Edinburgh Lodging Suggestions
 

I will be traveling alone (female) to Edimburgh by train from London for four nights in April as a last minute add-on. Looking for quaint, interesting centrally located lodging. Haunted preferred! Suggestions???? Not sure where to start! Thanks

As long as you drop the "quaint" bit from your vocabulary - we can help :)

But before anyone can give useful suggestions we need to know your budget.

Haunted? Do you really want to be kept up all night by restless spirits????

OK...I'll drop the quaint....how about....looking for centrally located lodging in Edinburgh? Your help is appreciated! Thanks

Forgot to mention budget........3 to 4 stars range. B and Bs...great!

OK, we know what quality level you're looking for now, but you still haven't addressed your budget!

Budget???? OK...How about I throw out around $100 a night? Have no idea what is realistic.......actually....I wouldn't mind staying out a bit if easy access to public transportation. Budget isn't the major issue.....looking more for an interesting experience. Not big on luxuries.....

there are lots of B&B's in the city,this one is one of the highest rated,don't know if it is of any interest to you.
http://www.geraldsplace.com/
this link will also give you lots of info on Edinburgh B&B's and guest houses.
http://www.scottishaccommodationindex.com/edinburgh.php
can't garuntee any hauntings but plenty of ghost tours you can go on.
http://www.edinburgh-royalmile.com/o...ile-tours.html

Janis wrote" As long as you drop the "quaint" bit from your vocabulary - we can help

Judging from the pictures of these recommended properties, Janis, I think that it is safe to describe many of them as being " quaint".

Try 53 Frederick Street or 14 Hart Street for B&Bs. Both are walking distance to Prince Street, with very nice proprietors and accommodations.

If you want a hotel, try the Glasshouse. It is boutique-y and very nice.

You're unlikely to get 4* for $100pn but that will get you accommodation for one at just about any B&B, even the most luxurious in the New Town (the central Georgian area), good for walking to everywhere, pubs, eating out, etc.

Here are some recommendations I drew up for someone else looking for budget accommodation not long ago...

£50pppn is standard for a nice B*B right in the centre - it then gets cheaper the further out you go. If £50pppn is within your budget look at the options on Abercromby Place, Northumberland Street and Dundas Street, all in the New Town (Gerald's Place is on Northumberland Street and I slightly know the owner, who is an interesting character). The Walton Hotel on Dundas Street got a vg review here recently & the position is quite good - at the bottom of the hill, though, you you may want to get buses up into town.

I hadn't heard of 53 Frederick Street which someone recommended last time and Jeff recommends here) but it is in the New Town so very central.

A little further out are areas like Tollcross, Bruntsfield & Morningside which are all convenient. There's one in Tollcross which I've read really good things about here but can't remember the name - anyone ? Two Morningside B&Bs run by nice people I know slightly are One Albert Terrace (not the one in Musselburgh which is much further out) and Pringle's Ingle.

A bit further out again and to me slightly less fun areas but on good bus routes are these roads which have lots of B&Bs (each row is basically all the same road but with different names, in increasing order of distance out) -

1) Haymarket Terrace / West Coates / Roseburn Terrace / Corstorphine Road / St John's Road

2) South Clerk Street / (Newington Road / Minto Street / Mayfield Gardens / Craigmillar Park) or Dalkeith Road.

The Beverley which another poster stayed in recently and recommended is just off Roseburn Terrace.

I wouldn't recommend staying any further out, and with your budget I'd try for the New Town.

The budget hotel chains Premier Travel Inn and Ibis are fine, I've stayed in them myself and there are several in the city centre but they don't have the character you seem to be hoping for.

Just a thought though - this won't be over Easter, will it ?

Quaint it ain't?

I would describe the B&B that i stayed in in Edinburgh QUAINT - a neat old stone building. Some lodgings are quainter than others.

Holiday Inn vs a cozy guest house for example.

But Brits on Fodor's often want to vomit when Americans use the word quaint - they do not consider what we consider to be quaint quaint.

As for Janis though she lives in quaint San Francisco area i believe.

