No 57 Residence

Getting back on foot from Edinburgh Castle was the big plus. Our Military Tattoo show ended at 11pm, and we made the walk in under 15 minutes using Google Maps, even at 60-plus. That alone made this cheap one-night stay during the Edinburgh Festival worthwhile for us. We'd travelled halfway around the world for the night show. Hotel prices near the Castle during the Festival were understandably through the roof, so despite the bad reviews we took a chance on the location and price, since we only needed one night. A lot of those reviews were right. We had room 1, where the front door opening sounded like someone was coming into our room. It was dated and needs a major upgrade, the body wash dispenser was broken, and the shower was tiny. Getting an answer about dropping off luggage was almost impossible. Would I stay longer than one night? No. Would I stay again if I could get a room away from the front door? Yes.

The big, cozy room had a lovely Edinburgh feel, and the hotel has a charming atmosphere. But poor communication and cleanliness made the stay disappointing. The key code was meant to arrive 24 hours before check-in, but it didn't. I called several times and couldn't reach the property. They finally got back to me just a few hours before check-in, which left me uneasy. The bathroom wasn't clean, the shower pressure was very weak and it leaked, and the bathtub didn't look clean either. With better communication and cleaning, this place could be much nicer.

We got back at midnight and still had no towels, even though they'd replied in the Booking.com chat that the laundry was delayed that day and they'd arrive by 8:00 PM. We'd asked for them through the chat after finding none in the room. Then we saw that somebody had eaten our food. In the photos, the brioche is clearly bitten, and it wasn't a mouse. The room's a dump: dirty carpet full of hair, and black stains on the shower tray. I attached photos. The strangest part was a door beside the bathroom connecting to another room. I took a video because I honestly can't describe it. You can decide for yourself if you want to “sleep” here.

Getting there and finding my way around was easy enough. The room was okay and the bed was good, though the pillows were hard as bricks. There were several chairs in the room. It smelled mouldy or musty, probably because of the cowboy installation of a bathroom in the corner.