Scotland Edinburgh Marriott West City Centre

[Romelle]

Stay: 9/9/10-9/12/10

My brother and I arrived at this hotel after a fairly arduous (for us) hike along Hadrian's Wall. We had been staying at rural little B&Bs along the way - tiny rooms, lumpy little beds, no reading lights over the bed, generally dim lighting, odd plumbing "down the hall", tiny showers, etc. Interesting, and great fun for a night, but .... We were tired and really ready for a "real hotel". This fit the bill nicely.

We were busing from Stirling (west of Edinburgh) on an intercity CityLink #38. We had planned to ride to the center of Edinburgh, and then take the appropriate city bus back. However, as we were coming into Edinburgh , we realized we would probably pass the hotel on the highway we were using. The bus was making various stops at the request of passengers. It seems intercity buses turn into locals when they arrive at cities. We saw a Marriott ahead, and asked fellow passengers if we were indeed on Glascow Road. When they said yes, we hit the button for a stop and jumped off, gambling that surely there couldn't be two Marriotts right there. Major relief when our gamble turned out right. Saved us the ride on into town and finding the right city bus back.

We checked in - two rooms - three nights. Decided we'd gone to heaven.

Big rooms. Actually huge by European hotel room standards. Queen bed. Full bathroom with a tub. A sitting area that was almost a little living room, with a small table and two comfortable side chairs plus a desk and a third chair. Delicately lemon-scented soap and other quality toiletries. Plenty of different pillows on the beds. Reading lights over the bed - I'd missed those more than I realized.

Breakfast was not included in the Priceline rate. When we checked in, we were told it would be an additional 10 GBP per person if we did it then, or 15 GBP in the dining room. We didn't avail ourselves of it, but it looked very nice if one wanted a large breakfast. There was coffee and tea facilities and supplies in the room, plus some really good Scottish shortbread cookies.

Bus service into Edinburgh was quite convenient and reasonable. 1.20 GBP one-way, or one could buy a day pass for 3 GBP and make a number of rides all over the city. Lines 31, 48 and 100 stopped right outside the hotel. The 100 was an airport shuttle so one couldn't buy the day pass on it, but could use it for the return. The bus drivers were pretty amazing - helpful, informative, polite, patient, going out of their way to help people.

The front desk was consistently helpful and kind.

My brother did detect a few mechanical problems with his room and presented the front desk with a list. Dead bulb (in one of his two reading lights) was replaced and the air-conditioning was activated (mine had been working). They didn't do anything about getting his refrigerator, as they said really it was a mini-bar and not supposed to be very cold. However, my refrigerator was indeed running colder than his. We did agree though that it was really nice to have a whole different level of issues about which to gripe, since prior rooms hadn't even had reading lights, air-conditioning, and mini-bars to use as refrigerators.

I was also bidding central Edinburgh when I got this hotel, but hotels there are more expensive and I'm not sure how high I would have had to go to win in the city. This airport hotel served us very well for our visit.

Romelle