Just had a 3 night stay here and had some very positive experiences and some quite negative ones too. I'd booked a double room and had requested top floor on front of hotel after other reviewers had raved about the views. Requested top floor as my 3G internet always works better higher up in hotels. As it happens I was allocated a room on floor 3 of 6 on the back of the hotel, the internet connection was fine and I was given an upgrade to a 'mini-suite' which was lovely and more than made up for being on back of hotel rather than front. I was also given a voucher for a free glass of wine or beer and as someone else mentioned, I'm guessing this was to do with being a Priority Club Member.
Mini Suite had 2 large flat screen TV's, nice bathroom, good desk with great fab chair and some comfy furniture. The one grumble regarding the room was that I found the duvet woefully thin and I got quite cold the first night. Couldn't leave the 'heating' on at night as the room had one of those combo heater/air conditioning units that blows either hot or cold air in and is quite noisy. Fortunately had a thick blanket in the car which did the job next two nights.
As for the service, the check-in and check-out were good - efficient and courteous. I did get a knock on my room door at 07:20 first morning (was just climbing in the shower) - one of breakfast servers bringing me room service which I hadn't ordered. No big deal and she made a point of coming over to me during breakfast to apologise which was nice.
I found the breakfast service inconsistent - had poached eggs twice and first time they were hard, second time perfect. Also no mushrooms second day for some reason.
I had an all inclusive dinner, bed and breakfast deal and first night dinner was not good. Restaurant felt cold, explanation of what I was entitled to as part of the all inclusive deal was terrible ("you can only choose main courses that are priced £12 and under" - had to ask for further clarification as that left about 2 choices. Another server explained it was all options that had next to them a black spot with an 'S', denoting 'set menu'). Food wasn't great and the custard that came with my desert (which I'd waited a while for) was cold. Sent it back and it returned hardly any warmer, if at all. I gave up at that point and eat it as wanted to get out of there.
Next two nights couldn't have been more different. I wasn't looking forward to eating there again, but a different waitress was on - Emma - and she was fantastic. Introduced herself, used my name, explained all options clearly and was attentive and genuine throughout and SMILED lots. She had that rare quality of making you feel special. Food was also much improved next two nights. Would say second night was excellent, 3rd night good and so a real mixed bag as far as the restaurant and food is concerned.
The one other plus was that I was able to watch the live football in the bar on the second night on ESPN which the barman sorted out for me on request.
So, overall very good but with one or two improvements it could so easily have been great.
- Holiday Inn Edinburgh
- Edinburgh Holiday Inn
