The Valentine offers single rooms, double rooms and family rooms but only some of the rooms have ensuite facilities others must share. There is a large breakfast room and tea and coffee making facilities and colour television, there is also some private parking for those who have driven to Edinburgh.

The Valentine is ideal situated and just a hundred metres away from Edinburgh’s famous Princes Street, half a mile from the castle and close to all the major attractions. Edinburgh Festival buildings are also nearby and convenient for visitors who have come especially for the Festival.

The Valentine is a family run establishment and although it does not offer lunches and dinners, the management does arrange discounts at nearby restaurants. Bookings can be made on the valentine’s website or over the telephone. You should book in advance to be certain of a vacancy, especially during the month of the Festival.

Address: 19 Gilmore Place, EH3 9NE
Telephone: 0131 229 5622
Website: www.ValentineGuestHouse.com

All rooms in this family run establishment have ensuite facilities and there is also some private parking. The guest house has a 4 star rating from the Scottish Tourist Board and offers excellent service and good value bed and breakfast accommodation. The accommodation does not include lunches or evening meals but there are plenty of restaurants and cafes close by.

The Clan Walker guest house is situated on Dalkeith Road, close to Edinburgh’s city centre and a mile from the famous castle. The building is in an ideal location near to the Festival theatre and the Kings Hall/Queens Hall, close to Edinburgh University and in walking distance of the Royal Mile, Holyrood Palace and the famous Arthur’s seat.

The guest house is an ideal base for visitors who come up to the city for the Annual Edingburgh Festival. If you do plan on being in Edinburgh for the festival then you should beook well ahead if you don’t want to be disappointed.

Address: 96 Dalkeith Road, EH16 5AF
Telephone: 0131 667 1244
Website: www.ClanWalkerGuestHouse.com

There is a wide choice of well appointed and comfortable rooms on offer and the owners of Drumorne offer a wide choice of breakfast items, room prices are at the lower end affordable for most people.

Choose from a single room, twin room, double room, family room or triple room. All rooms have ensuite facilities except for the triple room which has private facilities. Rooms are centrally heated with colour television and tea and coffee making facilities. Drumorne guest house is in the old town part of the city so there is plenty to see and enjoy.

Buses stop virtually outside the door of the guest house and will take you straight to the city centre in under 10 minutes. You can book your accommodation online at the guest house website but check that the dates you want are available before booking.

Address: 82 Willowbrae Road, EH8 7HA
Telephone: 0131 661 4349
Website: www.Drumorne.co.uk

The guest house is situated in what is known as the new town area of the city as it contains Georgian buildings; the old town has some much earlier buildings and is well worth a visit.

Rooms are decorated and furnished to a high standard throughout and all of them have ensuite facilities. There are hospitality trays with tea and coffee making facilities, colour television, WiFi internet access, hairdryers and radio alarm clocks.

If you ask at reception they will give you guidance and directions on local attractions and the best places to eat in Edinburgh. Room prices are quite reasonable for this centrally located and popular guest house and you should book early to avoid disappointment especially around the time of the annual festival.

Address: 0131 226 5784
Telephone: 30 Castle Street, EH2 3HT
Website: www.CastleviewGH.co.uk

The property is late nineteenth century and it has been fully refurbished and original features restored and is conveniently located on main bus routes. Nearby amenities include a tennis court, golf course and large swimming pool.

Available rooms at the AmarAgua are standard double, four poster, triple and budget double. The décor of the rooms is in good order and all rooms have either ensuite facilities or a private bathroom. Room facilities include tea and coffee making, satellite television and WiFi access.

Breakfast consists of a buffet with cereals, juices and breads and a la carte breakfasts cooked to order. Room prices are slightly higher than average but the facilities look good and the guest house owners run special deals during the winter months. If you plan on visiting in the summer then you would be well advised to book ahead as the whole of Edinburgh gets very busy, particularly in August when many people come for the Edinburgh festival.

