The George Inter-Continental Edinburgh, Edinburgh

Author's product rating:   

Advantages:	Position Position Position
Disadvantages:	rooms are shabby

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I’ve been working in Edinburgh during the week for the last three weeks and because I have been on a project budget I have settled for the basic but adequate service of the Holiday Inn express at Picardy Place. However an opportunity came up for me to bring my wife for two nights and so I decided to impress her with a swanky four star hotel in the centre of town and I booked Thursday and Friday night in the George Intercontinental Hotel on George Street.

I am a member of the Priority Club which offers points for stays at Holiday Inns and some other group hotels including intercontinental. Through the website www.ichotelsgroup.com I managed to book Thursday night for £85 for B&B and Friday night £95 b&b which for two people in a Capital city centre hotel I think is very reasonable. This is the room including breakfast charge, not per person!

I’d been inside the hotel during my work visits although I’d never stayed there. However I was impressed enough with the staff attention and facilities in the lounge area to be looking forward to seeing the grandeur of the bedrooms.

So I pulled up outside the hotel and nipped in to ask the concierge to come for our bags and park the car. This was very promptly seen to in an extremely efficient manner so in no time we were at the check in desk waiting for our room key. Once again the receptionist was extremely friendly and efficient and were given directions to our room on the 6th floor and told our bags would soon be brought up. For marks out of 10 during our first 5 minutes in the hotel I would give 10. Excellent.

The only problem was the room. Room 656 was our allocated room and from the moment we walked in I sensed a problem. The carpet was worn to the point of being threadbare. The ensuite bathroom had a strange smell to it which I can only describe as “a damp cellar” The furniture in the room had obviously seen better days, some was damaged. It looked like flood damage but I am sure that can’t be possible on the sixth floor! One wall had obvious signs of damp which had been painted over.

We complained by ringing reception but were told that all the rooms were as bad as ours because they don’t have enough money to refurbish the hotel. Maybe this explains why it seemed cheap.

The deal I had done through the website meant the first night was pre paid so we couldn’t leave without losing £85 so I tried to find an alternative for the Friday night. Unfortunately this wasn’t possible at a reasonable enough rate so we stayed. We tried to get a new room on the Saturday even offering top pay more for a better room but the Duty manager said it was not possible.

So we had to bear with it. At least the bed was clean and the bathroom functioned even if you had to hold your nose!

We made the most of our stay and found a great restaurant called Mussel Inn on Rose Street and enjoyed The Stand comedy club on Queen Street but I suppose I should write about them in other reviews!

So my summary is

Great position for a hotel just a short walk from Princes Street (It is not on top of Waverley station as some one said earlier) ., Valet parking for £10 a night I think is cheap for a Capital city but maybe I’m used to London prices.

The service and attention from staff was excellent except of course not being able to help us move. I think the duty manager really tried hard but they were full. He knocked of £20 bar bill as a gesture of goodwill which is something I suppose!

We didn’t use the restaurant at night but the breakfast was magnificent. Loads to choose from Porridge to full Scottish or Danish pastries and served efficiently by friendly staff.
The bar was good too although we preferred to go across George Street to the Hard Rock café where we could use the bar stools.

I guess if they sort the rooms out the price will go up!

Nice people pity about the rooms!