Edinburgh City Centre (Lauriston Place) hotel

For a first time visit to Scotland, Premier Inn was perfect for us. Clean and comfortable room, convenient location, and helpful staff. The Premier Inn Edinburgh on Lauriston is in a very cool location by the university, near a great variety of international food places, cafes, neat little art and book shops, etc. Easy walk to the Budget car rental office on Lochrin. Special thanks to the manager for going above and beyond to accommodate our complicated travel logistics - we very much appreciated him and his staff for being patient and helpful.

Not good. Like most Premier Inns now they’ve decided to get rid of all the staff so they are on the bare bones… check in wasn’t particularly warm but was functional. Don’t blame the staff member they’re probably rushed off their feet doing 3 people’s jobs. Beds comfortable but the room was not clean at all. The shower screen had not been cleaned for some time, it was full of soap scum, water marks and general grime. Very dusty as well. Multiple hairs of other people dotted around in the bedroom on the linen and in the shower tray. Dread to think what the state of the bathroom floor and room carpet was. Didn’t eat at the hotel as had the foresight to look at previous reviews. Plenty of places in Edinburgh and if you have to stay in Premier Inn like we did due to limited choice in the area then consider boycotting eating with them as it’s the only way there’s half a chance they will employ more staff…

The limited staff here try hard but you can clearly tell there are not enough of them. On arrival we were early, not a problem, go to the bar and get a drink. We just had to wait for the reception clerk to serve customers at reception so we could get him to serve us drinks. We booked in for the evening meal, we came down at the allotted time, but it said the restaurant was closed, apparently the chef had called in sick but i had to find that out by going back to reception and asking. The second night the restaurant was open but the waiter was also the barman and receptionist so again, you had to wait for him to serve food before he could serve drinks. I went to the toilet in the downstairs bar, no toilet roll. The vending machine was also out of order. The room was ok, however, the shower was over a bath and unfortunately the shower curtain had that pungent smell that meant it had been around for some time. I’m pretty easy going and one of these issues might not be an issue for me usually, but combined, makes me think that this hotel is not managed very well. More staff are required here, it’s not fair on the paying customers or the existing staff.

This is not a review of the Premier Inn in Lauriston Place but of the one in York Place which did not appear in the Trip Advisor list. The Inn in York Place is well positioned for the St James Centre and access to shops and restaurants in that area. We booked an early check in which was just as well as the lobby was full of people leaving their luggage prior to the later check in time. The room was a premier plus on the third floor. It was perfectly acceptable and clean. The air conditioning was welcome as it was a very hot spell (for Scotland). The room could have done with some minor maintenance - scuffed skirting boards, marks on walls and a chip out of the desk area. Continental breakfast was disappointing- no cold meats or cheese. Much better to go for the full English which costs only £2 more. There were many notices saying that rooms could be serviced on request if you were staying more than one night. We were and did but alas no service was received.

This hotel was in a good location and with rooms in clean condition but poorly staffed. We wanted to eat an evening meal there and were initially told that the restaurant was open. But when we went there was no one to staff it. Eventually, after a long wait, on the front desk staff came and took the order for part of our party. Food did not arrive for over half an hour later, during which time the one staff member never appeared and no one else appeared in the restaurant. We almost left thinking we’d been forgotten. Eventually, right before our food came out, the staff person reappeared and told the rest of the party that had since gathered that they could not be served, only the people who arrived first and had already ordered could be served. We were told the reason for not serving us was because they had “quite a lot of bookings” (even tho the place was totally empty) and the chef couldn’t be bothered to cook because of how many people would show up (nobody came for another half hour and then it was only 2 families), unless we just wanted pizzas because the staff member did those himself. After being turned away for service, I asked if we had to book in for an evening meal, and he said that in fact we should have. One wonders why they never told us this when we first asked about eating. In the end, we asked for two pizzas and told everyone else in our party to go elsewhere. I had hoped for steak and chips and to even eat breakfast there, but after being so poorly treated, we just took what we could get and left. I was very disappointed. I had told our group that Premier Inns were great! That we could have a wonderful time! This location made me look a fool, and they lost not only business that night but future chances to serve us. If you don’t want to serve us, tell us early. If you want us to book in, tell us. Don’t make us wait in an empty room for half an hour and then make us leave (“unless your getting pizzas”) an empty restaurant because you’re too busy. Ridiculous. Oh! And this was after they completely botched our rooms and did not give the right rooms to the right names at all. We ended up having to sort it all ourselves after they had given out multiple room keys to one person, none to another. We had sent the names and room types, clearly labeled. Waste of effort. They couldn’t be bothered.