Blue Rainbow ApartHotel – Edinburgh

Great for a group.
We were starting our Scottish Adventure in Edinburgh with three our friends. One of our friends booked this hotel for our group and her parents.
We ended up walking from the train station and it wasn’t too bad. They had roll-​y luggages while my husband and I had huge backpacks. Couldn’t have been more than a ten minute walk, max. Their sign is pink. I thought it would be blue… I was wrong.
If you are checking in at night after a certain time (I’m guessing 10pm), you have to ring the doorbell. If you are coming/​stumbling back from the pub, you have to use your key to open the lobby doors. There is a lobby bar with sort of reasonable drinks. They did not have ice…
Our room had two bedrooms and two bathrooms with a living room, dining room and kitchen area opposite the bedrooms. In all honesty, I think the five of us could have been content to stay in one two bedroom suite because the suites were really big. The living room had two couches and one of our friends slept on one of them for a night anyhow. We stayed in the room with the ensuite bath that only had a shower— which is fine because I would only be taking showers. The other bathroom had a tub and a door that wouldn’t fully close.
We didn’t end up spending much time in the room, but our friend’s parents used their kitchen all week. We even had breakfast in their room one morning.
Normally since I am so lazy, I wait for the elevator. I don’t know if there was something wrong when we stayed there, but that area smelled like garbage so I just ended up taking the stairs.
I would totally stay there again given the chance… and I would use the kitchen… there was a Sainsbury’s nearby.

This hotel is situated in a great location, just down from Harvey Nichols, and opposite the National Portrait Gallery. It took us no time at all to get there from Waverley Station.
My partner and I were staying here on a pre Christmas getaway, and we chose an aparthotel so we could do festive things like make minced pies, and cook meals etc. When we arrived the hotel was hidden by a lot of road works, but this is of course not the fault of the hotel. The reception was lovely with a nice Christmas tree in the entrance. We left our luggage there before returning to check in later, which was no problem at all.
The staff on reception were friendly, but there was nobody to show us to our rooms, which I expected from a hotel like this.
When we located our room, it was a lovely, airy apartment, and we were excited for our stay. The décor of our room was quite bright, and a neutral look would have been preferred, but it was modern non the less. There was an adequate sized dining table for two which was nicely laid out. The view over the gardens was beautiful, framed by lovely big period windows.
When we came to use the kitchen however, was when our disappointment started. There was no where near enough surface space to cook and we even struggled preparing a simple pasta dish. The cleanliness of the oven and some of the equipment was questionable, and I had to rewash a lot of things before using them. There was also a chipped glass which I cut my lip on, we informed the staff of this too, but they weren’t concerned. I strongly believe that the appeal of a hotel is to feel as if no body else has stayed there, in terms of detail to cleanliness. It was also had to control the temperature in the room, as there is only a boiler and no thermostat, resulting in it being off or stiflingly hot.
Not long after arrival we raised out concerns with our room, and confirmed that we were staying in an ‘executive’ room, which we had upgraded to upon booking a month or so previously. We couldn’t imagine the kitchen being any smaller than it was, as the kitchen was the main appeal to staying here I was very disappointed. The staff confirmed that this was in fact an executive room, and didn’t agree to move us into a room we were happier with, which was surprising, as they weren’t busy at all. We had upgraded to the executive suite to ensure we had a good room, however I think the only thing that made it executive was the addition of bathrobes (which they forgot to put in the room and had to ask for) and a breakfast ‘bag’ with cereal. I would upgrade further to secure the good rooms.
Cooking a breakfast in the morning was a nightmare, resulting in burning our food due to it being impossible to manœuvre with the little space and non existant surfaces. We also had issues with the shower, as it wasn’t electric and made a very loud noise when set to the best temperature.
The bed was very comfortable and we slept very well, and the décor was fresh and relaxing. However the dressing table was too far away from a plug to use the hairdryer and the mirror together, when we tried to move it, it was very badly assembled and almost collapsed.
I think the main problem with our room was purely due to lack off attention to detail on various accounts, and serious modification is required to the heating and shower, which also needed new sealant around the bath.
We did enjoy our stay here overall, but we had to make the best of our accommodation, and it was being with each other that made it special. I wouldn’t stay here again right away, but possibly try the other aparthotel in Edinburgh which we almost booked originally if we returned to the city.
Room Tip: We upgraded to the executive suite to ensure we had a good room, however I think the only thing that…