Address: 10 Kilmaurs Terrace, Edinburgh, EH16 5DR
Telephone: 0131 667 6775
Website: www.AmarAgua.co.uk

The building is not far from most the city’s major attractions and there are a number of art galleries nearby, there is also a fruit market gallery and the National Gallery of Scotland.

The Queens Guest house has 13 well appointed, spacious rooms and all rooms have ensuite facilities. The rooms have been newly converted so that they offer all modern conveniences. All rooms have televisions and WiFi access, they are reasonably priced and this includes a full breakfast.

There are no midday or evening meals served at the guest house but there are plenty of good restaurants and cafes just a short walk away. If you are up for the Festival then venues are within easy reach of the Queen’s Guest House but you should book early if you plan on going at this time of year to be sure that you will be guaranteed a room.

Address: 45 Queen Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3NH
Telephone: 0131 226 2000
Website: www.QueensGH.com

• Where you want to be in the city
• Whether you want to stay in a period property
• How long you expect to stay
• When you want to visit
• What your budget is.

Guest House Location

There are plenty of centrally located guest houses in and around the Princes Street area of Edinburgh, which places you nicely between the old part of the city and the Georgian or new part of the city as it is referred to. Generally speaking you can expect to pay more per night in a centrally located guest house, especially if you are visiting during August when the Edinburgh Festival takes place. If you want accommodation at this time you will have to book in advance because the guest houses quickly become booked up at that time of year.

Staying in a Period Property

Many people love the idea of staying in a period property, and there are certainly plenty of period property guest houses in the Edinburgh area. If the guesthouse you are interested in is either centrally located or one of the grander Georgian properties, then you will need to book your accommodation early. Expect to pay more in these properties especially in the busy summer season. If you don’t mind a guest house that is tucked away somewhere, and it shouldn’t be a problem because Edinburgh has a good public transport system, then you may find the prices more affordable. If the guest house is on the outskirts of the city then you may not need to book so far in advance.

Time of Year

Guest houses are often fully booked during the busy summer season and if you haven’t booked ahead of time then it may be difficult finding the accommodation you want. Some guest houses may have a space for the odd night or two but if you plan on staying for most of August for the Festival, then you really should book well ahead of time.

Your Budget

Guest house charges can vary quite considerably. In some areas it is possible to get a room in a guesthouse for around £20 a night, while in others it will be four times that. If you are travelling at the height of the season then many of the guest houses raise their prices during that period and you may find it hard to get something at a price that you can afford. As with many things it is always best to book your accommodation well ahead as you may find you get a bit of a discount.

Edinburgh has plenty of guest houses and a good number of hotels but during the festival season you may find it hard to get the kind of accommodation that you want at a reasonable cost.

The haunted underground tour is well worth taking, it is an exploration of the underground crypts where the body snatchers are reputed to have made their home. Each one of the medieval vaults has its own story to tell, usually of death and destruction, it is a guided tour and the guide will give you all the gory and scary details of used to take place underneath Edinburgh’s city streets. If you love to read and you enjoy a drink then the Edinburgh literary pub tour is well worth taking it is a fun tour found the alleys and pubs of both the old and the new town areas.

If you are visiting Edinburgh then you really shouldn’t miss a visit to Edinburgh Castle, the birth place of James V1 and the place where Mary Queen of Scots died. You should also take the tour around John Knox house, which is the oldest mansion along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and once the home of Mary Queen of Scots. If you like blood curdling experiences then you shouldn’t miss a trip down the Edinburgh dungeons and feel the fear on the Drop Ride to Doom. The old town’s history is notorious and plenty of thieves, killers and traitors have met a bad end on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. Take a guided tour around the darkened backstreet of the old town and learn more of Edinburgh’s bloody history.

Visit Gladstone’s Land an old town Edinburgh tenement built in 1620 and full of art and furniture from the area and only a mile away from Edinburgh Castle. If you fancy a change from dark alleys and ancient buildings then a trip to Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens makes a nice change in the centre of the Garden is the Victorian Palm House and neighboring glass houses and its ten different plant realms from different times and different countries.

