It was at the very end of my Scotland adventure that I stayed one night at the Inn on the Mile. Having just returned from Inverness on the train, I rolled my suitcase up the Northbridge past the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton where I had stayed 3 nights previously (and loved it), and checked in to the very sweet room #2 at the Inn. This hotel is actually very unique, having once been a bank. Its tall, narrow shape is host to only 9 guest rooms which are accessible only by stairs. There is no lift in this hotel due to its historic designation. Thankfully my room was only on the first floor (that’s 2nd floor to my American friends).
First, I was astonished at the room and the amaaaaaaaazing views of the Royal Mile! I had a corner room with four windows facing the Royal Mile and Southbridge. Three windows are shown here; the fourth window is in the bathroom.
The next surprise was the incredible bathroom. I have never seen such a bathroom! There were separate glass enclosures for both the shower and the toilet, and there was a huge bathtub in the center of the room. How I desperately wanted to take a bath, but my stay was very brief there.
The surprises and nice touches continued….. I was left a free bottle of prosecco for booking online! It wasn’t chilled but it was still lovely. Along with the wine, they left 4 beautiful little macarons.
Even after all that, I was still offered a welcome drink down in the pub which I heartily welcomed. I had a nice glass of red wine, and enjoyed the historic yet kinda hipster decor of the pub/restaurant downstairs.
My entire very brief stay was so lovely. In fact the only drawback to the whole thing is the insane amount of street noise that comes in. Of course being right in the heart of the Royal Mile this is to be expected, and people were out partying until at least 3am. The hotel has made an effort to reduce the noise with an entirely additional set of windows over the old original ones. Unfortunately it doesn’t help much.
Luckily for me, I had to get up at 4am so it’s not like I was going to be sleeping much anyway. I just got up and enjoyed the Nespresso machine in the room for a couple cups of coffee. Then I made my way down to the Waverley Bridge to catch the 5:30a Airlink 100 to the airport.
All in all, I would love to return to the Inn on the Mile, but I might bring earplugs next time!
