This extremely disappointing place, not to say risky, was booked with good intentions by a Scottish friend of ours prior to our recent trip to Scotland for the two last nights of the trip. While our visit to a few beautiful Scottish islands and Glasgow's adjacent countryside was wonderful, the two nights at this facility with the peculiar name Royal Mile Balconies by the Castle proved to be sheer hell. Once the booking confirmation from *********** arrived, it was followed by 7! pages of " instructions" ( yes, seven!)from the owners which literally left us stunned. On the first page, there were the unwelcoming statements that the "hotel" has no staff, no reception" and practically nobody to talk to on arrival. Also, no storage place was available prior to check-in at 15:00, meaning that people arriving, say at 10:00 had to lose half a day waiting for the room and stuck with their luggage. And thirdly, the cherry on the "icing" is that there are "very steep steps, with no handrail" leading to our third-floor room. And we didn't get yet to the real part- getting the room key.. on three elaborate pages+photos it has been described how to find door 7A in the courtyard, entry with a code of course. Then through another two sets of codes to get the key, almost like those adult mazes where people try to get out of a room by decyphering certain clues, only this time the other way around. Our saga started at the first door, where it took 10 agonizing minutes till it finally "yielded" and we got in. Then, climbing the 65! spiral stairs to the third floor with two heavy suitcases wasn't something that either I or my wife would like to experience ever again. Slow, agonizing, and downright risky, with no handrail whatsoever. The room itself was very small, with no wardrobe or anything, just open hanging. Sorry, forgot, there was a very small fridge too, that wasn't operating. In order to avoid climbing the damn stairs, we didn't come back the next day to the room until very late. It's a pity because the only good thing about this accommodation is its good location. However, what is the benefit if you must avoid using it?! What really irks me are not even the owners, but rather ***********'s misleading info, or more correctly the lack of anything warning customers that this accommodation is certainly not suitable for elderly people, or any warning whatsoever for the difficult constraints of the facility. It is simply brazen, not to use another word, that the only real info we got from booling.com is that the reservation can't be canceled. I've been traveling extensively for over 50 years and don't recall anything like this. My advice- stay away from *********** and all similar companies and book directly with the facility itself. This way you might save yourself a pretty lousy and expensive experience.
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