My weird experience at the Balmoral (also during festival/fringe festival time when all hotel rooms in the city were full) is that when I went to my room upon arrival, one of the first things I did (SOP for me) was to check whether the door to the connecting room was properly secured or not. It was not. When I turned the door knob, it instantly opened to a suite that was apparently occupied by some family that fortunately was not in their suite at the time. I immediately inspected the door and tried to figure out a way to lock it. It could not be locked from my side as a real metal key was apparently needed. I called the front desk, waited (unwilling to leave my belongings in a room that strangers could obviously access at will), called again and was told that it would be fixed that evening or perhaps sometime the next day as they were busy and would need time to find the key and send a staff member to my room with the key. I said that this wasn't acceptable and the hotel employee reassured me that my neighbors were a nice family and I shouldn't worry. I demanded to speak to the manager immediately. The problem was ultimately solved within a few hours, but in the meantime I was scared to leave my room and scared to stay there, nice family or not......

Enchanted yes ... in the sense of an alternate reality, an odd time warp. Arrival was the best part of the stay

My wife and I had a late dinner at their Number One restaurant a few years ago. Service and food was fine until the end when it seemed as though all the staff had disappeared except for one who had been bussing tables. It took a while to get the check from her and I thought it was a lackluster way to end a high end meal. Unfortunately, that’s what I remember most about the meal.

Having stayed previously at both the Balmoral and Caledonian (when it was just a Hilton), but being a Marriott Ambassador, I think we are leaning towards the Glasshouse Autograph Collection property for our 10th wedding anniversary trip to Scotland in 2020. (My husband proposed in the Highlands after our first stay at the Balmoral in 2008.) There doesn’t look to be a real favorite for the time being.

The Balmoral suites are oddly laid out and didn’t blow us away, and the price point always seemed too high for what ultimately was delivered. The Caledonian has the best Castle views, but not much else—and WA as a brand has disappointed far too many times for us to bother. The new W won’t be completed until 2021. The Rosewood remains a pipe dream.