The New Years Day concert from Vienna was magnificent - now listening a third time on the i-Player
The New Years Day concert from Vienna was magnificent - now listening a third time on the i-Player
Member since:21.07.2003
Reviews:452
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PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS HOTEL DOES NOT HAVE A SAUNA,POOL OR SPA - I COULDN'T SEND MY REVIEW UNLESS I TICKED SOME OF THESE BOXES!
I must apologise for bringing the subject up again but it is due the usual combination of my itchy feet and my curiosity that I ended up at Edinburgh's Adria Hotel. You see, the previous evening I had been in Stirling to see my old chum Ian McNabb (ex-Icicle Works, remember them?) playing at the Tollbooth. Ian told me that he would be playing the next evening in Edinburgh and I decided that since I had enjoyed the show so much I would see him play again in Edinburgh - actually it was really because I did not want to miss anything - would Ian play different songs, who would be at the gig, these were questions I could not let lie.
With more than a degree of reluctance my long-suffering partner (he went along with my plan on the condition that I would buy him a curry in Edinburgh) accompanied me to Stirling's Tourist Information Office where we proposed to enquire about rooms in Edinburgh. To cut a long story short we ended up with a booking at the Adria Hotel. Armed with a print-out from the officious assistant we set off for Auld Reekie.
The Adria Hotel commands an excellent position on Royal Terrace which makes it convenient for the Edinburgh Playhouse, the Omni
Complex, Easter Road Stadium (home of Hibs) and Calton Hill - my favourite spot in the city with wonderful views over to Leith where the Royal Yacht Britannia is now docked. It's a five minute walk down to Princes Street and both Waverleytrain station and St. Andrews coach station. There is a wealth of restaurants, pubs, bars, cafes and clubs nearby although Royal Terrace itself is very quiet - a mixture of small hotels and residential property.
The receptionist was expecting us and we were warmly welcomed. It was a very cold evening and we were pleased to get into the warmth. The lighting was low making the whole place seem very cosy. The formalities were quickly completed and we were shown our room on the first floor. The hotel is housed in two converted Georgian houses which makes for an impressive interior with a rather grand staircase. The décor in both the public areas and in the rooms was in good condition and appropriate for the style of building, although perhaps a little dated.
For sixty pounds we had a double room with en suite bathroom. The bed was small but comfortable and as soon as I saw it I longed to get under the squashy covers but, alas, there was no time -we had a gig to get to. So it was off to inspect the bathroom. To get to the bathroom you had to go through a little room in which there were facilities for making hot drinks and a television set. Oddly, though, there were no chairs: you had either to stand in there and watch TV or try to twist the set right round and watch it perched on the edge of the bed in the other room. The bathroom was spotlessly clean and supplied with fluffy towels and the usual miniscule packets of shampoo and shower gel. My only complaint here was the length of time it took to get the water to run hot.
Back in the bedroom the furniture consisted of a dressing table, stool and wardrobe in addition to the bed. The best thing in the room, though, was the window seat: I could have sat there all day and watched Edinburgh's well-heeled returning home with carrier bags of goodies for the evening's dinner parties and looking out over the trees across the road.. However, more pressing matters to attend to….I had to dry my hair, if only I could find somewhere to plug in my hairdryer. There were sockets… it was just that I couldn't get to them. Even if I unplugged to bedside lamp, I would still have had to move the bed away from the wall to get to the socket and it simply wasn't an option - even if I had done this I still wouldn't have been able to stretch the cable to position myself in front of the mirror.
Ablutions eventually performed, we set off, stopping off at reception to ask for directions to the venue which were helpfully and enthusiastically given - they even marked it on a map for us.
Several hours later we returned, bitterly cold and looking forward to snuggling in bed. The heating had gone off so it was cold at first but we soon warmed up under the bedding which I suspect had been made of fibres originally conceived for Arctic expeditions and fell asleep to dream of a hearty Scottish breakfast in a few hours time.
Breakfast was served in the large dining room which put me in mind of "Fawlty Towers" - purely the décor, you understand, there was a lack of neurotic hotel managers! There was just one waitress who coped well with the number of tables she had to look after. There was cereal and fruit available buffet-style on a long table and the waitress took the orders for cooked breakfasts. I did feel that the waitress could have come back more often to offer top-ups of drinks since, like the cooked breakfast that appeared before me, the servings were small. The food was pretty average - I would have perhaps paid a bit more for some nice Scottish sausages and some quality bacon rather than skimpy rashers and anaemic bangers.
The hotel has no other facilites to speak of. There is a small lounge which we peeked into, on the ground floor. TThere is no bar so the lounge is really just used by guests waiting for taxis to arrive or for guests to wait for their companions to come downstairs or ctahc up with the papers.
Non-smokers will be pleased to know that the entire hotel is no smoking - in the rooms and in the public areas.
Our send off was as warm as the welcome we received, with the receptionist making sure we knew the quickest route to the station and saying he hoped to see us again. And well he might! The Adria Hotel is convenient and comfortable without the higher price tag one expects down the hill on Princes Street yet it is still well positioned for all of the city's attractions. I recommend you check out the hotel's website for details of room options (single, double, family, with bathroom, without) and prices (too numerous to list here) and consider it as an option if you need somewhere to rest your head in Edinburgh.
I'd love to visit Edinburgh one day, somewhere I've always fancied going - sounds nice there too, never know might end up staying there! Thanks, good review, Sal x
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