So often when one arrives at any accommodation, travelers find it is not as promised nor expected, certainly not close to best-view pictures of the place. My wife Leslie and I have learned to be wary so you can imagine how thrilled we were to find that Fiona's place at 4 North Charlotte St in Edinburgh was all that was promised and pictured... and more.
I am a native of the City, born just north in Granton on the Firth and have been back multiple times so I knew the West End address in the Georgian New Town should be a good spot for getting around, especially for anyone who smartly visits all Edinburgh has to offer - by walking.
Fiona's place is just off the beaten track - just off - but an easy stroll south and around the first corner to fine restaurants on fashionable George Street and going a bit further south to interesting eateries on narrow Rose Street, actually more of a lane. The next street to the south is Princes Street, the city's boulevard, with a variety of shops from high end to kitsch on one side and the renowned Gardens on the other and the magnificent Edinburgh Castle looming on the crags above the gardens to take your breath away and fire your imagination all at once.
But location was merely the start of the many plusses of 4 N. Charlotte. When Fiona describes it as "stunning" in her blurb for AirBnB, the lassie is "no lyin,' as they say there. This place is indeed stunning, bright and stylishly furnished in a manner that was both comfortable and yet giving the feel of being in keeping with the era in which it was built - except for the kitchen, big and airy and bright despite being at the back, and the bathrooms, like the kitchen up-to-date modern and sparkling clean.
The beds were probably the most comfortable I have ever experienced while travelling and in my main career as a journalist I traveled extensively for eight months a year for 40 years. I'm not into thread counts but these seemed to be plentiful enough to make it all most restful. And Leslie, who travels for her work, seconds this and all the above.
And have no concern about noise disturbance. While Charlotte St. is a much-used thoroughfare, the solid stone and double-paned windows shut all that out. In fact, the In fact, the wide-board flooring is a stone solid as the walls throughout, so you don't even hear anyone in the next room.
I am getting wordy but put that down to my pride in my hometown and homeland and the way 4 North Charlotte fit so, so well into a great trip home.