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Hotel Hell

Point Hotel Misses the Design Point

June 23, 2006 at 2:30 PM | 0 Comments

[Ed. Note: Hotel Maven Mnot recently took a business trip to Edinburgh and stayed in the Point Hotel. Paying 155 pounds a night, Mnot thought he was getting a deal especially since this hotel claims to be "one of the top 50 designer hotels in the world." However, he made the wrong decision as the trip did not live up to his expectations. Enjoy.]

The Point has taken particular pains to position itself as a design hotel, and some of their efforts have paid off. The Web site plays the part very well, and the restaurant and the lobby are appropriately sleek (perhaps too much so; checking in at 10pm, the lobby seemed more like a deserted office tower than somewhere welcoming).

However, once you actually get out of the lift, everything changes. The hallways are bare, with a few garish neon sculptures here and there on scuffed, hastily thrown-up walls; it inevitably reminds you of a college dorm gone wrong.

Once you're into the room (using a key!), things don't get much better. The carpet is the thinnest, cheapest imaginable, and once again, there's little in the way of decoration, beyond a few antiques that deserve a better setting. The room is tall and thin, feeling uncomfortably like a bowling alley.

Worst of all is the bathroom; there's some sort of weird 70's linoleum on the floor, peeling up in places, and lots of mould in the bath. Lots. To top it off, the only amenities are: toilet paper, shampoo (in a dispenser on the wall), and one bar of soap.

Did I mention the location? Sure, it's near the grassmarket, but it's also wedged between at least three lap dancing establishments, whose rowdy patrons you have to shoulder past on your way back each night. Fun.

The one bright spot was the staff; during the day, I found them very accommodating, helpful and cheerful; actually, they reminded me of some of the best hotel experiences I've had. Unfortunately, the night staff weren't so exemplary, but when are they?

I would really like to give the Point a good review; independent boutique hotels aren't easy to get off the ground, and harder to keep there. They provide a welcome change from the drudgery of the chains.

However, when you say that you're one of the top 50 in the world, you'd better follow through. I changed to the Radisson SAS on High Street halfway through my stay, and was very happy.

Related Stories:
· Point Hotel reviews [TripAdvisor]