In addition to all of the historical places of interest there are plenty of museums, art galleries and even boat trips. Edinburgh offers something for everyone and the experience culminates in the annual Edinburgh Festival that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the city each year. If you want a holiday that is steeped in mystery and filled with characters from the past then Edinburgh has something for you. If you plan to go to Edinburgh during the month of August then you need to book well ahead of time to be sure you will have accommodation as this is the city’s busiest period.

One of the problems for visitors looking for accommodation is that there is no real way of assessing the quality of accommodation and the level of service they offer just because they display a 3 star rating on their brochures and websites. The most that a star rating can do is act as a guide to the possible quality and level of service at a guest house or hotel.

Probably the best guide to the quality of accommodation and the level of service they offer is to read independent customer reviews of a place. There is nothing quite like first hand experience of accommodation to give you a better understanding of what you can really expect from a particular guest house or hotel. VisitBritain actually provide a guide to their ratings so that you can see what it is they consider when they award accommodation a 3 star rating.

The Rating Criteria for Hotels and Guest Houses is not Exactly the Same

Hotels are usually bigger and they are rated mostly on the facilities that they offer, WiFi access, bars and restaurants and the facilities available in rooms. Guest houses on the other hand, which are generally much smaller, tend to be rated on the level of service that they provide rather than the facilities they offer. Guest house ratings from VisitBritain are as follows:

• One star – simple accommodation no frills
• Two star -Well presented and well run
• Three star – All rooms have wash basins
• Four star – At least half the rooms will have ensuite facilities
• Five star – All rooms have ensuites and the level of other facilities and service is very high.

While the AA use much the same criteria in their ratings as VisitBritain they do give a more thorough summary of what the various star ratings are meant to cover. They also produce booklets, one for hotels and one for guest houses that explains the level of facilities and services they need to meet if they want AA star ratings. If it is an AA rating or a VisitBritain rating you will have some idea of what to expect from the accommodation, if accommodation is self starred then it is not always clear what you can expect.

The 1707 Act of Union made Scotland part of the United Kingdom, which it still is. The city is divided into Edinburgh old town, and what is referred to as the new town, the Georgian area of the city. In the middle of the eighteenth century, George the Third, king of England and monarch of the United Kingdom tried to ingratiate himself with the city by commissioning whole streets of new buildings. The now famous Princes Street, George Street and Frederick Street were named after the monarch and his two sone and are wonderful examples of the Georgian architecture that permeates that area of the city

The native population of Edinburgh is around 500,000 but during August, which is the month of the Edinburgh Festival, the city is bursting at the seams with artists taking part in the Festival and the thousands of visitors who come to see the plays, concerts and comedy acts.There is plenty for the visitor to see in and around Edinburgh and there is an excellent public transport and hackney cab system, so it is not difficult to get around.

If you are visiting Edinburgh then you really shouldn’t miss a visit to Edinburgh Castle. The castle was built over centuries and its Great Hall was first built in 1511 but has undergone significant changes and restroration since the back end of the nineteenth century. The castle has a long military history and still in use as an army barracks. Buildings that belong to the castle include St. Margaret’s Chapel which dated back to the 12th century but was abandoned 300 years later and then rediscovered and restored in the mid nineteenth century. Another must see, especially for history fans is the Royal Palace in Crown Square, notable for the fact that it is where Mary Queen of Scots gave birth to James V1 and later died there in 1560. The Honours of Scotland Exhibition is placed within the Royal Palace and you can see the crown that was commissioned by James V in 1540 and the sceptre given to James 1v in the fourteen nineties.

Edingburgh has it all, the Festival, which is the biggest thing of its kind in the world, one of the largest collection of historical buildings, and surrounded by some of the wildest and most beautiful countryside anywhere in Europe.