Royal Terrace Hotel

I had read all the negative comments about this hotel and was expecting the worst. What a pleasant surprise to find that this is a splendid hotel with all the facilities required for a super weekend in Edinburgh. It was a busy period for the hotel with the All Blacks in town but we were treated with the utmost courtesy during our stay and found the reception and bar staff to be very helpful. Even the barman Ross stayed remarkably pleasant at 4.00 am in the morning as we partied with other residents. On arrival, we were informed that we had ben upgraded to a suite in the upgraded part of the hotel, at no extra cost. Everything else about our stay was extremely positive and I will definitely return. There is still work ongoing to modernise all the floors so perhaps some reviewers have just been unlucky.

Have just returned from a three night stay at the Royal Terrace. Last stayed here in 2001 when I would have described it as "faded grandeur." but now the description should be "run-down, in need of refurbishment." Had hoped renovation would have taken place by now but not so. The twin bedroom was very good apart from plug sockets falling out of the wall! However, the bathroom was pretty awful, with lots of items either broken or falling off the wall. The cold water tap in the basin ran brown water most of the time we were there! The breakfast room downstairs is a nightmare during the morning rush say 8.30 - 9.30 with insufficient seats for the numbers of guests. One morning we were seated in the Restaurant upstairs which was much better and should be utilised for breakfasts regularly, albeit it only holds a small number of tables. The worse area however is the Leisure Club which needs to be totally shut down and refurbished. The whole area is shabby and dirty, the sauna has a padlock on it and is used as a storeroom! The steam room door handle is falling off and is extremely dirty, on entering the smell was not good so decided not to risk it. The pool is very nice and warm and the jacuzzi is okay although was very wary of it in view of the general state of the place. On a positive note, the Hotel has a good position and lovely gardens, the staff are helpful and the Reception area and Bar are good. I see from previous reviews that it is now part of a chain and due to be renovated, hopefully this will bring it back to the four star status which I don't feel it deserves at the moment. Such a shame and I would not choose to stay here again until renovation has taken place.

The staff were great but let down by the hotel. Turn a tap to run a bath the water was brown ?. The bathroom was a bit dated. There was no fridge in the room so we ended up putting a pint of milk outside the window. The room was a nice size and clean and comfortable. The hotel as in a good location for getting around Edinburgh. Walk just down the road to caxton hill and go to the top for the best view Edinburgh.

The front public area seemed nice enough and the desk staff were very pleasant and helpful. The rear public areas, corridors etc and the room itself was a complete letdown, very shabby and tired. In particular the bathroom was badly in need of a revamp.

The Royal Terrace hotel is rated as a four star hotel with leisure centre and indoor swimming pool, adjacent to the city centre of Edinburgh and close to the Edinburgh Theatre. We arrived tired and weary after an early morning flight to be told that the hotel did not have our booking - even though we had paid a deposit of £50.00 through the Visit Scotland website. Luckily, we had a copy of the booking with us so we were eventually accommodated. We also had 2 people with physical disabilities in our group of 4, so it was important to have access for them. Access for people with disabilities is not a top priority for hoteliers! In this case, the Royal Terrace gave us a lovely room on the ground floor - but the ensuite had a bath in it, definitely not suitable for a person with a disability. We reckoned we could use the swimming facilities instead of the bath, but the leisure centre consisted of a very small room with a staircase to the upper floor changing rooms and another staircase to the basement swimming pool, which was more like a large puddle than a swimming pool! On the up side, the staff were very friendly and helpful and the hotel is close to the city centre. The rate was reasonable and the rooms we were finally given were delightful.

I booked the hotel as the photo looked very grand and the price suggested this was going to be a luxury hotel, however appearances can be deceptive can't they? The hotel, although clean is tired and shabby and needs a several million pound refurbish The worst thing has to be the bathroom, I was having a bath looking at the mould growing on the grout, attempts had been made to patch it up but this had no effect. The room itself was clean and the decor and soft furnishings were good. I can't fault the staff at all, they were all very pleasant and helpful. I wouldn't visit this hotel again, it wasn't worth the money.

On arrival at hotel we were met by numerous guests outside the hotel due to a fire alarm as the kitchen had burned the toast. We found this quite amusing once we knew there was no real concern as the taxi driver said as we pulled up it could be a bomb scare. We then proceeded to check in and were told the hotel has over booked us and we would have to be transferred to another hotel. We found this extremely disappointing as we had specifically chosen this hotel for the ambiance and location. The receptionist was very apologetic and helpful. As we had booked into a 4* hotel I was surprised to find this on arrival, with no attempt to contact us via e-mail, house phone or mobile (what else do they need!). After an initial complaint we were then promised that the hotel manager would contract us on 17.10.05 with his explanations. I am still awaiting contact from him. Fortunately for us it worked out for the best as we were transferred to a far superior hotel and we were informed by numerous locals that we had fallen very lucky to be placed there instead of our orignal booking. We had hoped to stay at the Royal Terrace but after experiencing this other hotel and the inconvenience of being transferred I would not book into the Royal Terrace in the future. Helen Rees/Rachel Chapman = Swansea

