Scotlands Gifford House - not up to RS standards

website says in bright red that the business has been restructured and breakfast will not be available in future, rates will be room only. If you have a booking confirmations that said breakfast was included in price you have a claim for refund.

It sounds like Rick Steves' accommodation in the UK falling into that trap of the cosy B&B that existed 40 years ago, but are often a bit crap these days. It must be tough to make a profit against competition from Premier Inn these days and I think it shows in places like the one described.

Replenishments were not provided, and staff was nowhere to be seen. The latter was more of a safety concern to me and perhaps our other travelers reading this post would feel the same way.

Any B&B where it isn't worth their while to offer guests a cooked breakfast in the morning doesn't seem to be doing very well.

Agree with you. As RS is such a trusted source for many things "travel", accommodations, at the very least, should really be reviewed more frequently. I will approach my next booking with more caution instead of relying on a guidebook. Just was a disappointing experience.

I have also had the experience that RS recommended lodgings were not up to the quality described in the guide books. I think this has been especially true of the more family run places. Years go by, and younger members of the family are running the businesses, or outside employees, and the described warmth/ quality was not my experience.
I always look at the booking.com reviews now, and have found these reviews to be very accurate. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks all for sharing your comments.

I felt the BNB was a bit dated and too far from the center of town with limited dining establishments nearby. Bus was convenient though to get to town. Area was not quaint but rather felt a bit rundown.

It looks like Gifford House is in the RS Dalkeith Rd area described in the guidebook, which he admits is a bit out of the center, but offers a number of B&Bs which are a good value - you save by riding the frequent bus into the center of Edinburgh. We had a very pleasant stay at a B&B in that area which apparently has closed. The neighborhood is composed of large, older houses, a number of which have been converted to lodgings. It's very close to the base of Arthur's Seat.

While there are few dining options immediately out the door, a short walk down to S Clerk St opens up a number of possibilities - we had our best meal in Edinburgh there in an upscale restaurant populated by locals - unfortunately it appears to have closed as well. My impression was that the area was actually an upscale suburb, given the dining choices available.

I like that part of Edinburgh as a location too. I'd probably be quite happy to stay there if I wanted a neighbourhood to enjoy out of the centre of town. Possibly not at the place described by the OP though.

Perhaps my expectations are higher coming from a RS guidebook. As a first-time visitor to Edinburgh, Gifford House and the neighborhood was a disappointment.

It's just a fairly regular neighbourhood where fairly regular / reasonably well off people live. It's a shame you were disappointed. I'd bet I'd have no trouble finding somewhere decent to eat around there within walking distance. I liked it around nearby Marchmont when I was younger. There used to be a lot of student flats around there and some closes were quite run down. I think it has gentrified into more "young professionals" these days.

I think it's indicative of what I was saying that the one Mark mentioned has closed. It's expensive for folks to keep these big houses as B&B when they're probably worth quite a bit in real estate. I think margins sound tight if they can't afford to have someone cook breakfast for a handful of guests in the morning; sounds like somewhere that's cut to the bone to stay open to me.

These sort of places don't make sense in British cities anymore. There might be other contributors who know good B&Bs in small northern English villages or rural Scotland, but they've been priced out the market by chains in the cities.

Everyone has a different interpretation of what they think are RS standards...seems like his suggestions used to include quirky, small family type accommodations; (except for calling themselves a BnB and only including one B.)

There are all sorts of accommodations we've experienced on his tours. We've had corporate hotel towers and one really, really bad family run hotel. Some very nice hotels and some middle of the road. We've had no complaints on 3 RS tours, except for the one really bad one which is now off the tour itinerary.

https://www.ricksteves.com/forms/guidebook-feedback-form

To help others, be sure to submit feedback about the place

And for future choices, be sure to look over the info here-- https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/guidebook-updates

Seconding Joe32F's suggestion to submit feedback directly to the RS office on the specific version of the guidebook you used. As it takes many months to finalize and publish a guidebook, it can be quite a long time after their staff has visited a property (and they do check each one). They should know things have changed, and if it changes their recommendations they will provide updates on the other link Joe32F provided.

Agree with you. As RS is such a trusted source for many things
"travel", accommodations, at the very least, should really be reviewed
more frequently. I will approach my next booking with more caution
instead of relying on a guidebook. Just was a disappointing
experience.

I personally always double check any recommendation (RS, friend, family, or other source) with at least one other source (often booking.com as only people who have booked/stayed at a property can leave a review) before I settle on a choice. It's always disappointing to have expectations fall short, but it happens.

I'm surprised you expected breakfast as they stopped doing that in March 2024 (reference their Facebook page).
So no booking method you used should have offered you anything but room only.
However such a recent change is unlikely to have made it to Rick's guidebooks, given the research and printing lead times.

But yes the big chain hotels have a lot to answer for, and what can be predatory pricing and an appeal to some that people know exactly what they are getting - predictable corporate blandness.