Best Site for Rental Homes - Edinburgh

Short term lets for VRBO and AirB&B are getting tough, due to housing shortage related regulations. Given that it's almost February, you might be lucky to find that many places in even the same hotel. Unless you want to move after the third night, I'd just look at Booking.com for 10+12yo. Move fast!

Take a look at Leith. It's a short tram ride into the city (or you can walk the Water of Leith Walkway). Great restaurants there, as well.

To build on what jjgurley has said, the recent proliferation of AirBnB etc in Edinburgh has been really detrimental to the housing market for residents- driving up rents and reducing supply as landlords have figured out they can earn more from short term rentals. Entire buildings in the old town now are just short term rentals and the residents hate it (as a former resident, I don't blame them)- you will even see a lot of anti-AirBnB graffiti. That is the situation driving all the new regulations. I definitely understand why some groups find it easier to share an apartment but I would (very respectfully) encourage people visiting Edinburgh to consider hotels if possible.

To answer your other question, most of Edinburgh is extremely walkable, and for the parts that are a bit further away (like Leith), there is a frequently and reliable bus service. There is also a tram which can now take you all the way from the airport at one end to Leith at the other, via the city centre. I think Leith is a very good option if you don't find anything in the very centre that suits your needs/budget/etc. Good luck with the planning and enjoy Edinburgh- June is my favourite time there as the sun very nearly never sets!

Thank you for your responses. We still have some work to do but so excited to visit.

We're having no difficulty with AirBnB for this summer, and our lodgings are already booked. The people we've booked with live in the lodgings most of the year, so our consciences are pretty clear.

I've said this elsewhere, but if housing situations in cities are such that AirBnBs stress the rental pool, they need to build more housing.

Some might say they need to build more hotels and let people live in the housing that was already built for that purpose.

Some might say they need to build more hotels and let people live in the housing that was already built for that purpose.

They might indeed. Alternatively, they might say that, absent legislation proscribing it, people should be free to rent out their homes when they're otherwise unoccupied.

For what it's worth Edinburgh city council decided that it should introduce a 'short term let control area'. This means that anyone seeking to change a residential property into short term let now requires planning permission for 'change of use'. The consultation documentation that set out the problems of the Edinburgh housing v holiday rental market is here. The report discusses the issues presented by entire properties being used as airbnb type short term lets, both in terms of the availability of affordable housing for residents and other issues such as noise. There is of course also legislation here in Scotland that requires any short term let to be registered (involving various requirements and the payment of a licence fee).

In terms of the OP's original question it might be best to look outside the city centre for a large property that sleeps 11 people. There is a landmark trust property at Roslyn Castle that sleeps 8 in 4 bedrooms, which might be suitable for your first 3 nights. Landmark Trust is a charity that restores interesting/historic properties which it then rents as holiday lets.

I've also found this website Group Accommodation that seems to have a few large properties in/near Edinburgh,

Skyegirl, thank you so much for the link to the National Trust! I'm embarrassed that I was unaware of this lodging option, and we'll certainly see if we can take advantage of these wonderful properties starting in 2026!