My 5 year old son and stayed at the apt over the half term holidays in February for 2 nights. We flew from Manchester to Edinburgh which took less than an hour. It was cheaper to fly than to get the train which would have taken around 3.5-4 hrs. I would definitely look at this as an option for travel particularly if you have young children and dread the thought of spending so much time in transit.
We then caught the airport bus (Airbus 100) which took 20 mins to get into the centre of Edinburgh. We were met there by the host Valentin and then walked back to the apt, a 15 min walk. The apt was easy to find and get into. The apt it self was clean, peaceful and very homely and we felt at ease. We loved the smart TV, the wifi and the games to keep my little one busy. The pool was a great treat and was lovely and warm particular as Edinburgh was so cold. It was small but didn't get busy while we were there in the early evenings and both my son and I loved it.
Valentin was very helpful in recommending places to visit and we visited the Royal Yacht Britannia. I can't say enough what a great trip that was. The open top sightseeing bus is also a must with little ones but our fav place to visit with the children's museum Dynamic Earth. A fantastic place for kids and adults to learn about the history of the earth from the big bang to dinosaurs, early man and different terrains were formed from rain forests to glaciers. The highlight was the dome show which is a cinema area where all the chairs are tilted slightly back and the screen is on dome shaped ceiling. The movie was about the possibility of an asteroid colliding with earth and what you would do as an astronaught to save the earth from such a collision. The movie experience was unlike anything I'd seen before as watching from our tilted chairs looking up into the dome we felt we were in space floating amongst the stars. Please go and visit Dynamic Earth - it's all my son talked about for days afterwards! My tip would be to visit earlier on in the day as it it a very full on experience.
We didn't manage to visit Edinburgh Castle this time but really look forward to visiting Edinburgh again when it's a little warmer! We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Edinburgh from start to finish. Valentin was a great host and we'd love to stay at the apt again!