The Brewers Rooms Contemporary Aparthotel

We were looking forward to our trip and had wanted to visit Edinburgh for years, but this stress ruined the first couple of nights. The lack of care about where we’d stay on arrival was abysmal, and communication was terrible. We’d booked the three-bedroom Canongate apartment for four nights. On check-in day, while already on our way to Edinburgh, the booking was cancelled just hours before check-in because of a plumbing issue. I understand that the plumbing problem was outside their control, but what happened after wasn’t. We got an email, not a phone call. I was lucky to check it and replied 15 minutes later asking them to arrange somewhere for us that evening. We were frantically looking for a place ourselves and then waited two hours with no reply. When we called, the man who’d emailed was apparently out and asked us to call back in ten minutes. When we finally reached him and asked about relocation for all four nights, he seemed not to have spent the previous two hours searching and said he’d email again in ten minutes. The two options he eventually sent were nowhere near the original standard, had one fewer room, were in different locations, and had 5/10 reviews. We called to say that wasn’t acceptable and asked about the price difference, which they hadn’t thought to explain. We had to find our own accommodation for the four nights and emailed asking for a full refund, explaining the huge inconvenience and stress. We got no compensation, just a “sincere apology” and a refund that could take up to 10 days. We were left out of pocket for the original apartment as well as having to pay for new accommodation during the holiday.

We stayed in the ENGINEERING room. It had a kitchenette, and the room and bathroom were modern, stylish, clean and practical. The room looked out onto the main street, and there was a coffee shop downstairs and a Scottish pub serving traditional food across the road. Staff were friendly. It’s a great location, within walking distance of most attractions. Parking was inconvenient with our rental car. There’s no free parking nearby, and street parking is only available for short periods. Paid OMNI basement parking is quite far from the apartment. The electronic key locked us out of the building at least once a day, and without an internet connection it was very difficult to get in.

The views of the city were great, and the aparthotel was spacious with everything you need. It’s also well placed for reaching many of Edinburgh’s tourist attractions. I really love the place, especially if you’re into Victorian minimalist style.

The smell of coffee from downstairs as we headed out in the morning was the highlight. The apartment was very cute and clean, and the facilities were really good. The only issue for us was having to climb to floor 03 with no elevator or lift 🥹🥰😍