Premier Inn Edinburgh Central (Lauriston Place) hotel — Hotel in City of Edinburgh

There were only three people in my party; however, during our meal and stay, we not only experienced multiple issues ourselves but also witnessed other tables in the restaurant expressing similar dissatisfaction.

Issues during our stay included:

Restaurant experience:

We were warned of a 30-minute wait for food but ended up waiting over an hour for our meals to arrive.

When our food finally arrived, the quality was poor - the brioche buns were overcooked, the eggs were rubbery, and the chips were barely warm.

My pancakes were served without the strawberries and Biscoff crumb as described; instead, they came with what seemed like a plain shortbread crumb.

When our desserts were ordered, our main plates were not cleared away, and when new drinks were brought, the old glasses weren’t taken.

Staff presence was minimal - they frequently disappeared into the kitchen and offered very little table service. We were visibly finished with our meals for quite some time but were ignored.

The restaurant was extremely cold, and even one of the staff members had to put on an extra layer due to the temperature, which also didn’t help with the temperature of the food.

We noticed a trainee chef in the kitchen with multiple uncovered dangling piercings, which raises hygiene concerns. To add to our suspicions about hygiene concerns both myself and one other member of my party were up for the majority of the night after eating in the restaurant, vomiting and being unable to get back to sleep due to stomach pains. I do not believe this is a coincidence as we became unwell around the same time. We hadn’t eaten anything else that day that would have caused this issue, due to travelling we had cereal made at home in the morning some crisps later on in the day and then we ate at the restaurant. The only place I can see this issue coming from is the restaurant and this is just unacceptable!

In addition to our own issues, we overheard other tables having serious complaints, including:

A table that was served meat on nachos despite requesting them without.

A table that was given the wrong fish as a result of a defrosting error this guest was also given the wrong wine.

A table that couldn’t order a vegan burger due to missing ingredients, who also had to knock on the kitchen door to get sauces. They also commented on poor ice cream quality and missing toppings (wafer and chocolate sprinkles).

A table also had issues with their chicken being cold

Hotel issues:

The man on reception was unaware of the meal deal option for dinner and could not provide clear information.

At around 20:40, there were people waiting in the reception area with no staff present to assist them.

Our room was booked for three guests, yet only two cups were provided, and we had to go to reception to request another. The duty manager we spoke to about how terrible our stay had been simply didn’t care. She offered us a refund on our meal- so we assumed we would get a full refund, however she only refunded one element of the meal and we weren’t able to query this as she walked away as soon as she gave us our receipt. We did not seem apologetic even though the hotel is ultimately her problem therefore she is responsible for making sure everyone has an...

I visited the Premier Inn (Lauriston Place) for the first time in about a year with my fiancée this weekend. It had always been a really good hotel (friendly staff, clean rooms, and a great bar and restaurant). We were happily surprised to find that the rooms were refurbished to a very high standard six months ago.

The new rooms are equipped with a 40" Samsung LED TV, incredibly comfortable beds and some well thought out, soft mood lighting.

As always, the staff were fantastic. The room was amongst the most immaculately clean we've seen. The bathroom was spotless. The shower had great pressure and good temperature controls. The new bathroom design is really nice (good tiles, brilliant shower head, nice sinks). The corridors and lobby were just as well cared for.

Where this hotel really excelled this time was in the small details. Little touches like both sides of the bed having controls for the main lights, mood lighting and bedside lamps. The rooms come with a lighted mirror above a little shelf with some sockets - something my fiancée found really useful when doing her hair. Below the large, very thin TV there is a small panel of ports - HDMI, USB, Component (something even higher end hotels sometimes make difficult), making it easy to connect a laptop for some Netflix or sport streaming. There were also plenty of sockets for charging devices, all around the room.

We had dinner at the hotel restaurant one evening. While the restaurant doesn't seem to have been refurbished, it still had the same nice, welcoming look to it. The staff here were also really nice, and the kitchen was great. I had a classic burger (burger with some veg, salsa and fries) while my fiancée had a rump steak with bacon rarebit. My burger was huge - thick, well cooked patty with plenty of toppings. Really tasty. Her steak was cooked really well too, and when she asked to hold the mushrooms the kitchen added another halved grilled tomato as a little extra.

Great atmosphere in the bar in the evening. Not too crowded, not too quiet. Decently bad with good beers (a few bottles, including the ever popular Blue Moon, and a few draft beers), wines and spirits. Prices were really good, and they were happy to set up a tab (which seems to be becoming increasingly difficult in many places).

We had breakfast there on Sunday morning. It's buffet style, with loads of options. The staff were working tirelessly to keep the hot food stocked up and done a fantastic job. They also done some to-order items such as omelette and poached eggs, getting these on our table in no time.

The location is great, minutes from the Royal Mile, the Grassmarket and Haymarket train station.

I can't recommend this hotel enough. We really enjoy staying here and the refurbished rooms were a...

Great stay – but genuinely shocked by the service

We've stayed at Premier Inns many times and always found them reliable – clean rooms, good value, and decent service. Unfortunately, this particular stay left us questioning whether that reputation still holds.

After a few days, we politely asked at reception if our room could be cleaned and the towels changed. The receptionist looked at me like I’d grown a second head or asked something completely outrageous. After a pause of awkward disbelief, she finally muttered, “It might get done.” No reassurance, no apology, just vague indifference. My wife and I shared a baffled look – half expecting her to laugh and say “only joking” – but no. Apparently, our request was deeply inconvenient.

Still bemused, we walked a few metres around to the bar – which is visible from the reception desk – and waited, expecting someone to serve us. Five minutes passed. A few polite coughs and some subtle glances later, the same receptionist clocked that we were standing there and… walked off in the opposite direction. No explanation, no eye contact. More disbelief from us.

Eventually, she returned to inform us that we couldn’t be served because her colleague was on a break and we'd have to wait ten minutes. No offer of help, no apology – just a flat “you’ll have to wait.” At this point, we honestly thought we were on a hidden camera show.

The whole experience left us wondering if we were being unreasonable for expecting basic hospitality. We weren’t asking for anything extravagant – just a clean towel and a drink. Instead, we got indifference and attitude.

Really disappointed this time around. We’ve always recommended Premier Inn in the past, but after this experience, we’ll be thinking twice. It’s such a shame – the room itself was absolutely fine. But service like this really makes you reconsider ever...