The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte hotel — Hotel in City of Edinburgh

The in-city hotel experience can be often marred by compromises. Cities are busy, quick-paced, and cramped. Only exceptional hotels, like the Mandarin Oriental, for instance, can manage to make a city-centered stay still feel like a luxurious escape. Unfortunately, the Balmoral is not one of these exceptional hotels.

Upon our arrival, the not-so-expansive lobby was a crowded madhouse—a design flaw we observed from the get-go. When we checked in, our room was not ready. We were welcomed to join the crowded bar of others waiting and buy ourselves a drink, if, of course, we were able to flag down a server to do so.

When finally assigned to a room (it was never announced as ready, we had to personally check in again and discover that for ourselves, and then walk ourselves there), it was the first room outside of the elevator and with an adjoining door to the next room, of which we could hear every movement and word uttered by our neighboring guests. When we asked if other rooms were available, we were shown a smaller room akin to a hostel. Lovely.

We toured the facilities and realized the hotel's amenities left much to be desired. Their "gym" consisted of a treadmill, cycle machine, and about 4 feet of square space to dance about if you so desire.

Later that night, we dined at Number One, the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant. They were featuring a more-expensive-than-usual New Year's menu that was described as "special" but not featuring anything uncommon to their typical fare. The amuse bouche was excellent as were many of the earlier courses. The scallop, however, was stringy, and the sea bass underwhelming. About midway through the meal, the service slowed nearly to a halt. The time between removing the previous course and delivering the next was averaging between 20 to 30 minutes. A table next to us, however, came in after us and left before us.

The next morning, due to being "so busy," the breakfast was moved from the restaurant into the ballroom, where they had set up card tables and cheap wedding rental chairs around a buffet. When we ordered pancakes off the hot menu we were told to just get them off the buffet, the ones that had been sitting on a heater. They were inedible. The buffet also featured a tin filled with precooked fried eggs that looked plastic. Service here was also slow, and the haggis gave me food poisoning. I see now why the U.S. has banned it.

We then went to see the castle and national museum, all conveniently close by and easy to reach on foot, but upon our return at 3 p.m., our room had still not been serviced. After all that walking we were dying to put our feet up and hydrate, so this was especially annoying. We called for service, and after 30 minutes, we called again and asked to speak to management. All they did was apologize and promise service was on the way.

Eventually but reluctantly, the manger invited us to come down to the bar and have a round of drinks on the house. We agreed for no other reason other than to finally get some water. The manager personally escorted us into the bar, introduced us to the bar manager and seated us for our drinks. After that no one came by or spoke to us for 15 minutes. At that time, I got up, stormed out, and went back to reception. A receptionist asked how he could help me. I didn't know where to begin, so I simply asked, "Can I have a glass of water?"

He hesitated, then awkwardly walked back into the bar, and slowly returned with a single glass of tap water (!) which I handed to my partner and then looked at him to imply we would obviously need another.

Feeling hopeless, we immediately returned to our room, still being cleaned, and started packing for another hotel. There was no effort to keep us upon checkout, just more hollow apologies.

Days later the Balmoral responded to a survey of our stay and offered us two free nights on our next visit. I'm sorry, Balmoral, but this experience was truly once in a lifetime, and I'd like...

Our 10-year anniversary stay at The Balmoral was meant to be a once-in-a-decade celebration, but instead, it was completely ruined by a series of shocking service failures, incompetence, and an outright refusal from management to properly rectify the situation.

From the moment we arrived, it was clear that this hotel does not operate at a five-star standard. Our check-in process was a complete disaster—the receptionist left us standing in silence for 15 minutes while struggling to find upgrade options, only to eventually offer us a single overpriced alternative (£350 extra per night). There was no apology, no explanation, just an awkward and unprofessional start to what should have been a special occasion.

Then came another issue—we were given the wrong room number. After lugging our bags upstairs, we discovered that our keys didn’t work. I had to go all the way back down to reception, where another staff member casually informed me that we had been given incorrect details in the first place. Again, no apology, just sheer incompetence.

When we finally got into our room, we were greeted with what was meant to be a “welcome card,” but instead, it misgendered my partner, despite the fact that I had been in contact with the hotel beforehand to ensure this didn’t happen. This kind of mistake is not just careless—it’s outright offensive. It was particularly upsetting on what was supposed to be a special trip for us, and it left us feeling like The Balmoral either does not care about LGBTQ+ guests or simply does not prioritise guest experience at all.

Despite raising these serious concerns, management failed to take any meaningful action to make things right. After multiple complaints, we were eventually upgraded for just one night, but this did nothing to undo the damage already done. Our first night—our actual anniversary—was ruined, and rather than offering a real solution, they offered a bottle of champagne and an empty apology.

We made what should have been a reasonable request—a complimentary night in the future so we could experience The Balmoral properly, without the failures and stress we endured this time. Instead, management flat-out refused, despite the fact that the J.K. Rowling Suite was sitting empty that night, meaning they could have easily accommodated us to make amends. Instead, they offered a minor upgrade on a future visit—assuming we’d even want to return after such a terrible experience!

It is crystal clear that The Balmoral does not care about its guests, nor does it take accountability for its mistakes. They had multiple chances to make this right, yet they refused at every opportunity.

I would strongly advise anyone considering this hotel to look elsewhere. If you want a hotel that actually values its guests and understands what five-star service means, this is not the place for you. I will not be returning, and I will be encouraging others to...

I had recently moved to the UK from the United States after a lengthy visa process to finally close the gap on my long-distance relationship with my wife after 9 and 1/2 years. I took some time off to get settled into the UK and she had made the great idea to visit Edinburgh; a city that was new to both of us and we heard was beautiful. On a whim, we chose to stay at the Balmoral due to my benefits as an American Express Platinum cardholder. We had relatively high expectations going in blind as The Balmoral is a 5-star hotel and a part of American Express' Fine Hotel and Resorts program as well as being a hotel that have seen prestigious guests including the late Queen Mother.

With this, The Balmoral completely exceeded our expectations. From the moment we approached the door, there was a lovely gentleman that greeted us and brought our bags in while we were awe-struck with the beautiful reception and gorgeous Christmas tree. Every staff member that we encountered after was extremely friendly and accommodating to our requests. The room we had, an Executive room facing Old Town, felt like a home away from home rather than a foreign hotel room. We chose to eat dinner and breakfast at the Bar Prince downstairs and everything we had was completely delicious. All the service we received was just absolutely amazing. The reception staff also gave us several places to visit as it was our first time in Edinburgh and we appreciated all of their genuine advice.

When we arrived, we were also interested in attending their famous Afternoon Tea in Palm Court but unfortunately were completely booked out. However, they went ahead and put us on the waiting list and called to inform us that they had made a spot for us. Their Afternoon Tea was divine and we only regret that we didn't leave enough room in our stomachs to fully enjoy the food and started to run out of time because we needed to check out (even with late checkout being an option).

The only thing that wasn't perfect for me on this trip was I wasn't able to make an appointment at their spa for an Ishga Hot Rock massage as they were fully booked out, but that was more my fault for not making an appointment earlier.

If you are coming to Edinburgh and are considering a luxurious hotel stay, please consider The Balmoral and its excellent experience. Its location is superb right next to the train station, their food is amazing, and their staff are the most accommodating and friendly hotel staff I've met. My wife and I wholeheartedly recommend...