Stunning Panoramic Views: Heart of the Royal Mile

Located right in the heart of Edinburgh and close to two fabulous coffee shops this cosy period property made a fantastic base for our stay.

Certain aspects of the property could do with a refresh.

Hamish the manager/owner was very nice but the manager had changed between the time we booked and the time I picked up the keys, and there had been some lack of communication between them for our need to get into the apartment before check-in at 3 pm (our plane had arrived at 10:30 am). As it was, the cleaners did not even clean it before the check-in time, and they were just leaving at 5 pm. Hamish though was great and let us in ahead of time so we could store our bags. But it was a bit difficult contacting both him and the former manager by phone. The former manager had to call him and then he called us. So it all worked out in the end. Luckily the apartment was very quiet. I worried when I saw that it was right on High Street which was packed with tourists. Timing was just before the Fringe Festival, which I knew, but needed to be there on the dates we chose. We usually go to Scotland in the Off Season. The bedrooms were clean and cool (there had been a heat wave), and the living room was lovely, and the kitchen was good. Ditto the bath. There was also a very interesting "clothes dryer" which was essentially some heated rods on which you hung your clothes and a big canvas type bag that you put over it to contain the heat. You left the clothes there for over 24 hours and they finally dried. It worked well however, as did the washing machine. Hamish also kindly left us a 1/2 litre of milk for our coffee and tea, and also cookies and apples, which was great. Also, even though you have to buck the tourists if you stay here in spring-fall (I assume), the location is super for walking everywhere. We took Ubers which were about 2 blocks away when we wanted to go out of the city or to distant parts of the city. But Old Town is quite accessible and worth the walk. Just remember that you are in the middle of tons of touristy shops. Wool goods etc can be found out of the city if you want a wider range and perhaps (?) lower prices. We just did not shop.

We were not aware that there were 5 flights of stairs. Must have overlooked that when I booked it. I also did not know that this was actually an AirBnb and would not have booked it if I had known because AirBnB is taking much needed apartments out of the available rental market such that people who work or go to school in Edinburgh are forced out of the downtown market. The only downside besides the stairs (which were actually good for us but tricky with the suitcases - Hamish did help though thank goodness) was the view out of the living room window onto a trash filled patio 5 floors down. Apparently it is a public patio adjacent to restaurants, but all of the apartment owners should complain to the city about it because I am sure that it attracts rodents etc. Restaurants and businesses just threw their boxes and other containers out onto it. I must note that there is no way that this patio is connected physically to any entrance into our building -so don't worry about rodents etc. - but the view is just unsightly and was kind of shocking to us to see something that messy. We solved the problem by just not looking down. There were not good instructions for the espresso maker so we just used instant coffee of which there was an abundance. So it was ok in the end, and there are coffee places just around the corner. Just a suggestion to have clearer instructions - not really a criticism. We were quite pleased with the whole setup.

Perfect location

The location and the suite was comfortable with good amenities.

Better and faster communication would have been appreciated. It was poor right from making the reservation to getting the keys on check in day.