Virgin on the ridiculous
Upon arrival at the hotel, you will first discover that you can't actually get in to the building. The doors do not open automatically to welcome you, instead you are locked outside on the street with your cases, and there is a bell push, which on a wet day is hidden by tourists sheltering in the doorway, and you have to stand pressed amongst them until you are allowed in by reception. When we arrived there was no one on the door/concierge desk to see us and open the door, but suddenly the doors open outwards into your face and almost bowl you over as you step back into the sheltering huddle to avoid them (I don't blame the doorman for hiding as he is forced to wear hideous red tartan trousers that make him look like an American golfer, and it must be their favourite game... guest bowling) Once inside you are funnelled into an insanely tiny Reception area at the end of a corridor with only two positions and one receptionist serving a queue four people deep, where I strongly advise you to get a key so you can enter your teeny, tiny room. The phone thing is a complete gimmick which almost completely does not work... If you peer into the managers office, you will find the other receptionists hiding, probably all placing bets on the next round of Guest Bowling, but emphatically not serving at checkin. Next you will arrive at your allocated postage stamp room...think Premier Inn and then halve it. Rooms are tiny, and I mean tiny unless you book a suite. Definitely style over substance, the beds look like sofa beds and there is no space to swing a Richard Branson doll, let alone a cat, there is barely 30cm of walking space around the bed. You can't even open the inner window/door as it hits the bed, but you need to open it to so you can draw the net curtain aside to view the tiny bit of castle (look right, and up... and a long way in the distance, don't bother paying for the view from room 722 at least) This hotel has no car park, but they have a deal with a car park 20 mins drive/walk away in a busy shopping mall, on the other side of Princes Street. DONT BE A DISABLED DRIVER WHATEVER YOU DO....it also makes it impossible if you forget anything you want... its a heck of a trek through busy streets in the pouring rain and you won't want to go back to fetch that item you left on the back seat... ask me how I know! It made us late for our Edinburgh Castle entrance time, as the traffic to get there was awful, and the walk back was endless. The castle also closed earlier than the advertised 4pm so it was a total waste of 40 quid... thanks Virgin! Next comes the outrageous mini bar pricing, a miniature is £10 plus a mixer at £3 and the bottle of wine is £35, I can only imagine the recent UK interest rate rises have made Necker Island expensive to keep, and I sure felt like I was paying for it. Thats 13 quid for a G&T, but you and your wife can't enjoy one each because there only one of everything in the room, and no ice to be found! The TV has no "now & next" function or EPG so no idea whats on, plus the TV channels are on weird numbers because channel 1 is an endlessly looping advert for the Virgin hotel chain... which you're already in! So BBC1 is on channel 2, and ITV is on channel 4. Its madness Its all very funky having your phone as your key, but then your partner can't pop up to the room, its actually a complete pain in the bum so you have to queue for 15 minutes at the tiny and very busy reception to get a key anyway, despite checking in online. We got lights to work from the phone, but the TV didn't, back to the good old fashioned and trusty remote control then, like normal, nor did the air con so we used the traditional wall controls for that too. Plus your partners phone won't operate anything at all, because Lucy, the app, on their phone doest have the booking details. Its just rubbish. Overall, far too pricey for what it is, you are paying to have a Bentley branded hairdryer in your room after all, but honestly, Bentley make a nice car, but are not famed for their hairdryers are they...? , plus you are being sold some dodgy tech that really doesn't help make anything better at all. We complained long and hard at reception, and were eventually transferred to a new room in the Chapel. Here we had a shower that did not drain and almost flooded the room and a loo that filled to the brim when flushed. Juliet, the manager? was very proud of the Moroccan rug in each room, but the bed sits on the rug completely covering it, with only a few inches sticking out at the foot, which is curled up and a trip hazard at best... what a waste of effort. I can say the sofa bed turned out to be comfy, and the curtains cut out the light, and most, but not all of the street noise, the supplied toiletries are nice and there is a very expensive Smeg fridge in each room I had more to say but no more space allowed
By David T.