An Edinburgh Villa Owner Saved Our Vacation
Jul 5th, 2009 | 02:42 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Aug 2005
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An Edinburgh Villa Owner Saved Our Vacation
This is a public thank you to an Edinburgh villa owner that we found through www.vrbo.com. We stayed in Scotland for nine days seeing Edinburgh, Elie, Glasgow and returning to Edinburgh.
My plan for our final stay at Edinburgh was to get somewhere big enough for the six of us to spread out. I booked the Upper Villa in Stockbridge (VRBO 88557). It wasn't vetted by the Scottish Tourism Board, but I figured I wasn't taking much of a risk because I only had to place a 50 pound deposit (through Paypal.)
What a choice. We had four bedrooms. The kitchen was nicer than mine at home and the fridge so well stocked we could make breakfast two days. The kids played on the computer upstairs and we sat in the huge bay window and watched people go by.
The extended Palmetto family is known for its airport hustle. We were running late and the taxi that arrived wasn't large enough for all of us. A van arrived five minutes later and we hefted our waiting bags, locked the door and left the key in the owners mailbox.
Once at the airport we transferred the bags to a cart and the van speed off. Six people, five bags. We were sure the missing van wasn't in the van, but??? Should we try to call it back? Was there time to go back and look for the bag...no... Was there a chance that the villa owner Shona could ship the bag back. How much would that cost?
Mid discussion we saw a familar face. Shona Ounsley the villa owner had my daughters bag in her hands. She must have beat the hired van because she had to park while the van did not. She figured by our tags that we would be at the Delta counter. She explained that it was left behind the front door.
We had a super trip. The Scots couldn't have been friendlier. Shona was the icing on the cake.
My daughter left for camp with the rescued bag. I reminded her to check that it was on the church bus. Shona can only be on one continent at a time.
My plan for our final stay at Edinburgh was to get somewhere big enough for the six of us to spread out. I booked the Upper Villa in Stockbridge (VRBO 88557). It wasn't vetted by the Scottish Tourism Board, but I figured I wasn't taking much of a risk because I only had to place a 50 pound deposit (through Paypal.)
What a choice. We had four bedrooms. The kitchen was nicer than mine at home and the fridge so well stocked we could make breakfast two days. The kids played on the computer upstairs and we sat in the huge bay window and watched people go by.
The extended Palmetto family is known for its airport hustle. We were running late and the taxi that arrived wasn't large enough for all of us. A van arrived five minutes later and we hefted our waiting bags, locked the door and left the key in the owners mailbox.
Once at the airport we transferred the bags to a cart and the van speed off. Six people, five bags. We were sure the missing van wasn't in the van, but??? Should we try to call it back? Was there time to go back and look for the bag...no... Was there a chance that the villa owner Shona could ship the bag back. How much would that cost?
Mid discussion we saw a familar face. Shona Ounsley the villa owner had my daughters bag in her hands. She must have beat the hired van because she had to park while the van did not. She figured by our tags that we would be at the Delta counter. She explained that it was left behind the front door.
We had a super trip. The Scots couldn't have been friendlier. Shona was the icing on the cake.
My daughter left for camp with the rescued bag. I reminded her to check that it was on the church bus. Shona can only be on one continent at a time.
Jul 5th, 2009 | 04:44 PM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 11,212
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I should add that Trip Advisor is a much used site for hotel, restaurant, etc. reviews by individuals. It's a place where people voice their opinions and give ratings and where people check to see what other think about a particular place.
