InterContinental Edinburgh the George by IHG — Hotel in City of Edinburgh

This has been perhaps the most perplexing hotel experience I've had in years.

We had reserved this hotel as the final destination for our trip, planning to stay for two nights before heading back home.

Preamble: This hotel is located in the heart of Edinburgh. Externally, it exudes grandeur, and the entrance lobby radiates elegance. The hotel enjoys a solid reputation within the city and is known for its high level of service.

We arrived in Edinburgh from Inverness six hours behind schedule due to the cancellation of our train journey owing to inclement weather. We reached the hotel at 8:00 PM, fatigued and eager for a shower and some rest. The check-in process went smoothly, and the service was commendable. We also made a reservation for dinner at the hotel's restaurant for the following evening. We wanted to carry our own luggage to our room, which, to the best of my knowledge, was one of the best rooms available at the hotel.

We arrived at our room, situated on the third floor, only to swiftly identify (or, my wife did) an issue that was far from something to overlook in an establishment of this caliber, albeit one that could be fixed. I went to the lobby to report the problem, and we were immediately provided with a new room, this time on the first floor. The new room was presumed to be the smallest in the hotel, and in recognition of this, we were offered a 20% discount off the total price. The situation was disappointing, but it was already 10:00 PM, so we decided to accept it and revisit the matter later. The bed was small, but we slept soundly.

The following morning, we enjoyed a delightful breakfast. The quality and flavor of the food were outstanding. The dining room was tastefully decorated and exuded opulence. As I was fetching some juice, the hotel's duty manager approached to express apologies for the prior night's experience. As compensation, they offered us a suite, which we accepted after a moment's consideration. The room would be ready by 3:00 PM the same day, allowing us to leave our bags in our current room for transfer. We finished our breakfast and packed our bags for the new room. We left the hotel shortly before noon and spent the day exploring the overcast and windy Edinburgh. We returned to the hotel around 4:00 PM.

Upon arrival, we did not immediately receive our new room, but the situation was promptly acknowledged, and the issue was swiftly resolved.

The new room was magnificent, spacious, pristine, and truly luxurious. To compensate for the mix-up and the wait, we were surprised with a bottle of champagne and chocolates, which was a refreshing touch.

In the evening, we dined at the hotel's restaurant, which certainly lived up to its reputation. The food was exquisite, and the portions were generous. I had the best pepper steak of my life, and my wife enjoyed a delectable veal dish. Our server was friendly, engaged in conversation with us, and provided valuable advice on our food and drink choices. While the restaurant shared the same space as the breakfast hall, the atmosphere was entirely different in the evening. The pepper steak was served with creamy mashed potatoes, and the peppercorn sauce was truly remarkable. The staff was attentive and made rounds to ensure all guests were having a comfortable and enjoyable evening. The price was not the most budget-friendly, but it was still more reasonable than many other restaurants, and I was more than willing to pay for the exceptional dining experience in every aspect.

We checked out the next day after one last breakfast, which lived up to the high standards of the previous day.

Despite our initial room issues, the hotel addressed them promptly. The level of service is world-class and surpasses many more expensive "superior" hotels. The hotel accommodated us, and the service we received reflects well on the entire establishment.

I highly recommend this hotel and would like to give special commendation to the hotel's excellent restaurant, where the outstanding and flavorful dishes will leave a...

I stayed at The InterContinental The George Hotel in late August on vacation for four nights. It is billed as a 5-star hotel.||Location||The hotel is located on Princes Street in the central area of New Town Edinburgh. It is ideal for shopping, cafes, restaurants and bars, with easy access to museums and other popular places for sightseeing. Location: 5 stars.||Service||Guests are greeted at the door by a concierge and there is a desk in the lobby with staff to assist guests with enquiries, bookings and transportation services. They are friendly and knowledgeable with good suggestions. Check-in is efficient. Staff Service in lobby: 5 stars.||Rooms||I booked a Premium Room, which is one step above a Classic (very basic) room. When I arrived, I was shown to what they said was a Premium room for a single, with a double bed. The room was stiflingly warm and very small. Bathroom even more so. I turned on the air conditioning, set it to its lowest temperature and left. Three hours later, the room was even warmer if that was possible. I called maintenance and the person confirmed the a/c was inoperative, said that it was now after 5:00 p.m. so no one could fix it until the next day, and brought a very noisy electric fan. At that point, I called the front desk and protested. They said they could move me to another room, but it meant that I had to repack everything and move to another location. (Not fun after an overnight flight with 2 hours sleep.)||The new room had working air circulation but had a small window facing a shaft. If you looked up, you could see the sky and guess what the weather would be. The room was larger and seemed to be more in line with what I booked. It was quiet but I noticed that when other guests were staying in the next room, they could be heard.||This hotel states it is “committed to high levels of cleanliness" and they more than meet that standard. They don’t say, however, that everything is guaranteed to work. The desk lamp stopped working after one day. They replaced it. The hair dryer didn’t work, and housekeeping had to replace that. The shower head belongs in the category of “Chinese Water Torture”. The desk is worn and has evidence of water damage. And the heated towel rack? As chilled as iced champagne on a winter’s evening. Rooms: 3 stars for the experience and that’s generous.||Restaurants||The hotel has a bar, café and restaurant. My booking included breakfast and that is held in the restaurant, Le Petite Beefbar. There is a breakfast buffet there which was great. I also had dinner there which was truly excellent with attentive staff to make recommendations for the food and drinks. Restaurant: 5 stars.||I recommend a stay at The George but will ding them a star for my experience...

I booked a “premium” king bed room at this hotel for four nights using my Aeroplan points— the equivalent in Canadian dollars would have worked out to about $650-$800/night depending on when or how you booked. My husband joked the whole time once we saw our room that it was where they shuffled off the “poors who use points”.

The staff and location of the hotel cannot be criticized — everyone that we encountered was kind, breakfast was lovely, and I’m sure if we had complained while we were there we would have had some sort of apology, but we were so exhausted when we got in, we unpacked and passed out without taking inventory of the room.

The long and short of it was that I spent the entirety of the points that I had been saving for years— roughly the equivalent of $2600-$3600 for four nights—on what was laughably the most basic and bog-standard room you could find at any holiday inn. A warning to anyone looking to “splurge” on a luxury hotel— you’re better off saving your money and going to a three star hotel for this experience. A list of the comically-bad features of our “premium” room:

1. basically ground floor with a window that literally butts up against the industrial side of a building and nothing else. You could hardly even see a sliver of the sky.

2. a toilet seat that was screwed into place at a permanent dramatic skew— the kind of toilet you’d probably avoid if you saw it in a public bathroom.

3. there was some sort of faintly yellowing dried liquid on the wall behind the toilet, as if maybe someone had peed there a long time ago. I regret not complaining about this thing specifically because it grossed me out every time I looked at it.

4. the “king” bed was two smaller beds pushed together and inevitably in the middle of the night one of us would wake up on the seam with a back ache.

5. the shower either never got hot, or got way too hot and scalded you, depending on the time of day.

6. the drain made a truly terrifying gurgling and screeching noise for several minutes after you ran the water first thing in the morning.

I think these several things could have probably been overlooked if I was more impressed with the room overall, but the only “luxury” thing about the room was the high ceilings. Otherwise, it could have been a holiday inn at less than half the price. The photos online are extremely misleading and I feel really let down that I wasted my several years of points on this hotel. I’m sure if you’re a wealthy person who books the normal way you’re afforded a much better room, but if you’re a working-class normie like me looking to have a “luxury” experience in Edinburgh, stay away from this hotel.

Note: the black mark on the photo of the room is me blocking...