Thistle Edinburgh Hotel

, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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Thistle Edinburgh Hotel

4 star

Rooms: 143

107 Leith Street - Edinburgh - Scotland - EH1 3SW - United Kingdom Hotel Website | | 0870 333 9153
410 Traveller

Reviews - Thistle Edinburgh Hotel

Historical Traveller Reviews of Thistle Edinburgh Hotel

Great Location-but check your booking

from fairygirl70-7
Me and my boyfriend sayed in this hotel from fri to mon 16th-19th March. The hotel was in a great location, staff mostly friendly and the breakfast was great. We booked through trip advisor on the skoosh website. We booked a double room and got confirmation of this, but when we arrived at the hotel we were told we booked twin rooms. We show the guy on reception our confirmation but they showed us theirs which did state twin rooms.. We finally got checked in to a twin room, after waiting for abour 45 min ,we were told we would have a double room the next night, this didnt happen, always the hotel saying there was nothing they could do to help us. Finally on the 3rd night we did get a very small double room. But we had a fantastic time in edinburgh and this is a lovely hotel. if we didnt have the room mix up it would have been perfect.So skoosh bookers BEWARE. Being there for a romantic birthday getaway we were not happy to spend 2 of our 3 nights in twin beds.

Typical business hotel

from Natsw
Stayed here whilst working in Edinburgh. The location of the hotel was excellent being right in the middle of town - in fact, bizarrely, there is a direct link between the third floor and a shopping mall. But inside it was a typically disappointing British business-style hotel. On arrival (at 11pm) I was checked in to an unmade room - the staff were helpful but finding me a new room took another 15 minutes. When I finally got to the room it was cold and noisy being on the front of the hotel. Although my stay was quite adequate the bathroom was rather run down and a little shabby; the breakfast was OK but the waiting staff seemed very inconvenienced that I asked if I could have a table by the window which meant they had to clear it for me; and although I had really good porridge on the first day, what I had on the second morning was like a particularly tasteless gruel. The hotel wasn't awful but I just don't understand why so many hotels in Britain are like this - expensive and a bit rubbish.

A very good hotel

from drinkchilled
My partner and I stayed at the Thistle Hotel for 2 nights in January, we were very happy with it.

I booked the trip through lastminute.com and was assigned a twin room – didn’t bother changing it as we don’t mind if we stay in a twin or double room.

About the room:
Two single beds (I have stayed in a twin room before containing 2 doubles). I have to mention the duvet – it was the nicest, softest duvet I have ever had the pleasure of sleeping under, and I was tempted to take it home. Strangely, the duvet on the other bed was different (slightly not as good).

Room also had table, 2 chairs, desk with chair, wardrobe, cupboard containing iron, ironing board and safe, suitcase rack and bedside table between the beds. Both the wardrobe and ironing cupboard had lights in them which automatically switched on when you open the door.

There was no fridge/mini bar. This was the only downside of the room; it can be handy to have a fridge in the room. There was an ice bucket. It was written in the “handbook” thing that one could obtain ice from an ice machine on the floor (we were in room 430), but we couldn’t find the ice machine anywhere. My partner went to the hotel bar/cafe and they kindly gave him ice. From what was written in the handbook, it would seem that some rooms do have a fridge; I don’t know which ones. So, you might get a fridge or an ice bucket.

Tea and coffee facilities in the room: kettle, tea pot, teabags, coffee, hot chocolate, sugar, 2 cups, 2 teaspoons, 2 packets of biscuits (2 biscuits in each packet).

Bathroom:
Shower over bath. Very good tap device – separate switches for temperature and water flow. Two built-in soap holders, and a grab rail. There was a clothes line over the bath. Heated towel rail. Shaver socket for the lads. Tissues (I love that – I always need tissues in the bathroom, not many hotels think to provide them). Toiletries provided: 2 x shower gel (citrusy fragrance), 2 x conditioning shampoo, 1 soap, shower cap. Glasses were plastic and were presented wrapped in plastic, seemed quite hygienic.

Housekeeping was very good. Everything was clean and tidy and toiletries and tea/coffee/biscuits etc replaced.

We had no problem with the staff there, mind you, we didn’t deal with them much – just check in and check out. Check out took a while. When we got to reception a couple were checking in; it was taking a while, so we were waiting a while. Another member of staff noticed, so he went behind the desk to tend to us.

We were happy with the location of the hotel. Walking distance to everything we wanted to see, and it’s connected to a shopping centre, which was handy when there were a couple of bits and pieces that we needed to buy.

