Norton House Hotel

This hotel is fairly good but fails to differentiate itself from the other luxury hotels in Edinburgh. It's just "fine". The parking lot is large so there is no problem with parking. The hotel is located on a beautiful expanse of property. The hotel check-in seemed fine and I was surprised to find that we were upgraded to a traditional suite (the Lothian) upstairs instead of the Executive Contemporary room I booked. The room was nice, very large with an excellent balcony overlooking the beautiful grounds, fireplace, and work desk. For some reason though it seemed to lack "warmth". The bathroom didn't appear to be upgraded since the 1950's but the rainfall shower was absolutely excellent, so much water pressure it nearly knocked me down (I detest the normal "trickle" I usually find in hotel showers). The mattress is awful and the closet space is extremely limited. There was a mini-bar and tea service. I had afternoon tea as well as drinks in the glass bar area. Champagne tea in the bar was very good, with great sandwiches and enormous portions. The bar staff are excellent. The wine menu focuses a little too much on French wine but thankfully some of the wines by the glass are Chilean or Argentinian. This hotel is very popular during the week with local business people so expect the bar to be busy at all times. However, the hotel is quieter on the weekends. I had dinner at Ushers (their "upscale" restaurant) as well as the Brassiere. Dinner at Ushers was okay, it is a highly rated restaurant and the food and service were, well, fine. Nothing fabulous but not bad in the least. The meal was included in our package, but I wouldn't have wanted to pay 150GBP for it. It was a Saturday night and we were the only people in the restaurant besides one other couple. The woman who works as the hostess/server was very good. We also had dinner in the Brassiere. It's a more casual eatery and I highly suggest it. The food was great and reasonable. Also, it was busy on a Friday so make reservations. Breakfast in the morning was great, a large selection off the buffet and pretty much everything you would want off the cooked to order menu, including a full Scottish breakfast and kippurs. The coffee was great. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Edinburgh from the hotel given the traffic. All in all, this is a fine hotel with beautiful public spaces, good service and food but doesn't set itself apart from other fine Edinburgh hotels.

Hotel was average but expensive and therefore not good value for money. There seemed to be more staff than guests but despite this service was poor. The reception staff were surly and unwelcoming. For this sort of money one expects attention to detail and big plasma screens don't make up for poor customer care and qualty.

After looking at more than a dozen venues for my wedding in April 2005, I finally chose The Norton House Hotel. My 5-star rating says it all. On the day of the wedding, the staff could not be more helpful if they tried! The setting etc.. was just absolutely amazing. We couldn't of chosen a better venue if we tried. Food was amazing & everything was so efficient. We were never afraid to ask if we could have things a little different than what they usually had - & they were very accomodating. I still get a lump in my throat when I drive through their grounds & up to the hotel. Everyone's wedding is great - but the Norton & it's staff made it that extra special! Thank you especially to Erica who was the duty manager!

I arranged our company Christmas "do" here staying for 2 nights at the end of November 05. The staff couldn't do enough for us and even arranged a private dining room for 16 people at very short notice on Friday night when we asked for a little more space for our group. The hotel staff gave us excellent service throughout the stay. The rooms were of a high standard / plasma tv etc and good quality bathrooms. If I was being picky I'd say they were a little on the small side (we paid extra for executive rooms). The hotel is really close to the airport - probably about £5/6 in a taxi and set in huge grounds. We went into Edinburgh on Saturday and a taxi to town will cost you between £15 and £20. Saturday night was "party night" for our group in the Brasserie and a good time was had by all. There is also a fine dining restaurant which looked impressive although we didn't get chance to eat in there. The quality of the food throughout our stay was very good. Before flying home on Sunday we had Sunday lunch which was accompanied by a live jazz band which was a nice touch. It was very busy so I'd suggest booking in advance for this. If I was going on a "city break" to Edinburgh I would probably stay in town but the hotel was ideal for our requirements for the weekend and I would stay again! They are building a leisure complex and extra bedrooms in 2006.

What a find!!! Lovely setting, great food, very heplful and friendly staff. The staff in all respects seem to have been trained well in their jobs and service with a smile is standard. The rooms were spotless, spacious and as well as the HUGE plasma screen TV, the fresh milk in the fridege for your tea was a brilliant idea. The only downside to this hotel is the weddings and the guests attending. We were lucky enough to stay there on a glorious summers day but this meant that the wedding guests were all outside (quite rightly) enjoying themselves until the wee small hours. Unfortunatly for us,our room overlooked the lawn and we had to keep our windows closed to try and keep the noise out a little. The next morning,the entire patio was COVERED in cigarette ends. Not a pretty sight first thing in the morning and detracted somewhat from the spectacular surroundings! Next time we go (and we will go again) we may consider a stay through the week when it may be a little less loud. All in all I would recommend this hotel.

My wife and I just stayed at the Norton House and it was a very nice hotel. Charming location, very quiet, beautiful grounds, and great decor. Everyone there was very friendly and went out of their way to make us feel comfortable. My only complaint is that the bed in our room was not very comfortable and we woke to a sore back each morning. Also, the food at the restaurants at the hotel is outstanding. Original menu, great ingredients, and relatively affordable for the UK. I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to people traveling near Edinburgh. It is only 10 minutes from downtown and after a busy day shopping and stopping at local pubs, it was nice to get out of town and relax at the Norton.

This is an outstanding hotel, but especially for the value. The hotel is charming in a Scottish Manor House way, but the rooms are large and have very modern conveniences. But the star of this hotel is the amazing restaurant. Although we made a special journey to Skye for a well reviewed restaurant, the Manor House restaurant beat it for service and quality by far. It's only a few miles from Edinburgh, but it's well worth the distance.

After a trip through Scotland, we looked for a hotel near the Edinburgh airport to spend our last evening. Normally, we have come to expect that airport hotels will be (a) overpriced and (b) second - or third - rate. My wife and I were thrilled to pull up to the hotel and find it to be charming and lovely (or, as the Scots say, "luvly"). The grounds were beautifully groomed, the restaurants more than satisfactory, and our room was nicely decorated and impeccably clean. A pleasant surprise was a big screen plasma TV and free DVD's. In fact, so pleasant was the room that we decided to eat at the hotel and not in downtown Edinburgh, and to curl up in front of the TV on our last night. Since we had not eaten fish & chips during our entire stay in the UK, we had a well prepared order, along with soup and caesar salad. True, the hotel was not particularly cheap [@ 110 GDP w/o breakfast], but gave good value for the money.

The one-way road up to the hotel is deceptive. The hotel is very beautiful both on the inside and outside. The rooms are both well appointed and VERY clean. The fresh milk for the tea is much appreciated. The dinning room is quite modern, although the cooked menu a bit bland (needs salt). The only draw back to this hotel, is all of the weddings and the wedding guests, as well as, the frequent bagpipe playing for the weddings.

lovely hotel. Restaurant food very good. Also has its own pub in the hotel grounds which serves lovely food. Rooms decorated to a very high standard. Staff very friendly and helpfull