Overview

This is my third review for the hotel. It has now become my go to place to stay when I am in Edinburgh. On my recent visit to Scotland I had stayed in this Travelodge on 14 - 16 April 2024, then had 3 nights on a coach tour, and was booked to stay in an accessible room on 18 April 2024, for one night when I arrived back from my coach tour. I had told the staff on duty during my stay that I would be returning on the Friday night. I was therefore shocked to arrive on the Friday at about 6.40pm to be informed that they had no accessible room for me as the building was being refurbished. Please see comments about staff below to see how this was handled. But the quick answer was I had to stay at another hotel. I've had a reply from Travelodge and I have put it in the Additional information section if anyone want to read it.

Transport & Parking

See previous reviews for information on public transport.

Access

Unable to comment regarding this visit as I was unable to stay there.

Toilets

Unable to comment regarding this visit as I was unable to stay there.

Staff

I had booked an accessible room at the Travelodge Waterloo Place on 28 January 2024 for the night of 19 April 2024. The booking had been confirmed two and half months in advance. When I arrived at 6.40pm, there were two members of staff on at the reception desk, one remembered seeing me on Monday night when my cousin called for me at reception to go out. I was told that there was no accessible room available for me and this was because the building was being refurbished. During my stay on 14 - 16 April 2024, I had mentioned to a couple members of staff that I would be returning on 19 April 2024, and no one suggested that there was a problem with the booking, therefore I assume the accessible room booked for me was given to another customer. On Friday, the female receptionist informed me that the Travelodge had tried to call me earlier that day and had been unable to get through to me. Although politely said, it was implied that the matter had not been resolved as I had been unreachable on my phone, and they had done everything they could to resolve it. Rather than Travelodge's failure to provide me with an accessible room as booked or inability to leave a message and asking me to phone them back. I had on my phone two miss calls from an unrecognised number both at 4.23pm that day. No message had been left on my answer machine to say that the Travelodge had called or to request me to call back. I had received the call while traveling on the coach, so my mobile was on silent not to disturb other passengers. As I did not recognise the number and no message was left, I did not call assuming it was spam. I was told that they were going to put me in the family suite. I therefore asked if the toilet had grab rails and a wet room shower as these are my access needs to ensure I can go to the toilet and wash safety. The staff on reception were unsure and had to go to check. The member of staff came back saying the room didn't have a toilet. They then said that they would have to outsource me, which made me feel like a package. The staff started looking for an alternative accessible room for me in another Edinburgh Travelodge. Queen Street and Rose Street were both mentioned. The female member of staff said that there were steps up to the entrance of the Queen Street Travelodge, although it is advertised as having accessible rooms. In the meantime I had been doing my own search on the Travelodge website and also checking on a map the locations. Rose Street was selected as it was nearer. Waterloo Place staff confirmed the booking with Rose Street and then I was told that Rose Street was saying I would have to pay the difference. I refused saying it was Travelodge error and I should not have to pay for that. Waterloo Place staff then sorted it out that I would not have to pay the difference. The staff at Waterloo Place also arranged for a taxi to take me to the Travelodge at Rose Street, when I asked how I was going to get there with my suitcase. There was no charge for the taxi. The taxi arrived at 7.10pm and took me to the Travelodge in Rose Street.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The whole thing was a distressing experience. It had been a long day travelling by coach from the Isle of Mull, when I arrived at Waterloo Place I wanted to check in, take a shower and go to bed, my spoons were ridiculously low after a busy day traveling. Arriving at a hotel you booked in advance, to be told we do not have a room for you comes at quite a shock, especially as I had stayed at the hotel a couple of days earlier and had no problem obtaining an accessible room and having a great stay. I am very disappointed in Travelodge, firstly for allocating my accessible room to someone else, secondly for not checking the family room was accessible before I arrived, and thirdly for not making provisional alternative arrangements with another Travelodge in Edinburgh City Centre until I arrived. If this has been done, it would have reduced the anxiety and disappointment the hotel caused. I am feeling very anxious now about this occurring somewhere else, when I am on holiday. I hope the hotel learns from this experience to ensure that other disabled customers, including disabled children, who require an accessible room to safely meet their access needs are provided for. REPLY FROM TRAVELODGE ON 29/04/2024 Dear Ms Hodgkinson Thank you for your contact. I would like to thank you for taking the time to explain your experience to us, in addition for your continued patience while the matter was investigated. We have taken your comments very seriously and the Hotel Management team have been involved with investigating this issue thoroughly. I am very sorry to hear that your room was not available for you upon your arrival at our Edinburgh Central Waterloo Place hotel. I understand the hotel team offered you a room at our Edinburgh Rose Street hotel. Should a hotel not be able to accommodate a guest's accessible room booking, we have procedures in place with the assistance of our Booking Support Team to make sure that a suitable alternative is arranged and any travel expenses are covered. May I express my apologies that the team did not leave a voice message when they could not get through to you prior to your arrival on this occasion, and I fully appreciate that this matter could have been handled differently. This is not indicative of the high standard of service we strive to provide and it is a very regrettable situation. We have since gone through additional training with the team and followed through with some Coach & Advice with individuals to drive consistency in standards between them all. I can confirm that a refund for the full amount of the booking of £XX has been issued to go back to the card used for the booking for you today. Please allow 3-5 working days for this to reflect within your account. Once again, I am truly sorry for the upset caused on this occasion. I hope your experience has not deterred you from staying with us in the future so we are able to restore your faith in our brand, giving the perfect stay we hope for. Kind regards, Tyler Dawson Customer Services Priority Team