Well Trip Advisor really works - this hotel was just as awful as everyone said. The hotel was chosen for a family weeked away, so we didn't have too much choice. - we rang before we were due to stay to check the booking & were told that as we had the same surname as another guest (our family) they thought it was a double booking & hadn't reserved our room. So we sorted that out. The room we were allocated was in the basement (for want of a better description) and next to a fire door that seemed to be the staff entrance to the hotel. - the bathroom may have been the most awful one we have ever stayed in - the tiles had been emulsioned to cover up the mould (unsuccessfully) - the toilet roll holder was hanging off the wall - the light fitting wasn't fitted properly into the ceiling - the mastic around the bath was mouldy - the bath was a 'jacuzzi' bath but not in working order and the vents were brown - the bath water was green - - there was someone else's (fresh) toothpaste around the washhand basin - never stayed in a room that smelt so strongly of smoke (it was a on-smoking room) - the television changed channels by itself - going to the screen asking for a pin number to order an adut movie - the fire door next to our room was constantly being banged shut - I had to get up after 11pm & go theough the 'staff only' door to tell the two people who were shoulting that we could hear them in out bedroom - we booked a double but were given a twin - the high point of the stay was opening the interconnecting door & finding laggin. Ha Ha. We did complain to the duty manager but as the hotel was full they couldn't move us. The best they could offer was a 10% discount. As we had booked through an 'e-booking' they couldn't refund us the money directly. However they prmiosed to wrtie to us confirming that they had advised the booking servie that they would be invlicing for a lower amount so that we could get the difference back. Almost 2 weeks have passed and needless to say we haven't heard a word. What made the whole experience even worse was that friend were in the very next room & their's had been refurbished.

Not a place to be recommended. We booked two double rooms in this hotel for a weekend away for two couples. Having arrived at about midday to learn that check-in was not until 2pm, we left our bags at the hotel and (having made sure that there would be no problems with checking in late) returned following an afternoon of sightseeing, an evening meal and drinks. On our return we were told that there were insufficient rooms in the hotel and we would all have to share a room! We were very flippantly dealt with by the night manager when we complained upon check-in. Now, the room we were given would have been quite spectacular in the 1930s but I doubt it has been maintained much since. The carpets were stained, there were wires hanging out of the plug, the cold tap in the sink did not turn at all, and to top it all off the hot tap in the bath came off in the morning causing the bathroom to flood and two of us to miss out on having a shower. We were given rooms on the third floor for the second night which were very nice but certainly nothing spectacular for a 4* (or even 3* hotel). We were not too impressed with the standard of breakfast or the service and the leisure facilities were not exactly something to write home about. The maintenance on this hotel should have started a good 20 years ago.

I wish I'd read some of the reviews here before we stayed this weekend. This hotel has a 5* opinion of itself and charges accordingly but, unfortunately, it is struggling to achieve even 4*. We checked in and were assigned to a Patio room which sounds romantic but is actually a euphemism for dungeon. Although apparently recently refurbished the room was like the Black Hole of Calcutta and looked out into a courtyard set below street level which was adorned by unterminated cables hanging out of the walls: it was impossible to exist even in daylight without the room lights on. The bathrom was better than the room but lacked things like a towel rail. Generally decor was poor, radiator paint as flaking and holes in the wall were plugged with bits of screwed up tissue paper. Furnishings were spartan and poor quality. Tea/coffee making facilities were rudimentary and not plentiful. Unlike most hotels(even cheap B&B) there were no biscuits provided which considering the rack rate for the room was £175 per night is incredible. When we arrived the corridors were full of housekeeping/kitchen staff and the place stank of stale fried food and other cooking smells. I complained within minutes of getting to the hotel and asked for a change, which could not be provided by the receptionist. On persevering and eventually speaking to the Duty Manager it was agreed that we would stay one night in this room but then be moved to a suite( The Talisker Suite) in the Ambassador Wing: rack rate £270 per night. This was definitely better but if you are prepared to pay that amount for a small shabby suite you really have got more money than brains. Bathroom fittings were loose, the lid fell off the bathroom waste bin, there was a dispenser for disposal bags but no bags and the nice little touch of the electronic bathroom scales was useless because the battery was dud. The breakfast room was fine for troglodytes, no natural light again. It is also very small and if your breakfast clashes with one of the many bus tours visiting the hotel then, if you get a seat at all, you could be in for a very long wait. The only other dining room is in the conservatory. This old and once glorious structure is badly in need of repair and/or replacement and is very small. Service is agonisingly slow and under peak load it is difficult to see how either the room or the staff would cope. Food was actually quite good. Getting around the hotel is problematic because the one small lift is inadequate and has to be shared with housekeeping staff who very largely don't speak English and don't seem to feel obliged to make way for guests. Feel free to make your own decisions but I will not be wasting any more money on this place. I can see how it once was a good hotel and how it could be once again with a massive injection of cash and design flair. Sadly, judging by the results in newly refurbished areas, the present owners do not possess either of these commodities in any abundance.