Short Version: If you want to stay in the center of “places to visit” in Edinburgh, and you’re ok with three flights of stairs, then Colin’s place is where you want to be.
Long Version: Colin’s stay is centrally located within Edinburgh. It faces a quiet street, far enough away from the city center to avoid the constant flow of tourists pulling suitcases, but close enough to visit all the sights within a 20 minute walk. There’s a café on the corner of the building. Good coffee and even better breakfasts. The road to Leith is just down the street. It’s filled with no end of restaurants, shops, and pubs, literally all the way from Edinburgh to Leith. There’s also a large Sainsbury’s within a 15 minute walk. The Palace, Calton Hill, the Castle, Arthur’s Seat, the Royal Mile, and the main downtown Edinburgh shopping streets are within easy walking distance. Well, Arthur’s seat is a bit of a trek, but that’s the point of it being on a hilltop. If you prefer, you can board any one of multitudes of buses from the stops down the street to travel anywhere in the area. Just tap on using a credit card or your phone.
Check-in and check-out were very straight forward, via lockbox, and a pictorial sequence provided by Colin. Three flights of stairs bring you to the flat. There’s a skylight at the top of the stairs, so everything gets brighter the higher up you go.
Colin is a font of information regarding the area. Ask him for recommendations and prepare to be amazed. His guidance toward places in the less touristy areas proved invaluable.
The flat is a simple one bedroom, one bath, and a living area/kitchen. Doors separate the rooms from the entry hallway, in case someone wants to sleep in undisturbed.
The bedroom includes a large dresser with lots of empty drawers, and a wardrobe. There’s room for you to unpack all of your clothes. The mattress on the bed is a bit on the soft side. There’s also a TV in the bedroom with a Fire Stick attached. Just log into your streaming account and you’re good. The internet router is adjacent to the TV. We measured 20Mb/s down and 8Mb/s up, using our VPN. Plenty fast for online meetings and facetime. We did need to reconnect to the router a couple of times during our (long) stay, but were never interrupted during a call or meeting. Also, unlike flats in many older cities, the internet speed stayed constant over the course of the day. Nice and stable, the way we like it.
The bathroom/WC plumbing operates as it should, without any “older city” smells. There’s a rainshower, if you want it, or a handheld wand if you don’t. The heated towel rack was a really nice feature.
The kitchen is fully functional and stocked with all the equipment you might need, including a dishwasher! Unlike a lot of stays, there are enough plates, bowls, glasses, and flatware to fill the dishwasher before you need to run it. The knives were sharp (rare in our experience). The cutting boards are large and functional. Microwave, toaster, electric kettle… pretty much everything you might want. Refrigerator is under the counter and includes a small freezer. We cooked numerous meals during our stay including baking home-made pasties in the oven. It all works.
One item to note, the large in-line water heater handles the radiator heating and the hot water. The water from the tap can get really hot. Great for hand washing pots and pans, but it can be surprising. The shower is temperature controlled, so no worries there. The radiator heat works great when it’s cold, and the windows open quite wide during warmer days.
The washing machine resides in a closet attached to the living room. It’s modern and clean. Also, you’ll find the drying racks for clothes under the bed (took us a while to locate them).
In summary: Colin’s place is a fully equipped flat, located conveniently for visiting all the wonders of Edinburgh. Next time we’re in town, this is where we’re staying.