The AA must throw around diamonds quite freely, as this place was certainly NOT up to the standard I expected based on the rating. Our room was up several flights of stairs, the last being quite unsafe. At first glance it looked "OK", except for the shabby duvets and mis-matched furniture. Out of four recessed light fixtures, only one actually worked, and it blew out on our last day there. There were cobwebs hanging from the light. The carpet had stains that looked as though someone had puked on it before. My husband had to fashion a curtain out of a duvet because there were only nets, and we would have given the street behind us quite a show (not to mention the early sunrise and late sunset being an issue for those wishing to sleep). On the sink in the bathroom was a grimy old pump bottle of handwash, procured from the nearest supermarket. The electric kettle had water in it already, left over from who knows when. The readily apparent lack of care for detail (or indeed, basics) made me immediately uncomfortable, and rather hesitant to tuck myself into the bed at night. The shower, which on first glance looked new, was actually broken. There was a bit of tape attempting to secure the head in the high position, because the holder was broken. We had an ancient TV that did not receive cable, as promised in "all" the rooms.

The dining room, at first glance, looks quite nice. But look at the seats of the chairs, which are all stained. The food was acceptable, and the staff were courteous. The onsite parking turned out to be a small area suitable for 2 to 3 cars maximum. We had to park on the street. I just think the owners of this place should be ashamed of themselves. They like to flaunt their ratings, but it's clear they care little about giving their guests more than the bare minimum. I think AA and RAC need to revisit their rating standards. If this qualifies as "very good", then I'd hate to know what a lesser hotel is like, and the top knotch places must be rather disappointing. I remain mystified as to why people in the hospitality industry refuse to make their places nice when it isn't expensive, and could generate more profit.

My fiance and I stayed for two nights during the fringe festival in 2005. We arrived and were greeted by two very young ladies working behind reception who spoke very broken English. We were pointed in the direction of our room, which was bang next to the bar. It was clean but very shabby. I decided to have a lie down after travelling for five hours and found the wooden bed frame creaked if you so much as breathed in. The bathroom was also very small. My fiance had rung ahead to ask for some roses to be present in the room for me on our arrival, which they were- and very beautiful at that. The mattress had a large dip in the middle which made my fiance and I roll together in a heap (I kid you not). We settled down for the night after exploring Edinburgh and discovered whilst getting ready for bed the door to our room had a 2inch gap from the floor and all the smoke from the bar seeped through the gap as well as hearing everyones conversations and the bed creaking we didnt dare move. In the morning the two young ladies knocked on our door, we were still in bed so shouted "just a minute" but they opened the door and walked in anyway. We didnt try breakfast, we wouldnt have had a clue where it was served anyway, apart from the two young ladies we saw no other staff throughout our stay. For the two nights I paid £280. We have never and will not stay here again as frankly the decor was very shabby, and the hotel was very run down, it could do with a really good face lift.

We stayed for two nights in November. On arrival we were met by a Chinese member of staff who spoke very poor English.

On entering the room which was reasonably clean, it was obvious the heating had not been on for some time and was not switched on all night, leading to a very cold night given the draft from the windows. The bathroom was even colder again and not helped by the shower which was alternating between ice cold and blisteringly hot, the flow was slow and more akin to a drizzle.

The icing on the cake however was the poor breakfast, which was meagre and for some reason included spring rolls and curried samosa. The breakfast staff were non English speaking and could not understand simple requests such as more milk, all questions were responded with by a shrugg and a smile. We also had the privilege of having breakfast with the owners children.

In all a very poor set up given it cost almost £200 for two nights due to the price increase because a rugby Game was on.

Best advice, go camping its' warmer.

I booked the room a week in advance confirmed the booking
read the followingresponse to,

I have had to cancel the booking because of the difficulty in travel to London from the United States due to the elevated threat level.

Given the circumstances and the fact that I plan to reschedule my trip I hardly think this is a fair treatment of a potential return customer. I would like to have my Cancellation charge refunded.
I am planning to re book over the winter holiday between December 18th through January 1st 2007 for 2+ days in Scotland. Corstorphine House Hotel will not be on my list if I don't receive a refund.
Corstorphine House Hotel
> Booking reference XXXXX73537
> Customer name R C
> Check-in Sunday, August 20, 2006
> Check-out Tuesday, August 22, 2006 Total cost £238.0
> Cancellation policy
> Cancellation policies vary from hotel to hotel and vary during fair and exhibition periods. Please read the hotel policy, below, to confirm whether your credit card will be charged a cancellation fee or a non-refundable deposit. In the event of a no show or a cancellation with less than 31 day notice prior to the date of arrival, an amount equivalent to 100% of the total booking value will be charged.
> Is there a cancellation charge if I cancel now?
> A cancellation charge applies because the required notice has not been given
> How is the cancellation charge calculated?
> The cancellation fee is 100% of the total booking price
> Cancellation charge if cancelled now £238.00
> Refund if cancelled now £0.00
Given that I booked within the 31 day notice period I could hardly meet the terms of the cancelation policy.
Traveler beware if you should book rooms at Corstorphine House and have elevated threat levels delay or affect your travel plans. They should refund their prospective guests booking fees .
This policy leaves a bad taste and a lasting impression of Scottish Hospitality.