Bala House

The host was lively and engaging without being in our face, and the accommodation was clean, spacious and decently furnished. We had the largest unit, but the other units looked perfectly adequate too. It felt much better than the usual worn, anonymous hotel room. The Royal Mile is close enough to walk to, while the place is far enough away from its bustle and crowds. The downsides were no breakfast, with a good walk needed to find one, and a Google GPS pin that points to the wrong address.

There are loads of bus connections just a minute away, but the place itself is quiet, down a little lane around the corner from the main street. It was a great find, very nice, clean and spacious, and the landlady was lovely. The walls are quite thin, which might bother some people, though it didn’t bother me. And despite what it said, every room had a hairdryer.

A knowledgeable, lovely host and a clean, spacious room. The hotel is in the heart of Edinburgh, so it’s an ideal place to stay. My only issues were the limited parking, thin walls and noisy floorboards.

Bala House is cheap, reasonably well located and has good transport links. The staff we met were very helpful and polite. For the room’s size and price, it’s basically somewhere to sleep while you’re in Edinburgh. But the bed was pretty uncomfortable, though not terrible, and the wooden floors carry noise all around the place. We could hear neighbours coming and going from their rooms. It was a roof over our heads for a low price, but I wouldn’t stay again.