The Glasshouse, Autograph Collection, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK [Master Thread]
 

Evidently it's now open. Loyalty Lobby had this blog post which was about Plat amenity guarantee at this property, but which also includes a video of the suite he received (including a fantastic balcony!), so thought I'd start a thread where people can do 'trip reports' after their stay. Watch the video. This is definitely a property I'd consider!

http://loyaltylobby.com/2013/06/22/c...rival-gift-woe

Cheers.

I'll be in Scotland in October and MAY stay at this property. I'll make sure to post a trip report if I do.

Trip Report
 

Not sure of the difference between a trip report/review. Anyhow here's what I posted on TA:

Having stayed at the Caledonian for the last 3 months of the year, the move to the glasshouse was certainly one of contrasts (massive hotel to very small one!)

I've yet to be upgraded to one of the suites but the standard rooms are good, albeit with a slightly odd layout where the bed is in the middle of the room and the desk/eating area is behind it. Not saying it's any worse or better than a normal layout of course!

Otherwise the room is modern and the bathroom is great with a separate (powerful) shower and bath with underfloor heating, heated towel rail, heated mirror, etc - it's almost like having your own sauna if you turn it up too much!

This is a small hotel there isn't a restaurant but you can have the room service delivered to your room or the bar which is set up with proper place settings for people to do that. I've yet to bother but I noticed a few people enjoying a meal in the bar.

I've had rooms with both huge balconies overlooking the city and also opening directly onto the roof garden. I can't wait for the summer to be able to sit outside of an evening, at the moment it's just post gym cooling down.

There is no gym/pool in the hotel but they have a deal with the virgin active next door for £10. If this is good for you will depend, I'm on expenses so don't pay this anyway but the virgin gym is far far better than any hotel gym/pool I've seen so it works well for me!

Breakfast wise I've only had the continental (which is free for golds and above) which is very nice - decent quality juice, smoothies, fruit, etc.

Not much more to say, staff very friendly and gave me a tour of the hotel on my first visit and let me know about the comings and goings of my colleagues so I can catch them for dinner!

Only downsides for me are the lack of wine by the glass in the bar or room service - you have to pay for a 1/2 or full bottle which is too much if you just want a small glass with dinner! As others have noted, it's a nice touch to ask if you want still or sparkling water but they don't seem very good at getting it right! If it's a 1 night stay then the still is what's in your room anyway unless you can grab the water lady as she heads about.

Oh I should add if you're in an exec room (which room wise is identical to a standard room!) then you get a free minibar - 2 small prosseccos, 2 beers and a couple of extra waters.

Thanks for the trip report/review! Much appreciated!

Cheers.

Is this in the bar or your room? Let me know & I'll update the exec lounge sticky. Thx!

Cheers.

In the "breakfast room" - £5 to upgrade to full Scottish - another £5 if you want it in your room.

Thanks. Will update the exec lounge sticky.

Cheers.

The Glasshouse, Autograph Collection (Edinburgh, Scotland)
 

3rd & final leg of my "Scottish Tour"

Excellent upgrade to a beautiful, stylish suite
PAG - took the points, was offered a snack in lieu
Suite upgrade included two vouchers for a glass of malt from "the snug"
Continental Breakfast offered, again I declined & took points (I'll be up & out by 6)
My concern over this hotel has always been "style over substance"
This is my fourth stay (4/4 for suite upgrades)
Upon reflection, I'd recommend this hotel as a great base to explore this side of the city from
(Just a shame I'm not here as a tourist)

I have reservations to stay here for 5 nights in June (got a "long term stay" rate of 135 GBP per night, which seemed very good to me...but I am used to London prices ;))

It gets REALLY mixed reviews on other sites (i.e. mostly TA). We'll be there over my birthday, I was looking for it to be a special stay in a unique hotel. But the reviews are all over the place! Issues seem to include: used room service dishes cluttering hallways for days, loud and unfunctional plumbing, unfriendly employees, etc.

Last year in June we were at the Shelbourne in Dublin and adored it. Obviously these are very different properties in terms of style, but I was still hoping for that same level of service.

Anyone have any recent or additional thoughts on this hotel?

No one ever responded to my last question, so I guess I will answer myself! We just got back from our 5-night stay and were treated excellently as Platinum guests. We got upgraded to the Bowmore Suite (room 45) iwth a stunning city view, including the sunset. We could see the Firth of Forth to the far right.

The suite was huge, including the king bed, the lounge area, desk with mini bar, bathroom with heated floors including separate tub and shower, a sink and closet area, and a giant balcony. It is probably the biggest hotel room I have had in Europe with the exception of the Presidential Suite at the Renaissance La Defense in Paris (but that is a story for another time! :cool:)

As noted by others, Platinums (and Golds, I assume) have free continental breakfast, which includes fresh toast and hot porridge brought to you from the kitchen. Out of our 5 days, we only chose to upgrade for the 5 GBP one day to a full hot breakfast. There was more than enough food for us on the buffet between the breads, fruit, yogurt, meats, cheeses, etc.

The only nitpicks I have are the following: 2 out of 5 days we got zero fresh towels. To me, that seems like one housekeeper just isn't trained or isn't doing their job properly. Also our keys had to be re-configured twice and we didn't get a requested wake-up call. I did let the hotel Management know about these things because there is no way a "5 star" hotel shouldn't be delivering towels!

One odd thing, the only public restrooms in the hotel are about a mile away from the front desk on some side hallway on the 3rd floor. If you want to check in early and use their restroom to freshen up, then you have to drag your luggage all the way up there with you.

In any case, we would stay here again in a heartbeat. It is a lovely, but interestingly quirky, property.

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated!

Cheers.

FYI. One thing I forgot to mention, a CY is being built about a block away from The Glasshouse. Not sure when it will be opening, but it looks interesting. It is a historic building that is being rehabbed.

Must be an Edinburgh thing then as the toilets in both the Edinburgh Marriott and Dalmahoy Country house are a fair hike away from the public areas too!

I've heard lots of good things about the Glasshouse but lacks the one thing I need for me to stay there (a car park) hence why we choose to stay at Edinburgh Marriott or Dalmahoy.

Actually our last night in Scotland was at the Edinburgh Marriott before an early morning flight. I swear we got the worst room in the hotel, no mention of my Plat status, etc. I had to call down to get my arrival gift. It was funny because the common areas - lobby, bar, outside patio - are quite nice. But our room was small, dark, 2 tiny pillows on the bed, and generally not pleasant. I expected much better from my initial impression of the property.

Yes, on The Glasshouse, they have access to a car park in the Omni shopping center which I understand is on the pricey side. It was a tough place to get picked up and dropped off, my cousins ended up leaving us about a block away each time.

When does the Glasshouse load inventory? Looking at November, which I know is far out, but I have my flights booked so I do like to hold a room. No rooms coming up for GH, only for Residence Inn and Marriott and Dalmahoy. Definitely need to be downtown so either the RI, the GH or a Hilton property is what we will go with.