Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor hotel is leaving the chain tomorrow

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• ChrisC says:

  29 Apr29 April 03:43

  Royal Albion – ‘nuff said.

  Let’s just say it does not have the best reputation!

  • Nick says:

    29 Apr29 April 05:28

    One word, “Gross”!

    There is no way that I’d have eaten anything there because, with the obvious poor management attitude towards cleanliness & hygiene, you can surely expect the same issues in the hotel kitchen.

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      29 Apr29 April 08:48

      Was it just me, or did it appear she had fried bread and mistook it for French toast?

      No surprise it was on the greasy side then!

      Hotel is well situated, is it just too small for a proper hotel chain to take on?

      • Andy says:

        29 Apr29 April 11:26

        Yes! I know that fried bread isn’t exactly a staple of breakfast buffets anymore, but I was surprised someone mixed the two up, and also that no one else in the noticed before it was published.

• Delbert says:

  29 Apr29 April 05:23

  My wife and I are now in Thailand having taken advantage of the Lufthansa/SWISS offer from last August/September that Rob did an article on at that time. It was our first indirect flight to LOS and was a bit wary of what to expect from SWISS business class.

  The first leg of LHR-ZRH started ominously enough with our flight nearly an hour and a half late due to the inbound flight being delayed out of ZRH due to high winds. Though, that said, the crew were pleasant and the catering and seat perfectly adequate.

  We then only had an hour in the SWISS lounge at E gate in ZRH. Again, the lounge was perfectly acceptable and certainly no complaints from us.

  Boarding for the second leg of ZRH-BKK was a bit of a free-for-all as there was no queuing system in place but we managed to get on and settled before the masses descended.

  Anyway, the actual flight to BKK was actually very good. The hard and soft products were well above average and the cabin crew were outstanding. Our only complaint was that the cabin was far too cold but definitely not the end of the world.

  I don’t like making comparisons in reviews but, on this occasion, I will as it’s relevant to us as we’ve only ever travelled to LOS directly, i.e, EVA, Thai and BA. So, SWISS business class, in our humble opinion, was on par with EVA, an improvement on Thai and light years ahead of BA. Even with the upcoming BA refurb the BA cabin crew we invariably come across don’t seem motivated or are just plain rude, or both, so no matter how good the forthcoming hard product will be, the crew will always be a negative for us.

  We’ve been using BA for the last few years due to the morning landing time in BKK. Thai is too early or too late and EVA also lands mid to late afternoon. We prefer to land at about 0930 so we can have a better sleep on the evening of arrival. It’s hard to sleep on the first night in BKK when landing at 1500 to 1600. SWISS and BA have the prime landing times for us.

  This indirect trip has got us thinking now. Personally, we do prefer direct but having taken our first indirect flight we are more open to suggestion going forward as long as the first leg isn’t too far and we can get a good eight hours sleep on the second leg.

  And thanks to Rob for the original article.

  • BJ says:

    29 Apr29 April 05:57

    Interesting feedback, I flew Swiss to Asia eight times in the past, 6x business and 2x First. I never really took to them but it was in the days before they introduced their new seat. I found the service too impersonal, the food in business class disappointing, and the transit in Zurich not very smooth. There was’t anything really wrong with them but nothing memorable either. I certainly wouldn’t choose them over any of the direct options except in a deal such as you got. I take it your duty free went hassle fred since there’s no comment 🙂

    • Delbert says:

      29 Apr29 April 06:12

      Well remembered and thanks, BJ.

      I only purchased cigarettes and no problem, whatsoever.

      I did some research on getting from D gate to E gate at ZRH before travelling and glad I did as it would have been an easy mistake to make to move towards passport control on the way from D to E.

      You make a good point about direct versus indirect as I would be hard pushed to pay full price on SWISS when we could get a direct flight for the same price. We’ll play it by ear going forward, though.

      We can cope with BA for short haul European flights but we’ve pretty much settled on avoiding BA long haul unless it’s absolutely necessary.

      • BJ says:

        29 Apr29 April 06:40

        I’m fine with BA as I can sleep fine in CW and usually sleep most of the way on most flights.

  • Wollhouse says:

    29 Apr29 April 06:45

    Kind of related….how does BA compare? I’m flying CW Lhr to BKK. i eat fish but not meat. A previous flight with KLM had some lovely menu options… I’ve read on some forums that in CW if you preorder a special meal, it’s the same meal as they serve in economy? I’ve had the Asian vegetarian option in BA PE which was actually reasonable, but not what I’d expect In CW. BA doesn’t offer Pescatarian as an option, which is a shame as they often have nice salmon starters which you’d obviously not get under Asian Veg special meals. Does BA really serve you the same preordered special meal in CW that you’d get in PE?? Thanks

    • Delbert says:

      29 Apr29 April 06:59

      I haven’t a clue about special meals, Wollhouse. But you may know that you can book your outbound meal a month prior to departure and there’s always been a fish main on the menu. Unfortunately that doesn’t work on the return leg as it’s wait and see what’s onboard, but IIRC nearly always a fish and / or seafood option available. I hope this helps.

      • BJ says:

        29 Apr29 April 07:20

        Yes, often something with shrimp or fish. I’ve had the fish with yellow curry which appears often, it comes with steamed rice, mange tout and baby corn. It was ok, Coming back there is often fish or shrimp too but you cannot prebook. Starters in both directions often, but not always, comorise shrimp or smoked salmon.

      • Wollhouse says:

        30 Apr30 April 07:40

        Thanks Delbert and BJ. Think I’ll give the precooked a miss then!

