Cambridge House

After coming all the way from Falkirk to Edinburgh, we were turned away and left with nowhere to go. The man taking bookings said we weren't in the booking system and both of us needed identification. I've never experienced so much nonsense. On arrival he was rude, didn't smile or greet us, and told us to wait outside in the freezing cold. We waited about 20 minutes before he let us into the property. The place smelled of fish, and the carpets were mouldy. The man's breath was humming. In my opinion, this place doesn't even deserve one star. I hope he has insomnia for the rest of his life. You and your house are cursed.

The only real problem was the luggage drop-off. We'd emailed ahead to arrange to leave our bags at 9 am, and they confirmed it was fine. Nobody answered the door when we arrived. A sign said not to ring more than once, but we rang about five times over 20 minutes. Another guest eventually let us in, and we called the staff. Nobody was there, which explained why there was no answer, even though they'd confirmed our time. They arrived shortly afterward and let us leave our bags so we could explore before check-in. I wasn't impressed, though a later staff member kindly helped when I'd accidentally locked the key in the bathroom. We stayed in room 3, which had a private bathroom down the hall. It wasn't fully en suite, but it worked fine, the water was hot, and the bathroom was in good condition. The room was relatively small and could be awkward to stand in if you're tall, though we had no issue. The walls were thin, but it's an old house, so we expected that. It's a small house with a few rooms, reasonably priced and somewhat close to the city centre, in a safe, quiet area with a local café a short walk away. There are no hotel extras like breakfast, and no coffee makers, though there was tea, instant coffee, and a kettle. We had no other specific issues, enjoyed our stay, and would likely stay again in a similar situation.

The location was okay, though still far enough from Edinburgh city centre that we'd need a taxi. The rooms were tiny, with low sloping ceilings that felt dangerous, and they looked dated. There was a lot of noise through the night, and loads of cats outside in the street. The shower was dirty, and the staff were unpleasant and unwelcoming.

The room was alright apart from the bathroom problems. The shower drained so slowly it felt like a race to finish before flooding the place. One sliding shower door wasn't properly attached to its rail and fell onto me while I was showering. The two doors didn't meet all the way, so water splashed out, and we had to put a towel around the bath and sink because water seemed to seep up from underneath both. On the good side, the room was cleaned nicely each day, and the free tea and coffee were replenished. We stayed for a week, and the location was great, only a 10-15 minute walk to the centre. We arrived about 15 minutes early, and the woman who answered was abrupt, telling us we were really early and to leave and come back. Fair enough, and at the proper time she was alright, explained the rules and gave us the free WiFi. She said there was no breakfast, which was fine since we planned to eat out, though the place had advertised paid breakfast. The window in our room wouldn't close on one side, which made us uneasy since the room was near the front door and we worried someone could get in.