Where can I start! This hotel is in a fantastic location. Right in the heart of Edinburgh but on a quiet and very beautiful street! It is only a fifteen/twenty minute walk up to the castle which we did as we were staying at this hotel while we went to see a Runrig concert at the castle for my boyfriends birthday.
The hotel itself is very cozy,welcoming and beautifully decorated. The staff are attentive and the rooms are fabulous. We stayed in the James Caird superior room which was a bit more expensive but well worth it. We had a very large room with amazing prints of Shackletons adventures on the wall. The room was equipped with a large tv and entertainment system with internet, email, tv, films and a jukebox which was great to get ready to! The room also had a gorgeous and very large bathroom with a modern freestanding rolltop bath and a large shower. This made our stay that extra little bit special as did the lovely molton brown toiletries. The bed in the room was extremely comfortable and we both had a great nights sleep.
Unfortunatly our concert started early so we did not have time to sample the hotels restuarant but we did have a meal in the bar area which was very good. I had wild mushroom risotto and my other half had posh fish (monkfish) and chips which were also very tasty and well priced. On returning to the hotel we went to the bar to try the cocktails which were also very good. we were the only people sat in the bar and it wasnt even late. Apparantly it is always very quiet as it tends to be older people who stay at this hotel.
In the morning we ordered room service which was BRILLIANT! everything was cooked to order and there was lots of choice and you could tell that everything was to the highest standard-freshly squeezed orange juice etc. We felt sorry for the poor guy who had walked the three flights of stairs to carry our tray up though!
This set us up nicely before we hit the road again. We were just sorry that we could not have spent longer at this hotel and we will hopefully return one day! The only downside to this hotel that I can think of is that the different areas of the hotel are not signed at all so we had to ask everytime we were trying to find somewhere. This wasnt a problem as all the staff were very friendly and accomodating.