The Ballantrae Albany Hotel Edinburgh

I would avoid this place like the plague - its a 2 star pretending to be a 4 star!!

We checked in and were put into the Brunswick Room but on opening the wardrobe we noticed that it had not been cleared from the previous guest and their dressing gown, newspaper and other things were still in there. Also there was rubbish left in the cabinet above the minibar. Although the velvet bedcover was a nice touch, it didnt seem to be that clean, with white stains on it (we also found this in the 2nd room that we were moved into).

Unfortunately, our minibar was not stocked and when in the evening we asked if we could sit in the bar we were told that it was closed as there was only one member of staff working although we could order something and drink it in our room.

In the Brunswick Room the shower was not working due to pressure so after the first night we mentioned it but were only moved to a different room after the second night (with just one night left). We were also not informed that we were going to be moved and someone had just packed all of our belongings and moved them into a different room. We felt that we should have been asked to pack up previously, rather than someone moving our belongings. When we returned we were also not informed that we had been moved so the lady working just gave us our old key and we entered to find someone elses things in there. The staff were not aware.

When we found our new room, we couldnt get the TV to work and the receptionist said that nobody would be able to help until 9pm that night. The shower worked fine, however was so low that you couldnt even stand under it. So we asked to be moved again. The final room was pleasant, it just would have been nice if it hadnt taken 2 rooms for us to get there.

As the hotel was a 4 star hotel our expectations were that is would be a comfortable stay with the basic standards that you would even expect in a 2 or 3 star hotel to be met; clean room & sheets, shower working, TV working, bar/minibar. If only one or 2 of the above had happened I would not have chosen to mention anything, however I do feel that we did not get the standard that we paid for in our stay.

The manager wasnt there when we left so I wrote an email after and they said management would reply but they didnt and they didnt return my calls. This place really was a total joke.