Edinburgh: All The Rest

I was in Edinburgh to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Bay City Roller’s first album. There was so much more to the stay that the Rollers, though, so let’s explore.

Accommodations

I stayed in four separate places: No. 53 Frederick Street, The Haymarket Hotel, a VRBO flat, and a Hampton Inn. We’ll start with the bad news first and then carry on with happier things.

No. 53 Frederick Street

The first night in town I was on my own. I booked into the same place as my companions and I were staying the next night – No. 53 Frederick Street. My stay was lovely. But the next day turned into a hotel nightmare.

I stayed in a second-floor walkup. That doesn’t sound bad until you realize that in the UK, the floor you walk in on is the ground floor – or what we in America call the first floor. The second-floor walkup was on the third floor!

Fortunately, there was a porter to help me carry bags and I was soon settled in for the evening. The porter and cleaners were the only staff on site.

That’s important. You’d better buckle up for this next part of the story.

The next day one of my roommates arrived. We couldn’t get into our rooms until later in the day, so we had time to kill. My roommate had booked the room, and we weren’t worried. We had breakfast in a nearby restaurant and then we wandered off to an art exhibit.

Upon returning later in the day, we learned that they had moved our bags to a different guest house on nearby Queen Street. They said the reservation from Booking.com had two people on the reservation, so they put us into a room designed for two people. There were three of us and it would not have worked.

On top of that, they’d given my friend us a security code for a room in the original location. She opened the door. There were three beds.

The guest house maintained that the room wasn’t 100% ready for visitors. Just by looking at the room, I could tell it was more than acceptable.

No Front Desk

Remember, the only staff on site is a porter and cleaners. The porter this day seemed like a non-native English speaker. There was no front desk, no concierge, and no one you could talk to on the phone.

The ensuing discussion was via text. We couldn’t text them directly, so communication went verbally from my friend to the porter who texted “the boss.” 

They wouldn’t budge one iota. They wouldn’t get on a phone call with us. The “boss” went to lunch or dinner or whatever and left us hanging.

We eventually booked another hotel and walked away extraordinarily disappointed. And that’s being quite polite.

The property is managed by Hotel Around Town. As a result of this experience, I recommend avoiding all their properties.

The Haymarket Hotel

We took a taxi from No. 53 Frederick to The Haymarket Hotel on Coates Gardens. To say that The Haymarket was a breath of fresh air would be a serious understatement.

We were greeted and helped. The properties were beautiful. The Haymarket is in several adjacent Victorian townhouses all restored and well kept.

The only issue I had was that the mattress was too thin so I was uncomfortable. But I got a decent night’s sleep and wouldn’t hesitate to stay again. In fact, we slept in and took so much time getting ready we completely missed the included breakfast. Oops!

Flat by Stay Altido on Canning Street Mews in Haymarket

We moved on to our final place in Edinburgh: a modern two-bedroom mews flat in Haymarket. After the fuss with hotels, it was a relief to be settled for the next six nights.

This was booked through VRBO and is offered by Stay Altido who has places throughout Europe. It was meticulously clean and quiet.

We had a little bit of an issue getting the wi-fi and washing machine figured out, but once that was sorted all was well. Instructions for both were in an email my roommate had received, but she couldn’t get to her email without Wi-Fi. Thank goodness her husband back in the States came to our rescue.

It was super nice to have a microwave. Being able to brew tea in the morning was perfect. I wish there had been a few more kitchen essentials like oil, spatulas, hot pads, and dish towels.

The location was excellent. It was walking distance from Princes Street – if you like walking. Otherwise, it was a couple minutes’ walk to the West End tram stop. It was also super close to Ryrie’s Pub – which we took full advantage of a couple of times.

I  Am A Tourist

To be fair, I didn’t do nearly all the touristy things I wanted to. That means I’ll have to go back sometime – darn. LOL.

The Real Mary King’s Close

My roommates and I visited The Real Mary King’s Close. There is a reason it’s considered one of the best attractions in the city and in the UK, though I doubted it would be all that.

Yeah, I was wrong. It was historic without being boring, and that’s quite an achievement. We learned about Mary King, and we learned about the history of closes in Edinburgh.

Just imagine tiny alleys and towering apartment buildings. Then add in no sanitation and the smells and sounds of humans who don’t bath often combined with the same from animals.

That tiny alley is a close. And Edinburgh has a bunch of them.

The Mary King Close had been ‘lost’ in the development of Edinburgh but was uncovered. Now it’s a delightful tourist attraction

Edinburgh Castle

My first day in town I ambled up to Edinburgh Castle. It is the most iconic building in Edinburgh, and it towers over the city. You can see it from almost anywhere, and from it, you can see everywhere, too.

This was a great way to start my visit, but I have to say I hated the ticketing. You had to go to their website to buy a freaking ticket…while you were standing at the castle.

Once you bought the ticket, you had to punch info into some gizmo at the castle, which spit out an actual, paper ticket. Only with that in your hand could you walk inside.

Ridiculous and nearly impossible for anyone who is not good with technology. Even I struggled.

After the ticket mess chewed up a lot of my phone battery, I took as many pictures as I dared. It had been almost 24-hours by then and I was darned tired. Still, I did enjoy the visit to the castle once inside.

I even had a bit of déjà vu walking through the gates, like a part of me had been there in another lifetime.

The views were stunning, and I snapped as many pictures as I dared while also trying to save the phone battery.

Shopping

I didn’t do nearly as much shopping as I’m capable of – if you know, you know.

I loved Hotel Chocolate for truffles. Drinking chocolate seems to be having a moment because both Hotel Chocolate and Knoops are doing a thriving business.

