From the moment we arrived we found the hotel to be warm and welcoming. Ivor the doorman was particulary helpful with handy hints on local restaurants and things to do. The scotsman breakfast was hearty and kept us going for the day. The complimentary upgrade for my birthday was a very nice touch. Great location and walking distance to the historic royal mile.

Just back from a weekend at The Scotsman. We arrived with high expectations and 95% of the reality lived up to them. But walking down North Bridge on Sunday, weighed down by our bags, to the car park half a mile away, it was the niggley wee things that were bugging us, niggly things that when you are paying lots of good money to stay in a 5 star hotel, you are simply entitled not to have to expect. Great hotel, amazing building, well converted, wonderful views, fantastic ambience, superb central location. The spa underneath was a wonderful way to start each of the 2 days we stayed, lovely quiet pool. Breakfast was very good. Our room, one of the small publisher suites, was big and very comfortable indeed, lots of nice touches. It really did feel like a 5 star experience. The one big drawback that to an extent is not the hotel's fault, is the lack of any sort of parking. Guests have to battle from wherever they can park (not easy in summer in central Edinburgh) to reach the hotel, not the best start weighed down with luggage. Basically, we expect the solution to the parking problem to be provided by the hotel (valet-parking, acquisition of a nearby parking lot, whatever), not to have to be provided by us having to lug our bags around Edinburgh and paying an additional ?50 to NCP etc for parking. The room certainly had the feel and appearance of being 5 star. However, being picky (which we're entitled to be given the cost of staying), the bath was stained with a yellow hue, the double bed was in fact two sandwiched singles appearing as a double (really, really poor - OK in Mrs MacGlumpher's B&B, but criminal in a 5 star hotel!), although there were lovely products in the bathroom, there was a lack of body lotion. In a five star hotel you certainly expect your body wash to have its accompaniment of body lotion. These are all points that kind of dampened what was otherwise a great experience. The thing that really got us mad though, and will probably mean that we never go there again and tell the world why, was a tiny thing, of no monetary consequence whatsoever to us or the hotel. Wifi is advertised as available in all rooms. Great, we wanted to check film times, so laptop out, plugged into cable at desk (reception told us to our surprise that there was in fact no wifi) and there's a message from the hotel saying that internet connection costs ?1 for each 15 minutes. Rang reception, yep, that's the case. This is a 5 star hotel - billed as Edinburgh's finest - and they have to take an extra ?1 off us (in amongst the numerous hundreds of ?s already and otherwise very happily being paid) to access the internet for 20 minutes. Just unbelievable, literally. On checking out, I raised the issue with Ian at Reception (unfortunately not Neil who the previous night had been beyond excellent). A mumbled "that's hotel policy" was his only response. Being the worst complainer in the world, we handed our credit card over, turned tail and set off down North Bridge... A truly fantastic weekend and otherwise wonderful hotel experience, tainted for the sake of 1 measly pound. Basically, wonderful hotel, but if you're in the 5 star league (which you are and should be) get a grip and understand what that means.

The Scotsman Hotel is conveniantly located in a beautiful baronial style building on the North Bridge midway between the cobbled streets of the royal mile and the bustling shop lined Princes Street. I travelled to edinburgh with a friend for the weekend and as we caught an early morning flight from Belfast our room was not ready when we arrived at the hotel however the warm, welcoming staff were on hand to take our bags and contacted us as soon as the room was availible. We reserved a deluxe twin room for our stay at The Scotsman which had various quaint touches such as a fireplace, a privacy hatch and Edinburgh Monopoly. The beds were among the most comfortable we have ever slept in. Breakfast is served in the Club room and offers a wide range of culinary delights ranging from your full scottish to delicious seafood delicacies. Unfortunatly the experiance was slightly tarnished on the last day when the arrival of a new chef meant that we waited almost 30 minutes for some white toast and a cooked breakfast, however as usual the food was marvellous when it arrived. The hotel's North Bridge Brasserie was not open due to renovations during our stay however been based in the centre of Edinburgh there were plently of restaurants available, the hotel itself has an excellent restaurant called "vermillion" while on Princes Street The Balmoral Hotel offers "Hadrian's Brasserie and the mitchelin starred"Number One Restaurant". Overall we had fantastic stay in The Scotsman and would certainly stay in this wonderful hotel again.

The good... Central location Chic and boutique hotel Quirky room Cowshed products in the bathroom Excellent service Vermilion restaurant Fantastic 'Escape' spa onsite - lovely pool! The bad (ish!)... TV knackered (room 702) Mini bar v pricey Expensive Brasserie closed for refurb A la carte breakfast - great for leisure stays but when staying for business you just don't have time to enjoy a long leisurely breakfast unfortunately. Would stop there again hopefully with my husband for pleasure rather than work. My colleague's room was stifling (#707) and didn't have air-con. She literally could only spend ten minutes at a time in there without pouring with sweat. A fan was provided but the aircon (which was installed) should be working more effectively.

This hotel was simply amazing. The staff was super friendly and extremely welcoming. Our room was so beautiful. We loved our stay and had a wonderful view of the bridge. Although rates may seem outrageous on the hotel's website, Expedia has really good deals on The Scotsman. Scotland is not really known for its food, but Pizza Express (across the street from the Scotsman) was excellent.