  • Nick_C says:

    29 Apr29 April 07:01

    I’m always open to an indirect route, but not sure how Lagos Nigeria (LOS) fits into this story.

    Never helpful to use a TLA without explaining it!

    • Brian says:

      29 Apr29 April 07:09

      Good for tier points.

    • Genghis says:

      29 Apr29 April 07:11

      Land of Smiles = Thailand, an accepted acronym IMO. Not all speak IATA.

      • delbert says:

        29 Apr29 April 07:20

        +1

      • Nick_C says:

        29 Apr29 April 07:58

        Indeed, but when the post already had 3 IATA codes in it, this looked like another one. Took me a while to figure it out. Thanks for explaining.

    • delbert says:

      29 Apr29 April 07:21

      What’s a TLA, Nick_C?

      • Darren says:

        29 Apr29 April 08:33

        Bravo

    • reddot says:

      29 Apr29 April 07:30

      Glad you asked. I was wondering which airport it was!

      • sayling says:

        29 Apr29 April 08:56

        +1

      • David says:

        29 Apr29 April 10:13

        I wasn’t wondering – I was skim-reading and saw it was a post about flying on Swiss to Lagos, and thought I wouldn’t bother reading the rest. It was only when I saw the reply about flying BA to BKK that I wondered how that was in any way related to flying Swiss to Nigeria…

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      29 Apr29 April 08:51

      WTF is a TLA?

      🙂

      • sayling says:

        29 Apr29 April 08:58

        Three Letter Acronym or Three Letter Abbreviation

        Often used in a context to point out to someone obsessed with using them, that not everyone will understand them

      • sayling says:

        29 Apr29 April 08:59

        YMMV if you place a smiley after it, rather than a wink emoticon…

• BJ says:

  29 Apr29 April 06:05

  The which team have obviously not been to HGI Glasgow, or I just got unlucky there. The cleanest individual hotel I ever stayed in UK was Doubletree Westminster. Happy to see Edinburgh Grosvenor leave, it was my worst ever hotel stay anywhere in the world.

  • John says:

    29 Apr29 April 06:29

    I had mediocre, but not bad, experiences at HGI Glasgow and Edinburgh Grosvenor, so I’d say you got unlucky.

    • BJ says:

      29 Apr29 April 06:51

      At HGI Glasgow I was sent to a room that was best described as half made up. Replacement room was fine but many surfaces were dusty. Otherwise stay was ok. Grosvenor was something else: water through the ceiling, a broken window, bill for calls not made, a room little bigger than a double bed, and a duty manager shouting at guests in the lobby.

      • Lady London says:

        29 Apr29 April 11:56

        So other than that you quite liked it then, BJ?
        🙂

      • BJ says:

        29 Apr29 April 13:42

        @LadyLondon, yes indeed, I was overcome with sundden peace and joy while waiting to check out! It was a few years before we we came to live in Edinburgh, for the New Year, everything else except the hotel was great.

• Jo says:

  29 Apr29 April 06:23

  OT: I applied for and was accepted for platinum card on Thursday. How soon will I get the priority pass cards? I fly out on Friday. 🙁

  • BJ says:

    29 Apr29 April 06:55

    Usually same day as the card. If not and you need it in a hurry just call PP and tbey sill give you thd details to set up the app which has a virtual card.

• Ant says:

  29 Apr29 April 06:43

  OT: flights to HK. We booked the LON-HK one way last week using a 241. Now plan on getting the HK-LON tomorrow when they come out. Am I right in thinking that to save taxes I should book them online using 180.000 points and then call Ba later in the day to combine the flights and reimburse me 90.000 Avios?
  Do I call the US number or the wait for the UK yo open? Any other things I should keep in mind.
  Is there any chance they might ask me to pay the higher taxes once combined?
  Thanks

  • Genghis says:

    29 Apr29 April 07:14

    Book online. Call UK in morning.
    Just say you’d like the avios refunded. Has worked for me before.

  • Craig says:

    29 Apr29 April 07:30

    I did exactly that two weeks ago, no change in taxes on the return.

    • Craig says:

      29 Apr29 April 07:31

      To second question, I called BA in the UK around lunchtime, I don’t think there is any rush to call first thing.

  • Darren says:

    29 Apr29 April 08:43

    If you can manage the extra Avios and it’s available I’d suggest upgrading to First. I’ve just flown LHR to Hong Kong and it’s worth the extra imho, cabin crew were very good although the food could be better.

• Max says:

  29 Apr29 April 06:55

  I stayed at the Britannia Adelphi in Liverpool last year, guest of a multinational electronics firm. We saw the corporate booking on the way and though that at £260/night, it would be good. But that was the rate for 5 rooms and it was awful. Worse than many hostels in SE Asia, although no cockroaches. Dates, filthy , uncomfortable and full of unhappy coach parties from Newcastle.

• Ryan says:

  29 Apr29 April 07:04

  Hilton Grosvenor in Edinburgh is a dreadful hotel.

  Been a few months since HGI Glasgow, but there soon, so hopefully all will be well

• Boi says:

  29 Apr29 April 07:12

  Re: hilton offer- do reward count? eg, we have 2 nights coming soon. can we stay 1 night as a reward night in 1 hotel then move second night to a paid stay in a different hotel to earn double points?

  • Rob says:

    29 Apr29 April 07:36

    They almost certainly will because reward stays trigger 1 night elite stay credit which is what Hilton’s IT will look for.

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