Georgian elegance in the heart of Edinburgh for the festival
Posted on 20 August 2009 with no comments from readers
If you are coming to Edinburgh for the world’s biggest arts festival, or just fancy visiting this beautiful city at another time of year then there are some fine Georgian apartments well worth considering for your stay, and the cost for a week will set you back less than one night in a suite in a top hotel.
For a second year running we chose one from www.EdinburghFlats.co.uk. This time we are in Queen Street right in the heart of the New Town and just minutes from the main shopping area and the festival venues.
Personal service
Our landlord Francois obligingly met us at midnight from our late flight, and a clean and fully equipped apartment awaited us. But this is something special.
The reception room is a cavernous cube-and-a-half with three large sashed windows overlooking a park. Within this elegantly furnished 50 square metre space is a dining table and chairs, two sittees, a huge plasma TV and Bose stereo, and a fire-place with gas fire. It is a fine Georgian drawing room adapted for modern living.
At the rear of the property is a good sized bedroom with a five-star standard bed, and actually the Scottish Tourism Board has awarded this flat its official five-star status. Then you have a tiny but thoughtful shower room tucked into what must have been a cupboard, and a fully loaded, galley style kitchen with Siemens appliances and a gas hob.
I can not recommend this place highly enough. You have to option of additional cleaning services if you need them but otherwise you just hand your key back at the end, so there is total privacy with no compromise on luxury accommodation.
Under-rated city
Edinburgh is perhaps under-rated as a destination. It is not only the summer weeks of the festival that are worth visiting. The city has a wealth of history as well as numerous modestly priced restaurants and bars and some very good shopping.
This year’s new attraction is the Royal Yacht Britannia. But the Edinburgh Castle is splendid and the Queen’s official residence The Palace of Holyroodhouse well worth a visit.
However, the Georgian architecture of the large and central Edinburgh New Town adds a glamour that few smaller European cities can match, and staying in an apartment here is a rare treat.