The Blue Rainbow Apartments is an ok establishment when comparing it to other four star hotels in the UK area. I stayed there in a 2 room suite for 4 days and the floors were rather squeaky and the amenities were outdated from the kitchen, bathroom, and the living/​dining room area. The internet connection was awful. What I did enjoy about the Blue Rainbow is the location as it was walking distance to all the mall, train station, and the Royal Mile. For what I paid I would research other establishments before re-​booking. The view into the courtyard was nice. Overall I did feel like I was staying at a friends apartment/​flat in the UK but gain it did not justify the four star rating it claims.

The Blue Rainbow Apartments are tricky to review. I imagine the experience is greatly influenced by the amount of money you spend for the room you book.
When deciding to stay in Edinburgh for two nights I searched around the internet for hotel deals and found the Blue Rainbow (which was advertised as a ⁴⁄₅ star hotel) was having a special deal for 50% off rooms. I jumped at the opportunity and booked their cheapest room (‘a studio apartment’) for 99 pounds/​2 nights. A steal no matter what for the heart of New Town, Edinburgh.
When we arrived the exterior was lovely and the interior was very much of the boutique-​style hotels. The man at the front desk was lovely and very helpful, even offering to make us a latte with the machine at the front desk.
Our room was interesting. To get to our room you had to take the elevator down from the lobby. So, technically though the lobby is at ground level it is called ‘Floor 3′ and to get to our room you had to go to ‘Floor 1′. Interestingly, when you get to Level 1 the elevator announces that you have reached the sub-​basement. Not exactly what you want to hear when arriving at your luxury accommodation. When we got to our room (there are only three rooms in the ‘sub-​basement’) it said «102 — SAVER». Odd that your door announces to you (and everyone else) that have booked the SAVER room. To be honest I felt like were staying in some converted maids quarters or storage room. Perhaps due to renting the ‘saver’ room or getting a special deal our room did not come with any of the ‘welcome package’ you might read about at Blue Rainbow, which is fine and understandable.
So, the room? The room was lovely. Though it was a small studio apartment it was bigger than the average hotel room with a bathroom separated from the main area by a door. It had a nice kitchenette that would be very useful if you planned on cooking your own food or buying items at the grocer. Although the hotel is on the Queens St. Gardens and the booking indicated it would have a ‘garden-​view’, the view out our sub-​basement windows were actually just to a backyard grass area. I imagine the floors higher up had a Queens St. Garden view.
Overall, the experience was enjoyable and the room was nice, but there were just a few things that nagged at me. Every time the elevator said ‘sub-​basement’ and I saw the ‘SAVER’ sign on the door I thought about how easy it would be to remove those to make the guest feel more comfortable. While the staff was lovely and the hotel décor is very nice I got the feeling that the target customers were not those staying in the sub-​basement.

The Blue Rainbow Royal Gardens Aparthotel in Edinburgh is the ultimate in high-​end luxury, that’s a bit different from a guest house or hotel, and especially good if you’re travelling in a group or plan to stay in Edinburgh on business.
They are pretty nice on the outside but it’s the quality of the rooms that really make the place outstanding. My mum and dad were treated to a night in this place for their 25^th wedding anniversary, and stayed in the executive apartment, which included bathrobes and breakfast. They were thrilled with the room, said that the breakfast was lovely and the experience was perfect for a special occasion.
I’m considering staying there at the end of this month for a night for a special occasion, and at around £180 for the Exec room for two people per night, it is quite pricey but seems to be totally worth it.