Unite Students - Sugarhouse Close - Royal Mile

So glad we chose to stay here during the fringe as the prices for other "low cost" accomodation is astronomical at double the price! First things first. These are student rooms - you aren't going to get high end hotel facilities. What you will get however is a spacious clean room, facilities to cook if you need them, great easy check in and a fantastic location. 5 minutes walk in either direction will get you to the royal mile or Hollyrood park. We had great night's sleep for the 3 nights we were there - two of us slept fine in the small double bed. We were surprised to find toiletries, towels and ironing facilities given it is a student room so that was a bonus. Staff were lovely and friendly and brought extra pillows to our room when asked. Tesco right on the corner aswell. Couldn't have asked for more. Of course it was basic but it was clean and comfortable and a great experience, leaving us money to actually enjoy Edinburgh - the whole point of the visit (not to stay in the room!) The only point for comment is some friends stayed in another providers student accommodation and they had a breakfast option - no bother really as we got fresh croissants and juice from the Tesco and had breakfast in the nearby park at sunrise which was lovely but worth a thought given competition. And we had trouble regulating the temperature on the shower. Minimal gripes. We would happily stay here again and recommend to others.

This is basic accomodation that is normally used by Uni students. The staff at check in were friendly and helpful. We found it comfortable, clean and with all the amenities we needed including free wifi, a full size fridge, 2 burner stove, plates/cultlery etc. The location, at the end of the Royal Mile, is perfect and there is a Tesco just around the corner for food/alcohol needs. We had a flight of stairs to our room so be aware if you have mobility issues. I would stay here again.

This was just an awful place to stay, especially considering the price we paid. On arrival the reception staff seemed pretty indifferent and kept saying we could get into our flat sooner than the announced 15:00 hrs, but in the end we waited until 16:20, before allowed to check in. The "flat" itself, consisted of 3 separate bedrooms and a kitchen/living room. There was an awful smell of something the previous occupants must have been cooking and the flat was quite filthy - not just new filth, but some which had been there for some time by looks of it. The tea towel was dirty and used, the glasses / bowls had just been washed, but still showed residue on them and one duvet cover had a number of spots on it, drops of blood(?) and needed changing. There were still milk and other items left in the fridge from the previous occupants. The 'flat' was really basic, not enough furniture / seating areas to accommodate 6 people, which is the number the flat is advertised to cater for (we were 3), nor were there enough plates / bowls for 6 people either. There are no wall decorations what so ever, except for a bulletin board in all rooms (why a bulletin board?)..! The whole place basically bears witness of being a money-making machine for the owners. It was not cheap to stay in (perhaps the normal price for Edinburgh in the week leading up to the festival?), but the workmanship of fx. the shower cubicle was of an exeptional low quality - I do not think that any of the money going into the property are used for the property! The wifi solution was a joke - and did not work until we used a fake profile, made by the reception - and we were told by the staff, that it was quite a common occurance, that this did not work. The outside card-reading sensor by the door to and from the courtyard and the common room, was very temperamentful and more often than not, would not work. Our flat was situated in the near vicinity of the garbage cans and on 2 seperate occasions we saw rats there. As the cans get emtied, seemingly at all hours of the day - one time just after midnight - this was not the best location and we were woken up by the noise. We paid close to GBP 900 for 4 nights - what a total waste of money!