there. Recommended.

We have stayed here on two occassions, both times late deals on websites and have absolutely loved this hotel. The location is excellent and the service is great. The rooms both times have been really luxurious and beds very comfortable. The bathrooms are lovely and Molton Brown toiletries are provided. We have not had breakfast as it is around £15 each and so cant comment on that. The leisure complex is great with a well equipped gym and lovely stainless steel pool with dim lighting and music playing in the background. We ate at the attached North Bridge brasserie on both of our stays and really enjoyed the meals also. The rooms are expensive, even when booked on late rooms etc, but are worth it for a bit of luxury every now and again

A great room is very important to us. We get every pennys worth - perhaps sightseeing for a while and a little retail therapy, but we love staying in our room, ordering room service, watching films and generally enjoying the luxury. We got a good discount on the room (who ever pays the full rate anyway?) but even without this it was worth the money. We had an executive room. We didn't have to even answer the door for room service - everything was delivered by a private dumb waiter with the hatch located in the entrance hall leading to the bedroom. State of the art DVD and equipment. No less than 6 FULL SIZE Moulton Brown shower/bath foams above the bath. Sofa and writing desk at the end of the room. Staff were friendly and helpful. And the brasserie (which is the hotel frontage) was extremely good. The swimming pool is stainless steel and the hotel has a private cinema with 50 leather seats. They got us into one of the best restaurants in Edinburgh at a moment's notice. If you want contemporary modern with history combined and ultimate luxury this is the place. Paying that bit extra for the room really does pay if you plan to spend time in it.

The hotel is located in a great building in Edinburgh's historical center with spacious rooms. Unfortunately, the hotel staff are really incompetent or careless, with a stereotyped smile but no real concern for their clients. With an outside temperature below 10 C, we arrived in our room in the afternoon and found it damp and without any heating. We were told it would be fixed, but nothing was done until the follwing night, when we finally managed to have someone bring a portable heater. Similarly, the safe in our room was locked when we arrived; we asked for it to be opened, but by the time we left the hotel two days later nobody had even bothered to explain what the problem was or offer a solution. This is definitely not a 5-star hotel as concerns service, comfort or efficiency.