Review: Hilton Waldorf Astoria, Edinburgh

One thing about living in an amazing city is that quite often you don't actually get to enjoy some of the perks of that city! People generally save hotel stays for holidays, work trips and other travelling occasions and the Hilton Waldorf Astoria in Edinburgh falls into that category. Feeling like doing something different, we decided to have a stay-cation city break a couple weeks ago and booked a last minute top secret hotel on Lastminute.com.

Keeping our fingers crossed it was all it was described to be (they've taken the descriptions off the site, so you can't Google the top secret hotels anymore!), we were very pleased when we found out it was the newly renovated Waldorf, previously the Caledonian Hilton.

The hotel is stunning and the decor is tasteful and fitting. It's classy and elegant, but not dated or too old fashioned. We arrived on late Saturday afternoon and while there were some issues with our reservation, they dealt with it swiftly while we waiting with complimentary coffees in the Peacock Alley. Once it was sorted, we went to our room, which I think may have been upgraded, to a beautiful room with a view of Edinburgh Castle.

We had made reservations at the Galvin Brasserie De Luxe for supper. They were extremely attentive and the starter I had, a crab lasagne, was amazing. I'm still thinking and drooling about it as we speak. The staff were very helpful in choosing matching wine and offering recommendations on the meal. My OH had the steak, which was average according to him, and to be honest, I can't remember what I had, so I guess it didn't make a lasting impression - but the crab Lasagna did! Following this we spent the evening enjoying the ambiance and sipping champagne. As you do.

The bed and pillows were amazing. The sheets were lovely, soft and welcoming. The shower was a bit flimsy and there wasn't great water pressure, however the overly soft and perfect bath robes made up for it.

The next morning we had breakfast in bed and after check out we headed back to Peacock Alley for afternoon tea. The cakes and tea were absolutely lovely, the Pommery champagne cold and crisp. We enjoyed watching them push the champagne cart around and awed at the fact that they didn't break the glasses.

The whole experience was lovely and we really did feel like we had a trip away from home. While I've only stayed in one other 5 star hotel before, I would have to say that this visit didn't quite live up to the level of quality that we received at The Old Course Hotel in St. Andrews. I can't quite put my finger on the reason why, but there was definitely and element of it being a bit less, well, special. I would still recommend it and would stay again (after trying some other places that Edinburgh has to offer!) Part of it may be that people like us get cheap deals, whereas other 5 star establishments are more strict on their no offers policy, so you can't just pretend and play the part like we tend to do.

I've heard great things about the main restaurant, The Pompadour, which we haven't tried, but may do in the future. I definitely want to come back for an Afternoon tea session with the girls.