The Scholar

For diving people, this is the place to stay when visiting Edinburgh, especially for a competition or training camp. As a diving coach with Bergen Diving Club, I’m always looking for the best way to travel, eat and stay, and this hotel is ideal, right next to the Commonwealth pool. The beds are good and the rooms are spacious. Service is great, and the Abacus restaurant in the hotel is lovely. The breakfast there was among the best I’ve had, thanks to the quality of the included à la carte menu rather than a huge range of choices. The bar also has a good gin list.

A lovely, very clean hotel with spacious, cosy rooms and really welcoming staff. It’s just outside the city centre, around 20 minutes by bus or on foot, on a university campus. Breakfast was tasty and the coffee was great. I definitely recommend it and will stay here again when I’m back in Edinburgh ⭐️☺️

The location is great, tucked away from the crowds but still really close to the royal mile. The rooms are practically soundproof: we couldn’t hear our loud TV even from right outside the door in the hall. Everything smelled nice, the rooms were good quality, and the food was exquisite. The staff were very polite and friendly.

The free private parking was very convenient, and the staff were friendly. Our room was cosy and clean, with a spacious washroom and large, posh bottles of toiletries. It’s part of the University of Edinburgh and sits on one of its campuses. You can’t set the room temperature, though you can adjust the radiator. The breakfast buffet was much too limited, with no eggs or toast. It was on a very small table, with only a few pieces, and kept running out. They were urging people to order from the menu, which shouldn’t be necessary when breakfast has been charged extra. Calling it continental breakfast didn’t seem right. There was no hair dryer either, which feels like a basic amenity in a four-star hotel. I showered in the morning and had to spend the day with wet hair. I called between 9 and 9:30 am to ask for one, but nobody at reception answered. The reception desk also wasn’t open around the clock, if I remember correctly, and closed at 10 pm.