Overview

I visited here with a colleague, who is also a wheelchair user, for some breakfast and to get our working day started. We were both able to get around without getting stuck or bumping into anything and there were lots of seating options both indoors and outdoors. Ordering was nice and easy and the staff were more than happy to assist with carrying items to our table. This spot was near to lots of transport options in Central Edinburgh and is a good location for anyone needing a pitstop on a day out in the city.

Transport & Parking

This location is located within St James Quarter which has a paid car park. The parking is set across three different levels and includes 70 disabled parking spots. Please note that the parking here has a maximum vehicle height of 2.1m (at the time of writing). There are a number of bus stops that are nearby: Leith Street (buses 1, 4, 5, 19, 34, 45, N26, N107, N113, N124) Waterloo Place - there are three bus stops here across both sides of the road (buses 15, 26, 43, 44, 113, 124, N107, N113, N124, X4, X5, X6, X7, X18, X19, X26, X27, X28, X38, X39) Edinburgh Waverley Train Station and Edinburgh Bus Station are both 0.2 miles away (in different directions). There is also a tram stop a short walk away as well.

Access

Navigating around this Starbucks didn’t present any issues, there was a decent amount of space around all the tables and chairs. There was a selection of seating, some wooden chairs that were able to be moved and removed from tables, as well as some cushioned, benched seating along one of the walls. I visited on a really lovely, sunny day so there was also lots of outdoor seating available too. There were lots of sockets available either beside or just below tables or underneath seating (indoors only). Both the counter to order and the collection counter had lowered sections which made ordering and collecting nice and easy for me. The front doors were left open on the day I visited which meant getting in and out was very easy. There was an assistance button on the outside of the building which would appear to notify a member of staff that someone needed assistance with the doors if they were shut due to rain or cold temperatures. But they didn't seem to be operated by an automated button. There were different areas to sit in; outside the front of the shop, inside the main area where the counters were and then a slightly more secluded area towards the back. One thing I would say is that although the back area was more secluded and didn’t get as much footfall, the sound system was quite loud and overwhelming. It’s worth noting that outside the exit of the shop, the path forked into a set of stairs and a ramp without much indication. It would be important to make sure that anyone that needed assistance or supervision, such as someone with a visual impairment, children or someone with a learning disability, knew which direction to head in before setting off.

Toilets

The accessible toilet available here was easy to find and fairly clean. The door opened outwards and didn’t require a radar key to enter. The inside of the toilet door had two coat hooks, one lowered and one raised, and also had a grab rail mounted horizontally across the door to make closing it from the inside easier. Once inside it had a toilet with space available for a right-side transfer. There were three fixed grab rails and one that could be lowered and raised. The red cord was hanging freely and reached all the way to the floor. The sink was lowered and featured a manually operated tap. There was both a wall-mounted hand-dryer, and a paper towel dispenser, however the paper towels had run out when I went! There was a mirror above the sink which was very high but on the opposite wall there was also a full-length mirror.

Staff

The cold fridge had some taller shelves but there were a number of staff members available nearby to ask for help. The staff were very helpful and offered any assistance we needed, including bringing our order to our table, instead of us having to balance it on our laps.

Photos