I wandered down Rose Street and found Bird & Blend Tea. I couldn’t come home without tea.

I was in Marks & Spencer food hall a couple of times. They have delightful food to go. I had a salmon dish from there one night, and brough a few sweet treats back to the US from there, too.

Clothing prices are a bit better in the UK even with the exchange rate, so I wandered into Primark which felt like a slightly nicer Old Navy.

I stopped into TK Maxx, the UK version of the beloved TJ Maxx here in the US.  It was disappointing because they had so many brands I recognized. I was looking for interesting UK-ish stuff, and they didn’t have anything worth bringing home.

I also hit up my first Uniqlo and would do it again and again. The quality is more like the Gap and I did bring home a new sweater and a couple of black shirts. I needed them, I swear.

I compared prices on the website to what I paid in person and sure enough, the sweater is $49.90 on the US website. It was about $38.83 USD in the store in Edinburgh.

I avoided buying a Scotland sweatshirt or stuffed Highland coo or any of the other typical tourist tat. Well, I looked at all the things and decided I really didn’t need any of it – and certainly didn’t want to try to fit it into my suitcase.

Food

Overall, the food was better than you’d get in the US. Even the microwaveable meal from Marks & Spencer in the Haymarket Train Station was better than your average microwavable meal in the US. Ingredients are fresh and local. Junk food can’t have the processed stuff we have in the US. Here are a few random pictures.

Delta Flights

I flew Delta out of Grand Rapids round trip and it was lovely. This is the first time I’ve flown and not sat in the main cabin. In Comfort+ you get just that extra space you really need. More room to stretch your legs and move around to make yourself comfortable.

On the way home, I splurged and upgraded to Premium Select and felt utterly pampered. It wasn’t quite first class, but you can’t tell me that.

There was special service at check-in, early plane boarding, hot towel service, extra legroom and a footrest, and premium menu offerings. There was even a little amenity gift with an eye mask, toothbrush, and lip balm.

Minute Suites

One other thing I did for the first time was check into Minute Suites. These are quiet rooms you rent by the hour.

As an introvert, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and exhausted by the people and noise in airplanes and airports. Minute Suites at the Atlanta airport gave me a couple of hours of quiet time to rest and recharge.

There’s enough room in the suites to sleep if you’d like. I did a little of that, some reading, some eating. Mostly, I just relaxed and enjoyed the silence.

Minute Suites are around $60/hour and totally worth it to me during a long layover. Also, the view from the last one was stupendous. I watched the sun go down and planes go up.

It’s All About The Apps

Here are some of the apps I used the most on my trip.

Timeshifter App

I used the Timeshifter App to help reset my circadian rhythms and alleviate jet lag. It suggested when I should expose myself to bright light, and when I should indulge in caffeine or melatonin.

For example, to help me adjust to the time difference between Michigan and Scotland, Timeshifter had me up at 5am one morning. The next was flight day and I was up at 4am. My flight wasn’t for another nearly twelve hours, so it seemed silly. But it had me sleeping for a good chunk of the flight.

I was relatively rested and ready to go when I landed in Edinburgh. I was tired, of course, but was still able to navigate the tram system on my own. I had plenty of energy to climb up and explore Edinburgh Castle before returning to my room for the night.

And then I slept the sleep of the dead for a whole bunch of hours. Waking up in the morning, though, I was back to normal and ready to go exploring all over again. I would definitely use the Timeshifter App again.

TripIt

TripIt was invaluable in keeping the various activities and events organized. There were so many events in so many different places, I used TripIt to keep everything straight. Here are a few screenshots from my trip.

You can even add hotel reservations, theater tickets – so much!

CBP MPC

The CBP MPC is an app from the US Customs and Border Protection agency. You only use it when you reenter the US. It gets you into a different line that lets you move through customs a little faster than other people.

Once you have your profile saved, you only use it when you’ve landed in the US. You answer six declaration questions, review, and save your submission. Then you hit Submit Now and your submission is transmitted to CBP.

Faye Travel Insurance

For some reason I didn’t get the default travel insurance that comes up when you book a flight through Delta. Then I saw a funny ad on TikTok for Faye Travel Insurance, fell in love, and got insurance through them. It was easy-peasy to book. Highly recommended.

Other Apps I Learned About

I learned about a lot of other apps while preparing to travel. Here are a few.

• Airalo: eSIMs for international travel. If your phone plane doesn’t have international travel, you can install and activate an eSIM to avoid roaming charges. I just paid the $10/day through Verizon.
• Revolut: A pay-as-you-go cash card/bank/savings account & more.
• Stasher: For ‘stashing’ your suitcase somewhere before you can check into your hotel room. Great if your hotel doesn’t have a place for your luggage.
• MyTSA: Check out TSA requirements and updates.
• Flightrader24 and Flighty: Track your flight.
• CityCabs (in Edinburgh): I used CityCabs a handful of times and they were wonderful.

Return To Edinburgh

There’s so much to do and see in Edinburgh and my days and nights were mostly filled with Roller events. That means didn’t get to do lots of things on my to do list. Fortunately, there’s a darned good chance I’ll be back in the city in May.

The first ever Edinburgh Tartan Day parade is happening and BCR Fan Events have already registered. I can’t imagine the thrill of marching on the Royal Mile & Princes Street sporting my family tartans.

Now I need to take a deep breathe in and check my finances. Then buy the damn tickets already. Let’s Go!

P.S. I highly recommend stopping into Waterstones on Princes Street. Climb the staircase to the top (or take the lift at the back of the store.) Get something from the cafe and then just sit and admire the view.