Destiny Scotland Royal Mile Residence — Attraction in City of Edinburgh

I was told my review was not showing up on Google so this is a repost from our stay in May 2025.

I would not recommend this place for 3 reasons:

SAFETY. There is a loud bar located on the first floor which was quite rowdy. There was a large fight that came out onto the sidewalk when physical fighting and yelling which led to a gentleman being beaten and profuse bleeding . It was quite scary.

VERY LOUD. The bedrooms facing the royal mile are loud due to the pubs which are open long hours. The bedrooms to the side and the back are directly in front of the businesses air vents which are loud and go on and off all day and night (see photos). Also the pigeons were loud starting at 5am in the morning.

POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE. They sent me my room number 3 days in advance indicating I was in room 11 along with our entry code. When I arrived I was not able to get in and the pin did not work on our room. Their office closes at 5pm so if you arrive after 5pm you are out of luck for assistance.

I tried calling their emergency line around 630pm. No one answered the emergency line! I had my family of five panicking because we could not get into our room and had no where to go. After calling a number times over a period of time I was finally told my room changed to room 8.

When I later contacted customer service, they attempted to lie by saying that I have been booked in room 8 since January and I went to the wrong room. Once I produced my email showing they sent me confirmation for room 11 three days before my check in they changed the story to say it was due to maintenance issue. No apology given. They didn’t flinch once I provided proof of their misstatement.

The reservation manager who was extremely rude and unprofessional.

They continued to take no accountability AFTER producing proof of the email that demonstrated the wrong room. Frankly, it’s unbelievable.

If you have any issues with this place you are on your own… This place really ruined my family’s holiday.

I’ve never in my life written a review like this but they have left me so upset. I’ve never been treated this way.

I’ve travelled for over 30 years and 100s of hotels. I’m consistently a 5 star rated guest on AirBNB and VRBO.

After reviewing all the reviews, it is clear that anyone who has had issues and needed to contact customer service for any issue has had a similar experience.

If things do not go smoothly here, it’s an absolute nightmare. I would not advise you to not stay here if you don’t have a contingency plan like alternate accommodation in the event you need to check...

I would not recommend this place primarily for 3 reason:||1. Safety. There is a loud bar located on the first floor which was quite rowdy our first night. There was a large fight that came out onto the sidewalk when physical fighting and yelling which led to a gentleman being beaten and bleeding. It was quite scary.||2. Very loud. The bedrooms facing the royal mile are loud due to the pubs which are open long hours. The rooms to the side and the back are directly in front of the adjacent business and home air vents which are loud and are located directly in front of the other bedrooms (see photos). Also the pigeons were VERY loud starting at 5am in the morning.||3. Customer Service is the worst I’ve ever experienced in my life. They are rude and take no responsibility for any errors. They sent me my room Reservation on April 30th indicating I was in room 11. When I arrived I was not able to get in. Their office closes at 5pm so if you arrive after 5pm you are out of luck for assistance. I tried calling their emergency line which took me a while to figure out how to call from an international number. After calling over 5 times I was finally told my room changed to room 8 and that’s why my code was not working on my original room. I had my family of five panicking because we could not get into our room. They took no responsibility and have been completely rude. It was the most horrible experience I’ve ever had as my family feared that we had no where to stay and couldn’t reach customer service which closes at 5pm! They then proceeded to tell me that I was reserved in room 8 since January. However their story changed once I provided the email I received telling me I was in room 11. Their story then changed to their was a maintenance issue.||I’m consistently a 5 star rated guest on AirBNB and VRBO so I didn’t appreciate the rude seas and gaslighting by their reservations manager.||If you have any issues and check in after 5 pm you are on your own with this place as the emergency line is not reliable!!. I would NOT recommend this place based on our family’s experience. It ruined our family’s...

We booked a 1bed superior appt via Booking.com.|We were sent check-in instructions and code before arrival.|The code gives you access to the main gate, situated between the 2pubs, the lift and also to your room.|We were on the 1st floor.|On arrival the accommodation was SPOTLESSLY clean, very spacious & well decorated & modern.|There were all the cooking utensils you could possibly need as well as a washing machine & dishwasher, with all cleaning bits (tablets/washing-up liquid) under the kitchen sink.|Lovely white towels & a great shower. |Also a safe/hairdryer/iron/ironing board & fan.|Bear in mind that this is right in the centre of the Royal mile so you may hear some noise, but this is to be expected.|Our view was to the back so not very attractive as other buildings & building work but for the most part it was incredibly quiet.|There are 2 pubs downstairs, one that has live music & is open until 1am so our first night I found it hard to sleep from the boom boom boom from downstairs, but after that it was fine. |My only negatives are that the pillows were very thin and not great quality, it wouldn’t cost much to replace & would make a big difference. Also the sofa looks lovely but is not comfortable at all. Very stiff & upright.|And a mattress topper would help as bed was very hard and didn’t have any ‘give’! |But if you want to be right in the centre of everything then these are a great option & I would...