I wish I could give a 5-star review; I honestly love being able to rave about a place and have been able to do so about all our other AirBnB stays of our three week trip to Scotland. And as our last stay of our trip, it was disappointing by comparison. I’ll break it down by Pros, Disappointments and Suggestions.
Pros:
Insanely and wonderfully close to the heart of Old Town, literally one block from the Grass Market where a plethora of eateries can be found and a gorgeous view of (and direct path to) the castle can be found.
VERY hot water for the shower.
Beautifully huge windows and two skylights that let in ample natural light, which helps keep the small space from feeling too cramped.
Washing machine (combo dryer??? We couldn’t tell), stove and oven.
Disappointments:
First of all, I can’t actually rate Ashley and Grant as hosts because I never dealt with them even once. All communication was with a “friend” named Jen who “sometimes helps them out”. I suspect Ashley and Grant are merely the owner’s of the flat and leave management of everything else to a hired manager. Again, this is not in the listing and feels deceptive.
Listing photos deceptively make the space look bigger than it actually is. There was very little maneuverability room for two people, let alone space to put our bags. Maybe an ideal place for just one person.
Stairwell/hall leading to the flat is dingy concrete and poorly lit; we arrived in the evening - it was a bit of a creepy greeting and hard to see to navigate the stairs and see the lock for the key to open the door.
It IS a centuries-old building, so structurally going to be different; nonetheless, the front doorway is quite narrow, requiring turning sideways to get in (we are not large people, quite average). This is also true of the shower room; really, this flat can only accommodate thin people as it’s dimensions are very size-exclusive. Potential guests should be made aware of that.
Speaking of the bathroom; the pictures making the bathroom look standard, if small: toilet, shower and sink all in one room. However, the shower is in a separate room across the hall from the toilet room. Both spaces are the size of a closet. The door to the actual shower is in fact the door to the hallway. And the towel rack in the toilet room is placed so that you have to be very careful not to hit your head if you need to bend over at all. There is also no place to hang the toilet paper; the roll just sits on the bare back of the toilet.
The washing machine is virtually useless unless you are from wherever the machine is made and so familiar with or capable of deciphering its very vague little pictographs. Because that is all there is on the face of the machine; no words. The “welcome packet” says that there “should be” instruction manuals for each of the appliances in one of the cupboards, but this was not true, leaving me to wonder just how often the flat is actually checked over or the manual kept up to date for accurate information of the space.
The manual: based on print dates on the bottom of pages and dates on articles included as information/suggestion of things to see, do and where to eat, the manual hasn’t been updated since 2017, rendering everything in it out of date and useless (I refer back to the missing information on how to operate the washing machine). The manual also informed us of two things we found (a) inconvenient and (b) unsettling. (a) There is no hot water in the flat (shower excepted) but three times a day - and does not say when those times are. Thank god we didn’t stay in the winter; spring in Scotland can be cold enough. (b) RATS. Yes, the manual warned us of the potential of rats and instructed us not to leave any food or crumbs. Understandably, despite the ability to cook our own meals there, we avoided doing so.
There is a bar that runs below the flat; this really should be disclosed in the listing as the noise intrusion of the club music at night into the flat makes sleep maddeningly difficult.
The eating nook is too uncomfortable to want to sit there at all, which is such a shame because the giant window really does otherwise draw one in to sit there and read or gaze or enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. But the bench is both too narrow and quite hard as the cushions are really barely cushions at all, they are so thin. In fact, one cushion is a cheap airline pillow.
The placement of the TV makes it a hassle just to get around to the far side of the bed.
Suggestions:
Ashley and Grant, if you are listed as the “hosts”, then you should make an “appearance” at least once in the entire process, anywhere from right after the booking to the obligatory “thanks for staying with us” note after check-out.
Move the TV higher up the wall or to another location all together.
Make the nook bench adequately deep for the average human rump and replace all the “cushions” with new, actually cushioning cushions.
Update the flat “welcome/instruction” manual entirely: Type up all user instructions for all appliances, etc within the guest manual itself. List the actual times of day hot water is available in the kitchen and toilet room. Keep the list of local eateries and sights and especially articles up to date. Maybe even include a map of the city guests can borrow.
Place an LED battery operated, self adhesive wall light outside the flat door in the hall. You may not have any control over the building upkeep, but you do have control over this.
Keep your cupboard stocked for your