All in all, I liked the hotel - had no problem with it and would definitely stay there again.

ideal for the centre

from GillianAyrshire
Went to Edinburgh for Hogmanay and got a late deal through the internent for Thistle.
Easy to find and very central. Not much parking, but we parked in the NCP next door (which when we checked out had the barrier up as it was a public holiday!). We would have received a discount however because we were staying at the hotel.
Staff very helpful and friendly. Rooms were clean, not very spacious but ample. Ours was forward facing, which was great for the build up to New Year.
Breakfast was good with an excellent hot selection and we were constantly asked if we required any more tea, coffee or toast.
Would certainly visit again if going to Edinburgh.

Food specially prepared?

from Ferneypup
My husband and I stayed here on a special Festive package. The brochure-promised "Welcome tea and scones," turned out to be two mince pies on one plate waiting in our bedroom. An extra was the used make-up pad lurking in a bottom drawer. In spite of bringing it immediately to the attention of the management, it was still there when we left! This holiday was good for waiting; We waited i hr. 20 mins. for our two suitcases to be brought up, having been told it was "Not possible" for us to do that! Then there was the waiting during dinner: two hours to serve three courses, yet starters was a choice between soup and a cold dish and sweet a choice between two cold dishes!

"Salad: a mix of fruit or vegetables." The "salad" accompanying my first night salmon starter was rocket leaves. My fruit salad sweet was apple and unripe melon, served in a stemmed glass bowl with spoon and fork to tackle huge chunks, the largest being approx. 2x3x4cm. I never received an answer as to the technique required to eat this dish, but was asked "Is everything all right?" the following day.

Throughout our stay, most meats tasted very similar to each other; tasteless! Vegetables were the same. It was impossible to tell any difference in flavour between one evening's carrots and green beans. And do you know the difference between a three course dinner and a four course? One shortbread biscuit!! The piece-de-resistance was the final dinner's sweet, "strawberry tart" The granite-like pastry case was filled with a creamy substance. There was not one strawberry, or part of one strawberry in sight!

I formed the impression that we "package" guests were treated differently to what the hotel called "independent" guests. But what's in a name? Either way, our first, and last, encounter with this kind of thistle!

not up to 4*

from holidayhazel
On arrival at the hotel we were surprised by the room standards. As a four star hotel it had the facilities but the cleanliness left a lot to be desired! Dirty bathroom floor with pubic hair in the bath! Fittings were grubby, tiles smeared and dirty. Drawers in the room were dirty, with crumbs and dust in. TV remote did not work
and although it was a smoking room the sour smell was overpowering.
On the plus side we had lunch in the bar/cafe and the staff were a delight, Jarek and Lisa give yourselves a huge pat on the back, I lost count of the number of covers you did but my goodness I hope the management appreciate you both.....
Breakfast was delicious and filling with loads of choice and again lovely friendly staff, I think we only encountered one member of staff who was Scottish....... but it does not detract from the service you receive at all.
Would I return? Yes would be my answer, but I would make sure I had an upgraded room and that it was spotlessly clean.

A pleasant surprise

from tsl1965
I booked a single room on bookings, and I was pleasantly surprised to receive a large room with 2 twin beds. The room was huge by UK standards and was very nicely furnished. The building is modern, but the rooms are furnished in traditional style, and it was one of the most pleasant hotels I have stayed in the UK. This is a full service hotel, with concierge, porters, etc., and the rooms are equipped with safe, iron, trouser press, etc. The hotel is very convenient to Waverly train station, and you can easily walk to the station with your luggage. Breakfast is an outrageous 12.50 GBP, but there is a Sainsbury supermarket within walking distance with all sorts of pastries and drinks. The staff are polite and helpful. I recommend this hotel, especially if you can get a good internet rate. Make sure to walk up Carlton Hill (which is right next to the hotel) - you will be rewarded with fantastic views over Edinburgh!

Nive Hotel, shame about the staff

from ilovecheese
We arrived at this hotel last Friday night with reservations for 2 double executive rooms. After much fiddling around with their computer we were told that there was only one double room and one twin room available. We were two couples so obviously were annoyed that one of us would have to take a twin room (we made our reservations 4 months ago) but asked the receptionist straight out if the Twin room was definitely executive and he said it was. My sister and her boyfriend were in rm 555 which was a large lovely room with a sitting room area overlooking the front of the hotel. We were put in room 654 which was tiny, grotty and overlooked a roof at the side. It had no robes, no sitting room or anything in it to differentiate it from a standard twin.

We returned downstairs and asked a different receptionist what standard room 654 was supposed to be and he confirmed our suspicion that it was 'deluxe' (i.e. standard) not executive.

We asked the first receptionist why he had lied and he told us that there were no more executive rooms available and wouldn't be for the rest of our stay. At this point he offered us nothing to compensate us for this. He then told us that the confirmation the hotel received from Expedia was only for a standard rooms anyway, which implied we were lucky to get even one executive.

