Finding a hotel room for work

[Loloblue]

First world problem I know but I have to go to Edinburgh for work on the first weekend of December - their cap on room spend is £150 and it's virtually impossible to find a hotel (with a window) at this room rate... any ideas for places? But honestly bigger picture what the actual f..? How is it so expensive?

Are you Civil Service? I've had the same problem when trying to book in London.- I spoke to my line manager and he just agreed that I could book the cheapest room 'outside policy'. Not your fault if policy hasn't kept pace with inflation.

Oh thanks. Good to know. No it's HE. But clearly it's not keeping up with reality... I would be happy with a b n b outside central but that's not even an option! Will bring this up with management. X

They want you to go, they should provide a decent budget

How about Premier Inn Edinburgh East https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/scotland/lothian/edinburgh/edinburgh-east.html

Its the Christmas market.

I used to book on Air bnb when I worked in Edinburgh.

Have you looked at the Holiday Inn Express in Leith? It’s right on the tram line to get into the city centre. Or the Holday Inn at the zoo, it’s on a very regular bus route.

Weekends in December are going to be expensive because for some inexplicable reason the Christmas tat market is very popular.

For example

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/34668174?viralityEntryPoint=1&s=76

What part of Edinburgh are you visiting? If it's the city centre then there are a few Travelodges that may come in at budget (try the Queen Street one). Otherwise look on the outskirts and travel in. Edinburgh is a really small city.

I work in HE admin booking travel and Airbnb isn't allowed.

Does your institution have a travel company that you make bookings through? We do this and can set a cap on price. I have also noticed though that our expense policy - while updated recently into a fancy new document on the intranet - has not been updated to reflect CoL and in fact is capped at £110 outside London 😂

You are unlikely to find a hotel in the city centre at that price. Edinburgh is a bit like London when it comes to hotel prices. Look at somewhere like Edinburgh Park or Leith. You can get from both to the city centre by tram/train in less than 30 minutes.

I work in HE and travel regularly. There are just some places where finding a hotel in budget is impossible. I speak to my finance manager and explain the situation.

which weekend, I'm happy to do a search and suggest some places for you.
It's expensive because it's a capital city, popular with tourists all year round, it's Xmas market & Xmas party season, and £150 doesn't go far these days.

Easyhotel Edinburgh. If you join the loyalty scheme you get a 10 percent discount too

Edit - my recommendation is actually more expensive at the weekend! Didn’t read properly that it was weekend travel as unusual for a work trip

and which part of the city do you need to be in for your work event?

Is the fact you want a window pushing rooms out of price range

oh come on @rwalker a window shouldn't be too much to ask for!! Otherwise it's a cupboard ;)

Search for nearest your workplace on (eg) Premier Inn and sort by distance, nearest first.

Likely that if you scroll down you'll find somewhere not too far from the city centre. Otherwise speak to managers about excpetions policy to the prescribed budget.

Just contact your manager
Travelling for work is a pain in the arse, not a privilege.
If they want you to go they provide a decent hotel.

Another option would be the Travel lodge at Cameron Toll, plenty of buses into the centre and near the Kings Buildings campus if that’s where you’re going.

Thanks guys this is all really helpful. The finance person is going to approve a higher budget as I explained the situation to her. They don't want Airbnbs for some reason.... appreciate your help! X

They're helping with it now, thanks. £110 is probably a mouldy shoebox!