From the moment we read the description of Courtney's home and the surroundings, and then read the reviews of other guests and Courtney's responses to them, we knew that this is the place for us. And this feeling only got reconfirmed once I started interacting with her for getting answers to some queries that I had related to the place. And boy, am I glad we chose this lovely, lovely place that Courtney, her cat Marlow, and her hens call home!
Finding the place was easy as a smile, since we were sent clear and detailed instructions by Courtney as soon as our booking was confirmed. However, we did get confused and were standing in front of her apartment for 5-7 minutes since we couldn't identify her front door, and the door-bell was not working.
The location: Right by the sea, a very calm and laid-back residential area, with beautiful Georgian standalone houses, take you back to another, more refined, and more sophisticated age. 15-20 minutes from Edinburgh City Centre by a direct bus which drops you around 5 minutes away. There's a bus every 10 minutes or so, but the service decreases during weekends, it's still at least once every half an hour or so, and runs till midnight, so no worries on that front.
Coming to the home, its lovingly decorated, with a homely, cozy feel to it. Our room was warm and very comfortable, with pretty bed sheets and ample storage space for our clothes. The bathroom was also very modern and clean.
But even if all these things were not there, the presence of a superstar like Courtney would still be enough just on its own for one to select this place. Such a warm, loving and helpful person! She went out of her way to find out train timings etc. for our day trips while we were there. And the breakfasts were always the highlight of the day, with freshly-cooked scrambled eggs, coffee, cereal, bread, and a choice of butter and jams/marmalade (some of them home-made).
But let me end this review with just a small example of why you should blindly stay here. My wife really loved the breads during breakfast, so, on the night before we had to leave, Courtney specially baked a sourdough bread for her to have for breakfast the day we were leaving! I rest my case :-)