Travelodge Edinburgh Dreghorn

I’ve stayed at plenty of Travelodges around the club, and I’m always happy with the service. This one was no different. The staff were friendly and helpful all round. The room was clean and fresh, the bed was comfortable, and the bathroom was spotless. The shower was okay, and there was tea and coffee, just what you want after a journey. Parking was fine for such a busy place, and having Starbucks next door was handy. I’ll stay at this Travelodge again.

There’s a Starbucks right outside, and the location is pretty quiet. If you only need the basics and can sleep through background noise, this place may be adequate. I’d pay more to get better service, fewer drafts and no noise or pest traps. Before arriving, I called the hotel a couple of times about different things, and they were great. Once we got there, the good part ended. Check-in was closed; at 21:00 a confused-looking staff member finally showed up and checked us in. The rooms are okay for the price, but there are very few plugs and none of the USB wall points worked. The hotel is by a main road, and the soundproofing is basically useless if passing cars keep you awake. The windows let in drafts, so the user-controlled heating was needed. There were pest traps in parts of the corridors, possibly for mice or rats, where people, children and maybe dogs could touch them. We stayed two nights. After night one, we put out the little sign asking for tea and coffee to be refreshed, but it wasn’t done, so we had none on night two. You can choose your room, but at the time of writing that cost £7.99 per room. There’s a solid 5G network, but WiFi is free for only 30 minutes before you have to pay.

The room was filthy, and the smell in the corridor put us off as soon as we walked through. We’d travelled five hours and had no other option, so we went in anyway. Blood stains were on the floor, there were poo stains on the toilet seat and it hadn’t been flushed, and the surfaces hadn’t been wiped. There were marks on the walls, pictures, mirrors and desk, stains on the bed, and an actual bug on the towels. I complained at reception and got an apology because the room hadn’t been cleaned properly. I had to use Dettol and antibacterial wipes throughout the room and strip the bedding before my two-year-old could touch anything. Reception said Management would give me a full refund. More than a week later, the reply was that we’d get £30 back from a £160 stay. Absolutely disgusting hotel, staff and management. Do not stay here.

Edinburgh is a good location for visiting, but our room, Room 14, stinks and nobody seems to care. When we opened the door, the smell was awful. We reported it to reception, but they didn’t offer another room, only spray to cover it up. I declined and opened the windows. After a walk, the smell was just as strong. When we raised it again, all they offered was air freshener. We left today and spoke to a cleaner, the first one we’d seen since arriving. They didn’t seem interested and told us to log it at reception. This wasn’t what we’d hoped for. Why are some Travelodges so good and others so bad?