Edinburgh SC Reviews 3

I was happy to find this site as I was booking a little late in the season but had precise requirements. I needed a spacious flat near the centre of Edinburgh with room for at least two couples and a baby.
I found the flat on the top floor of Parliament Square which looked just perfect, and booked. Booking receipt came right away by email, after I paid a deposit. I paid the remaining value a couple of weeks later and this was confirmed by another auto email. the booking on the site was updated with the details and this told me that nearer the time I would have to pay a damage deposit and then would receive detailed instructions about reaching the flat.

In the meantime I checked Trustpilot as I wanted to hear others comment on whether I could expect to hear from them as promised - saw two bad reviews and got rather worried. As it turned out it was needless worry.

In fact I received an email two weeks before arriving, asking what time we would arrive with full details about any late arrival arrangements (and fees) and a request to confirm one hour before arrival. I wrote back later that evening, and got an immediate personal reply answering a couple of questions I'd had.

The next day there was a mail requesting the damage deposit, which I paid the next day again and got an automatic confirmation by mail.

A couple of days before arrival, our plans changed so I wrote to the customer support to ask if we could check in 3 hours earlier. I received a reply within an hour that of course we could, just remember to phone before arrival. The day before arrival, an email arrived with full check in details.

We phoned as requested and got through quickly to a rep who told us the name of the guy who would meet us. He wasn't outside the flat when we arrived but he popped out within 5 minutes and carried our luggage up to the top floor. Showed us around (I made him do it in detail so I could be confident about the washer, dishwasher, heating system etc) - I asked for a clothes airer which he arranged - it was delivered within ten minutes. The baby chair and bed were there as requested.

There were full details in the apartment as to how to operate the equipment in the kitchen and the fireplace, how to leave the flat, where to bin the rubbish etc. Also about what to do in the area, local hospitals if required, lots of restaurant recommendations.

Beautiful flat, with lots of room and excellent location. It all lived up to the description on the website. There was street noise at weekends and at night until around 00:30 but it varied and wasn't a problem - was to be expected in a central location. Lack of elevator had been advised earlier. No aircon of course, but the windows opened.
The kitchen had all the appliances we could dream of but the usual eclectic mix of crockery, pots, pans, cutlery with only four forks, but loads of knives, a grater but no scissors etc - we had to think creatively but managed. There was barely enough toilet paper for the week (2 rolls) and only 3 tiny toiletries - 60ml of shower gel, shampoo and conditioner to be shared between 4 people. so best view these as a stop-gap and take or purchase your own. However cleaning supplies (dishwasher tabs, washing powder) were adequate (bring a couple of j-cloths though).
There was supposed to be coffee, tea, sugar, salt, pepper and milk in the apartment - again just a stop gap, as quantities varied (e.g. there was no pepper or milk but loads of tea bags).

Two days after leaving the apartment the deposit has been returned in full.

I honestly don't have anything negative to say about the customer service.

ESC: Thanks very much for our stay in Edinburgh!

If I could give no stars I would. How can a company through this very unsettling time with Coronavirus cancel your stay (which I appreciated had to be done) but then take 50% of the total cost of the holiday from you!!!!! Shame on you!!!

We had the unfortunate experience of booking with Edinburgh Self Catering Ltd for a stay over Xmas (initially in Apartment 3, 1 Parliament Square and then Edmonstone Suite, Edinburgh).
From the moment we booked our break communication was poor. Following the acknowledgement of our booking email, the only further communication we received was 2 emails prior to our stay to state how much money was left to pay and the due date. I would usually expect an email closer to the time with further instruction about the accommodation and to check we whether we had any questions or concerns but there was no courtesy contact at all. In fact when I did contact them to enquire about parking in the area, I was simply sent a link to a car parking website to look into it myself! I even had to call them an hour prior to our arrival to find out what was happening as I hadn't heard from them and was worried whether our accommodation would be available to us.
The first apartment (Parliament Sq) was good in terms of decor but was unbearably noisy. What they fail to tell you in their advertising is that there is an alleyway immediately beside the apartment which has a funnelling effect on the noise from the 3 pubs/bars either end and in the middle of the alley. It literally sounded like we had drunk people in our bedrooms until 5.30am in the morning so none of us got any sleep all night. This was dangerous to my husband who has severe epilepsy triggered by stress and lack of sleep, we therefore asked to move apartments. The owner Glen Ford did agree to move us and acknowledged that the noise levels were particularly bad at this apartment however they only had two places available so he recommended the better of the two - I can honestly say it is one of the worst places I've have stayed in my life - it was a filthy dirty health hazard but as I knew there were no better options available we decided to try and tolerate it for the sake of our two young children so as not to ruin their xmas (we had driven from Norfolk to Edinburgh for this xmas break). We actually cut our break short and drove home on boxing day instead of having a further couple of days in Edinburgh as we couldn't tolerate the apartment any longer. Following our return (& receipt of my £200 damage deposit) I contacted the owner, Glen Ford to advise him of the problems we had experienced and to let him know his cleaners were definitely not cleaning the apartment. I advised him that there was thick black mould on the kitchen wall causing a major health hazard (which aggravated my sons asthma) and huge amounts of built up dirt and grime throughout the apartment. The cleaners had even left dirty socks under the sofa and bed (I guess I should be grateful it wasn't dirty pants!). The photos they have on their website of the property we stayed in were clearly taken many years ago and it had been poorly maintained ever since.
Having sent in excess of 40 photos to Glen, of how disgustingly dirty and dangerously unhygienic the property was, I was shocked beyond belief at his rude and dismissive response basically calling me a liar! I responded to Glen that the photos speak for themselves and he was clearly choosing to ignore the evidence sent but Glen has chosen to ignore my future attempts to contact him and is not responding to me.
As business owners ourselves, if i had received such concerning evidence I would act immediately but Glens reaction was to basically call me a liar and then ignore me!
We paid almost £200 per night for the hell hole we ended up staying in and the very least I would expect would be a clean and safe place to stay - this was neither! We were offered no form of compensation from this company despite having ruined our xmas, causing the inconvenience of losing a day to pack up and move to a cheaper apartment and to then have to leave early due to the disgusting state the apartment was i! Whilst I would recommend Edinburgh as an amazing place to visit, I would strongly advise you steer clear of this company who are very quick to take your hard-earned money for properties that don't come close to being worth what they charge. They have no care for the substandard accommodation they deliver to their customers to the point where despite putting us in cheaper accommodation we were not even offered the difference in price as a refund. There are many more reputable companies who offer good standards of accommodation for a lot less money, so I would strongly urge anyone to steer clear of this cowboy outfit and book elsewhere!