We asked if we could see the confirmation from expedia and when he got it, it turned out he had lied again as Expedia had requested two double executive rooms and that the reservations team at the hotel had accepted the request. Only after twice lying to our faces and after much arguing did The receptionist eventually offer us a complimentary breakfast and told us if we checked out on Saturday morning we could be re-checked into an executive double (despite having said previously there were none available!).

On Saturday morning we packed up and came downstairs where there were two different receptionists working. We said we had been told to check out so we could get an executive room per our reservation. They told us they knew nothing about this and could only check us back into a standard room, but that they would offer us a complimentary bottle of wine. However, obviously not realizing that we had physically seen the confirmation between reservations and expedia the younger receptionist decided to add "Being perfectly honest with you, your sister is lucky (i.e. for getting an executive room), she reserved a standard room and we have actually upgraded her". This was the third time reception had lied to our face yet we were treated like we were the ones who were liars, like we were chancing our arm for an upgrade, despite the fact we had reserved four months previous and had seen the confirmation of our rooms.

We thought the receptionists were bad till we met the bar staff! On Saturday night we ordered two identical rounds of drinks within an hour of each other but when we looked at the receipts there was £6 in the difference. We realized that we had been overcharged for the first round and went back up with both our receipts so the girls could rectify the mistake and refund us the £6. To our absolute horror they refused point blank to give us our money back saying that once money had gone through the till there was nothing they could do about it (anyone who has ever used a cash register would know that was a complete lie), that if they gave us a refund the till would not balance and one of them actually used the words "Look mistakes happen, don't blame us, we just work here".

She kept telling us over and over and over that all she could do was if we wanted to pay for another round of drinks she could give them to us at a discount but that if we didn't want to take the round of drinks there was "nothing" she could do.

Eventually again after much arguing I asked for a manager, she refused to get me one and then changed her offer of half price drinks to a round of drinks for free but still not our money back. Then, when we were leaving the two girls screamed "BYE NOW" at us in the most ridiculous sarcastic OTT way ever, that obviously intended to mock us for complaining about being overcharged!!! We never got our money back.

We spoke to the duty manager the next morning as the general manager was off and he was the only person we met who seemed to know anything about working in a hotel or who cared if guests had a nice stay. He apologized over and over for what had happened and upgraded us to Junior Suites free of charge. Have since received an email from GM apologizing also, which is nice!

Would also agree breakfast at £12 pp is overpriced and parts of the hotel are starting to look a bit dirty and worn, but the location is great!

Room problems

from Ballycullen
I had the same problem as the other tripadvisor, i arrived with my fiance having booked a double room to be told that all we could have was a twin, after being told that there was definately no doubles available i explained that i would be speaking to the General manager on Monday morning - suprisingly enough this prompted the housekeeping manager to magically 'find' a double that was available. On top of this the breakfast is over priced and the pay per view movies didn't work in the room.

Good points are the location and the rate.

Room problems

from A TripAdvisor Member
We had planned the trip to Edinburgh for my 40th birthday. My operator specifically requested a quiet double room as this was a special occassion. On arrival we were allocated a Twin room and told that no double rooms were available. the only alternative we were offered was an upgrade to a mini suite at £15 per night (2 nights). We took this as we were definately not prepared to sleep in single beds. Since returning home I have complained to the Hotel who have accepted that the upgrade should have been complimetary, however no offer of compensation was made. I have since asked for a refund, I am waiting for a repsonse...........

Top Local Tips for Edinburgh

Bring comfortable shoes :) Walking a must to really see the city. Comfortable shoes are a must for Edinburgh, lots to see, the royal mile is a must and Cockburn Street has great interesting shops. Went to the optical attraction beside the caste. Well worth the entrance fee. Disappointed with our ghost tour, Edinburgh offers lots of theses, we opted for what seemed like the best, "City of the Dead" don’t do it, not worth the money, real let down, try another one. Great shopping and lots of restaurants and pubs. Would go back to Edinburgh for sure.

Eat at the Kenilworth We dined at the Kenilworth on Rose Street.We had two lovely steaks, two desserts and a bottle of wine for under £30 ($60). They also serve some great beers!

Get the £13 ticket that covers all 4 bus tours The bus tours are £10 for adults, but for £13 you can get a ticket that will allow you on all 4 for 24 hours. I only discovered this after I had bought the ticket - boo!

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Other names for Thistle Edinburgh Hotel

  • thistle edinburgh
  • king james by thistle edinburgh
  • Address: 107 Leith Street - Edinburgh - Scotland - EH1 3SW - United Kingdom
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