Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa

We received an afternoon tea voucher as a gift, We are book nerds and this Scottish literary themed delight was very pleasing. Let’s move the food to the side for a second and talk about the venue. There is a large stairway at the front of the hotel but if you go to the left there is a ramp. Right from the start we were greeted by welcoming staff who took us to the dining area. As we booked in advance, the perfect table was arranged with space all around it and a comfortable space for my wheelchair (and it fitted under the table!). I was led to an accessible toilet, and there was room to do one doughnut as there is very little clutter. My only grumble is that the red cord was tied up. I sorted this and put a red cord card in place. The staff were lovely, always helpful, always friendly! Back to the food, this is the most artistic and creative afternoon tea that we have ever had. Each item was based on a Scottish book, poem or author. The imagination that was put into this experience was outstanding!

I was suprised to see ONESpa recommended on the main Edinburgh page. I treated myself to a visit just after new year as I have a thing for outdoor pools. However I walk with a stick and can't manage long distances. While I have acceptable eyesight with correction, once my lenses are out I'm a bit lost. Parking is a bit confusing even with assistance from Google and it's a long way to the spa complex from the car park. It's badly signposted within the spa- I never found several of the facilities. There are lifts to most of the levels but there is a long walking distance between facilities and the changing rooms are tiny. There are steps up to the main pool and into it. The outdoor pool is lovely but badly designed, it's not possible to lie down on the 'beds' within it without getting a cold front, the beds are too high compared to the watet level. There are lots of benches to recline on but they were all too low for me to use. There's also no seating at the mirror in the changing rooms, which made getting the contacts back challenging. The staff are friendly but stand offish. I appreciate that it's hard to make a spa accessible and look good at the same time, but it wouldn't take much to make Onespa so much easier to access. It was lovely and relaxing while in the pool and facilities but the stress of moving between them and trying to get dressed again after detracted a bit.

A mostly accessible spa of the highest quality. As the the day was going to be already more expensive for me than for my non-disabled companion (there is no reduction for assistants), we decided to eek it out as much as possible! While we relaxed our way into the holiday day out with a breakfast of deliciously, unhealthy croissants and milky coffees, we hummed and hawed over the delicious lunch menu, so we could reserve a table for lunch. And then I booked us in. They showed me to the disabled changing room, and then we met at the rooftop outdoor giant jacuzzi . Unfortunately there isn't a hoist into this pool which makes it fairly tricky for those of us who find it difficult to.get in and out of. However I'm thrawn and struggled from chair to stairs and then slid down. And boy was it worth it! The racks for lying on, mean you have warm water bubbling over you, and even when the sun hid behind a cloud, it was a magical experience. We didn't bother with the main swimming pool - even though it does have a hoist, because we wanted to try the whole spa before lunch. My wheelchair, had I thought about bringing a spare cushion, meant that I couldn't access the tropical rain shower or the very hot essential oil spa as my chair was too wide to fit past the posts and I couldn't see in the dimmed atmosphere. However, I enjoyed the hamman, other dry saunas, steam rooms and once I'd been in all the rooms I could join in, I lay back on the warm tiled beds and had 40 winks before lunch . After a delicious fresh healthy lunch of bento boxes, we repeated the routine of the morning before going home.