Nothing wrong with quaint. Its funny but I never think of San Francisco as quaint but I am sure that there are areas that are quaint. Furthermore, knowing Janis, I cannot imagine her not living in a quaint area.

1) PQ gets it wrong every time -- Once again - maybe you'll get it this time - I don't live in SF

2) travelme does NOT know me at all. If s/he would quit looking for threads to post stupid "retorts" and actually posted something helpful -- well, it would be the first time . . . .

That out of the way -- kokjo: I said it in fun - but to explain my "no quaint" warning -- quaint means something different in the UK. It essentially means "twee" and is quite condescending to describe places as "quaint". To many in the UK it sounds like one is likening their house/village/town/country to a theme park. I was trying to help you out - as opposed to PQ and travelme who just like to pick . . . .

If you are fit and can climb a lot of stairs this B&B is probably the best located in all of Edinburgh, and it fits in your budget. (not for anyone who is out of shape though due to the many stairs)

http://www.castleviewgh.co.uk/

I enjoyed a week at the Dene Guest House, http://www.deneguesthouse.com/, last April. Great breakfasts, friendly hosts, and excellent position for public transportation:

#23 and #27 stop just around the corner, going up Dundas St.

The #36 stops at Waverley Bridge (the train station) and coming from Waverley stops just around the corner on Dundas St. When you are headed to the Waverley Bridge the stop is right across the street from the Dene's front door.

Several other solo female travelers (and some traveler guys, and couples, too :-) were there the same week as I was. Cheers.

Actually PalQ, we find Americans' use of the word 'neat' quite bizarre too, as in "a neat old stone building" :-)

As well as Janis's description of how "quaint" can sound to us, it can also mean old-fashioned (not in a good way). For example if someone expressed a very outdated view on something, we might say "how quaint" !

Now I am convinced that Janis lives in a quaint area. How nice for her. It suits her well.
Unfortunately, she has a hard time when people have an opinion or a perspective that is even slightly different than hers. She tends to quickly dismiss others points of view.

You are wrong, travelme. Janis knows the UK extremely well - better than me, probably - and is just offering the benefit of her vast experience and knowledge.

Janis, I forgot about the Castle View. You're right about it being the best location. It was up for sale last year but I never heard what happened & it still seems to be in business.

Yes Janis is THE consensus British expert on Fodor's - i and many others say that - even Brits don't hold a candle to her - especially on accommodations - hard to believe someone knows as much as that about British accommodations as she has proved - but you have to take her 'attitude' that many find abrasive with her font of knowledge and if you dare disagree then she takes her ball and goes home. Her way or the highway so to speak.

Yes, quaint to the British is not something they like to hear from Americans but this is an American forum and Janis is an American who is a British Wannabee and thus effects the British use of the word quaint.

All Americans know perfectly well what someone means by quaint - Holiday Inns are not quaint but cozy guest houses will be in the American use of that word.

Interesting how once again when one tries to enlighten/educate, they come under attack. There was certainly nothing dismissive about janis's comments.

"this is an American forum"

So should the rest of us go home, then ?

turns out there was something divisive about harranging the OP for using the word quaint and that's the blame IMO

Caroline - no but when you post you British and not purposefully use American, right

Thus when an American posts and uses the word quaint we should know what they mean by quaint in the American context and not mistrue it as the British context.

Same with the word Chunnel IMO

"no but when you post you British and not purposefully use American, right"

umm, Pal? Could you translate that for me, please?

Please drop the attitude. Janis simply suggested that the poster "drop the quaint bit from their vocabulary" and then inserted a happy face. There was absolutely nothing divisive about her remark.

Now, I'm finished with justifying janis as her expertise really needs no defense.

I often use the word quaint w/o ever looking up the meaning, which I have just done. The first definition (Random House) is "having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque." But the synonyms for quaint are very unflattering: funny, odd, bizarre, cranky, erratic, etc.

What word do British folks use in place of quaint? Charming, well-appointed (hear that one in movies)?

