After reading all these nice reviews I got quite disappointed with my stay.
It is actually not a hotel, but more of a flat aparments out of the 50's, looked like a hounted mansion from the outside. But this is what the Aberdeen architecture is about.
I would not stay here again if coming back to Aberdeen.
Pros:
Location - just 2 blocks from Union Street
Breakfast was quite simple, but fresh and served by lovely people
Separate living room, bedroom and kitchen, it is actually an apartment so its great for long stays, for kids or if you like to prepare your own food.
Drinks and snacks at the lobby (paid of course) so you can try different brands of single mal whiskey before buying your supplies.
Bed is soft and linens were clean.
Cons:
Rooms had a terrible funky smell - looked like cigarrete mixed with someting else. I had to leave the windows open so I could stand it.
Outdated - It looks more like you hired grandmas aparment for a couple of days.
Wooden floors make crackling noises so you can hear neighbours walking.
No elevator - had to go up 3 floors with large suitcase on my own
Each apartment has its integrated air and water heating system, I found this on my first morning when trying to take a shower and the water would never warm up. Went to the kitchen and found the heater was shut off. Then I had to wait 20 minutes or so, until the water was warm. This caused me to miss breakfast and get late on my first day of meetings at the office.
I reported to frontdesk, but kept getting this problem with the heater throught my stay. Either the apartment would get very cold, or no hot water come out of the shower. This was a major annoyance.
Room Tip: Ask for a room at ground level, unless you are a fitness person.
Check the room for odd smells and...
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
5 January 2012
Thank you very much for taking the time to review Skene House Holburn after your stay with us in June. I was very sorry to read that you were disappointed with your stay. The feedback we receive from the majority of our guests is normally positive so any complaints are always taken seriously.
Skene House HotelSuites were developed into suites from traditional 19th century tenement buildings. All the suites have different design schemes ranging from Traditional to Modern and we also have different room types from Executive to Superior. From your description I think you were in one of our Traditional suites. Our design schemes are so different within each block that it is often down to personal preference particularly the more traditional design schemes. As I am unsure of your full name I cannot check which suite you were in, if you wish to provide me with this, my email address is susan.aitken@skene -house.co.uk
I am confident that if you had stayed in our more modern suites either at Skene House Holburn or one of our sister sites you would have appreciated the more modern décor. Our 200 suites vary from modern minimalist decor and furnishings to the more traditional in our endeavour to cater for all needs.
I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the problems you encountered with the heating and hot water while you were with us. We try to make our guests’ stays as comfortable as possible and I was disappointed to read that after reporting the problem it was not resolved to your satisfaction. I have checked back our maintenance reports for June and we had 2 reports of heating and hot water problems and our records show that these issues were resolved by our Maintenance team. However we cannot confirm if one of these problems involved the suite you were staying in. Our reception desk is manned 24 hours a day allowing any issues or concerns to be reported at any time of the day or night.
Please also accept my apologies for the strange smell that you experienced in your suite. We have not received any complaints of this nature previously. Our Housekeeping department take great pride in their job and our Housekeepers always check each suite and if they had noticed any smell from any of the rooms it would have been reported straight away so the issue could be resolved. If this had been brought to our attention at the time then we would have investigated it and offered you the opportunity to move suite. If you wish to let me know which suite you stayed in, I can investigate this further.
Further to your comments with regards to the lack of elevator and you had to “go up 3 floors with a large suitcase on your own” – unfortunately because of the design and age of the tenements we cannot install a lift. We have a concierge on duty 24 hours a day and he would have been more than happy to help you with your luggage. I'm not sure when you checked in but if it was at the same time as a lot of other guests there may have been a slight delay in getting the concierge to reception to help you.
It was very nice to read that the bed was soft and the linen was clean. Your comments about our breakfast staff were also very much appreciated and I will be sure to pass these along. I am glad that you enjoyed the varied choice of malt whisky from our Honesty Bar before buying your favourite brand. I would just like to say that the first drink for all our guests is complimentary and that our bar snacks are free of charge. I am not sure if you were misinformed about this but we shall make sure our front office team inform all our guests in the future.
Although you have said that you will not stay with us again, I hope that this will encourage you to reconsider and give us the opportunity to provide you with the Skene House experience that we are reputed for.
Kind regards
Susan Aitken
Manager
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
