I thought that Mr. Steves and others might appreciate some feedback about B & B Edinburgh which he highly recommends in the 24th Edition of Rick Steves Great Britain. We were booked to stay there from June 8 to June 11. When we arrived we discovered that the Lift was out of order with no date set for repair. Our room was on the fourth (top) floor. I am 77 and my husband is 80 and we consider ourselves very fit. After trudging to our room we discovered our toilet was out of order as well. We were given a pitcher so that we could fill it with water to pour into the toilet in order to flush. Again, we were met with uncertainty about a timeline to fix the toilet. Needless to say, we called our Travel Agent who booked us into a hotel in Charlotte Square. We were charged for our entire stay - three days - although we only stayed the one night.
Posted by
4 posts
I also rely on the tour books and this forum for recommendations. I was on the 13 day RS Scotland tour this year in April. Our Edinburgh hotel was also B&B Edinburgh. The lift was broken at that time. The water pressure in my 3rd floor room was weak as well as problems with the toilet. The breakfast buffet had prunes, box cereal and containers of sweetened yogurt. They did offer cooked to order eggs. But the wait with 28 tour members eating together, was more than they could handle. They were never present in the evening, so checking in after 5 or 6pm could be a problem for guests. My upper floor room did not look as pretty as what is viewed on the website. I stayed 3 extra days at the Angels Share Hotel in a lovely room- 384 pounds total for a single room with breakfast. The B&B Edinburgh quoted me 345 per night for single room.
Posted by
Reno, NV, USA
2542 posts
I gave a bad review for this hotel on the forum last year. We stayed there at the end of our RS Scotland tour in August. I am sorry you also had a bad experience there. The elevator was working when we were there but flushing the toilet was a difficulty and the hotel desk clerk was very rude and treated my husband like a petty thief when he asked for a small bar of soap and bottle of shampoo after room service had taken away what was in the room and didn’t replace it.. Caveat emptor.
Posted by
Palmetto State USA
34 posts
Similar experience on a 2019 Rick Steve's Scotland tour. The tour started and ended at this property. The first room was unbelievably poor and the second moderately less poor. Wont get into all the fit and finish issues but one of them was indeed the water pressure and water closet. Like the poster, I had to manually fill the the toilet but that was only marginally successful. I provided feedback to the Rick Steve's tour office upon our return. I see from another post they are still a tour hotel. The breakfast was fine and the it looks great from the outside. Nice location. Nice lobby. It must be they have some decent rooms but we didn't see them. We have 6 Rick Steve's tours under our belt, this is the "at least it's not as bad as" experience we use to baseline all the other tour hotels. Makes our other stays much more enjoyable. Happy travels!
Posted by
Westford, MA
212 posts
Unfortunately RS is still using this hotel. i just booked the Best of Scotland Tour for end of May 2024 and this is the Edinburgh hotel.
Posted by
Charleston & Birmingham
4585 posts
Their hotel choices are one of the reasons we have not taken a RS tour. Tours we have taken with other companies use reliable cookie cutter tourist hotels and the only time we've ever had a problem was in 1990 at the Queen Hotel in Berlin where we almost suffocated because the AC was too hot and the window couldn't be opened.
Posted by
1 posts
We just finished the Scotland tour which finished at B+B Edinburgh. The lift is still out (from June)! We stayed on the 4th floor in a dingy room with a small window in the corner. I don’t mind carrying bags up stairs but climbing to the 4th floor in a Georgian building with high ceilings was the equivalent of 7 normal flights. It is completely ridiculous that a hotel that charges as much as they do can’t get their lift fixed in 3 months. I don’t understand why Rick Steves continues to use this as one of the tour hotels since so many people have posted reviews similar to mine. We spent several days after the tour in a wonderfully comfortable hotel that was much cheaper than B+B.
Posted by
1 posts
Haha! I just looked up the B & B Hotel and a review from 11/26/23 says the lift STILL isn't working! And guests STILL have to flush their own toilet water. Also, the heat doesn't work. RS, are you listening?? I'm considering a Scotland tour in 2023.
Posted by
Westford, MA
212 posts
We are no longer on the May 2024 tour, switched to Sicily, but before I did, I had emailed Rick Steves directly about this hotel and I got this in response
Thanks for your email.
Our Tour Operations Dept. which handles contracting with tour hotels is always reviewing the service provided by those hotels.
We do want to make sure they meet the standards of what we look for as a tour company.
We hope to provide our Tour Members with clean, comfortable and safe lodgings while they are on the tour.
The Tour Ops Dept. reviews Tour Member evaluations as they come in and address any consistent issues or complaints that TMs might have had with a hotel ~ with the hotel directly ~ to see if they can be addressed and fixed.
In most cases it is a singular case or small issue, and the hotel is able to correct it.
But other things can happen and we do our best to keep on top of it all.
I have sent your email to our Tour Operations.
If there is something, a hotel problem, that seems consistent within overall reviews, I know they will address it.
At this time that is the hotel is still listed for Edinburgh.
We have been using them a long time and they seem to have worked out fine in the past, but if there is consistent complaint I am sure we will look to provide another place for lodging.
And if we do change hotels we will certainly let all our tour members know.
Thanks again for contacting us with your perspective.
We like to hear from all our Tour members.
Have a great time on the tour.
Enjoy it all.
Cheers, Keith