Caroline - my keyboard is slower than my typing today sorry

What i said or meant to say was that when a Briton posts something they do it in British

and on this American dominated forum when Americans post they should also post in their native language with the meanings of words as we know them

and not to try to affect some Britishness, using British terms.

for ex i would not say i want a car with a big boot - i would say i want a car with a big trunk - for me to use boot would be IMO putting on affections - many words like that.

Every American knows what quaint means in American terms - the OP was wanting something as "having an old-fashioned attractiveness or charm; oddly picturesque." (The main definitions pointed out in post above in Random House.)

But Janis chose to diss that for some reason, preferring the British meaning: very unflattering: funny, odd, bizarre, cranky, erratic, etc.

And she did it without explaning why, leaving the OP fummoxed i think - there was no reason to do that IMO in this forum between two Americans.

That said Janisj is a Fodor's treasure and her immense unrivaled knowledge of British things is totally mind-boggling - no Brit even comes close.

Oh My! Did I learn something from this posting!! Thanks so much for lodging suggestions and for the clarity on usage of the word quaint! Much appreciated! KOKJO

Just keep in mind

In Britain,
Quaint
It ain't

and, i'm not on paint

"and is just offering the benefit of her vast experience and knowledge."
So that means that that one has some right to be abrasive and crass towards others because they have "vast experience and knowledge"? I think not.

I cringe every time I see the word "quaint" used in questions for info or in trip reports. Likewise, "cute".

I am a New Englander, born and bred, lived here most of my life. I grew up in a small coastal town, where many came to vacation. In those days we were mostly farmers and fishermen. Even those with other jobs supplemented their income with one of these two occupations, or even both. I waitressed summers, and these vacationers seemed to think that windows boarded up and all was deserted after Labor Day. When diners asked me where I went in the winter, and I told them that I stayed right there, the reply was often, "How quaint!" Sometimes that phrase was used to describe something they had seen in their travels that day. I always felt as if it were condescending and patronizing. Just the very tone made me feel as if it were a put down. Of course, now I think it might have been envy that I could live in such a beautiful part of the world all year round.

I no longer live in that small town, but live in one which is heavily visited in summer for our cultural events, in the fall for leaf peeping and in the winter for skiing. I still here that word "quaint" bandied about and cringe.

Sorry for sidetracking the original poster.

Pal, I take your point that Americans know what each other means by 'quaint'. But since this questions relates to Britain, and thus is likely to get at least some answers from British people, I think it was fair enough for Janis to warn the OP that British people might not like the word applied to where they live - she was trying to be helpful and I don't know why that upsets you so much.

And the dictionary you quote is of course an American dictionary : the Compact OED defines 'quaint' as "attractively unusual or old-fashioned". So was the OP asking for unusual accommodation ? :-)

Some posts here have been abrasive and crass but those words could not be applied to Janis.

Different American/British words can lead to misunderstanding and the wrong advice being offered. For example, here an inn is a pub. I've gathered from Fodor's that Americans (also ?) apply it to a B&B - so in the past, if asked for recommendations of inns (whether quaint or not), I would have suggested only pubs.

Caroline, my understanding of an inn is a little different from a B&B. I think of an inn as larger, not someone's private home with rooms, more like a small country hotel. The line is a little blurry though.

Well all and well Caroline

but what word or words should have the OP used in her query:

<Looking for quaint, interesting centrally located lodging.>

now anyone knows that she is looking for an intimate, smallish place and not some Holiday Inn

so quibble with the word quaint what should have the OP said to convey her/his meaning for quaint?

serious question.

No, Caroline you are wrong. She was not trying to be helpful. If she had she would have initially explained to the OP that "quaint" had a different meaning in the UK. I am sorry but a smiley face doesnt cut it. The tone was condescending which is not unusual from her.

I think janis was just reacting like she was a Brit - how a Brit would react and meant nothing harmful by it - though it did negate one of the OP's criteria without explanation. Janis is amongst the most helpful posters on Fodor's - time and time again giving really good advice IMO - i actually think she was just trying to be humorous and not realizing how it would be taken.

Pal, I would say a place with character. Or as you yourself said, an intimate smallish place. Or if she does actually want a B&B, a B&B :-)