Overview

This is a review for the Grand Café inside the The Scotsman, a luxury hotel in the former Scotsman newspaper building. The impressive, historic, Baroque building stands majestically next to the North Bridge. The Grand Café lives up to its name in terms of décor and opulence. The food and service was fabulous. However, this was all sadly let down by its one and only accessible toilet, for its public space which was woefully inadequate.

Transport & Parking

The hotel has excellent public transport access. From their Market Street entrance there is access to Waverley Railway Station. From their North Bridge entrance there is access to several buses that stop close by. The nearest tram is St Andrew's Square.

Access

The Scotsman Hotel for first time visitors has a confusing layout. Market Street, on Floor 0, had a step free exit, which I did not use. North Bridge has two entrance, Floor 4. One is the Grand Café entrance which is not step free, as it has 4 steps with handrails on both sides. Facing the Grand Café entrance on your right hand side is a side passage which leads to a step free entrance, via a permanent ramp into The Scotsman Hotel. Both entrances on North Bridge had manual single doors, which are quite heavy. I used the Grand Café entrance when I arrived. The café has both fixed sofa seating and also free standing chairs and tables. The problem I had was the lack of signage for the accessible toilet or the step free exit. Given that as far as I was concerned I was on the ground floor as I had arrived from North Bridge, I did not realise I was on the 4th floor.

Toilets

There were no signs for the accessible toilet. I had asked a member of staff and he had directed me to the floor below, when I got out and could only find women and men's toilet, I went in both directions as far as I could, i.e. until I came to the guest bedrooms, looking for the accessible toilet. I even went into the two separate women's toilets thinking that the accessible toilet maybe inside. I wasted about 10 minutes looks, and the walk brought on pain and fatigue. I was also desperate for the toilet by this time. I found myself no longer enjoying my experience at The Scotsman. I went back up in the lift to Grand Café to check, as by then I had by looking at the information board by the lift realised that there were more floors underneath and maybe I had misheard the instructions and I was meant to go to a different lower floor. On exiting the lift back on Floor 4 where I had started I noticed that there were 2 alcoves, so I went to investigate. One of the alcoves had the accessible toilet. ACCESSIBLE TOILET ON FLOOR 4 The one and only accessible toilet in the public areas of The Scotsman hotel is on Floor 4, very close to Grand Café. By the lift and stairs is a doorway which has had the door removed. There is no sign next to that doorway, but if you look into the open space you will notice that there is a second doorway, this one has a door with a wheelchair user sign on it, see photo. The size and layout of this accessible toilet is ridiculously small and is most unbecoming for a hotel of The Scotsman's standard. It is going to be very difficult for a wheelchair user to use safely. The doorway without a door is narrow, see photo. When I stood there my 2 feet and crutch used up most of the space. I don't know the width but I would guess that it would make it tricky for wheelchair users and some larger chairs many not fit in the gap. Once through, there is a second doorway with a manual door, which again is narrow and will difficult for wheelchair users to access unassisted. The accessible toilet itself is square, with a corner is missing, see photo. this means that wheelchair users will come in facing and then will have to manoeuvre their chair to access the toilet and move the bin which is next to it. They will then have to manoeuvre again to reach the sink. the sink is extremely wide and it maybe difficult for wheelchair users to reach the soap or the grab rails either side of the sink. By the sink there are 2 more bins and a fold away baby changing table, which wheelchair users have to negotiate. Above the sink is a high shelf on which there was hand towels and a mirror, both totally inaccessible to wheelchair users due to the height and the location of the sink. There were plenty of grab rails but the ones in the sink are too far away to reach. The emergency cord was tided round one of the grab rails. The accessible toilet is not safely accessible for wheelchair user and therefore I would recommend that the space is reviewed and addressed quickly. I also do not understand given visitor numbers to the restaurant, bar, meeting and event space and cinema plus hotel guests that there is just one accessible toilet within the hotel's entire public space. What happens if the accessible toilet is out of order? THIS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Staff

The service in the Grand Café was excellent, the waiter was welcoming and friendly. Everything went well until I asked another member of staff when I was exiting where the accessible toilet was. He directed me to the third floor. As I explained above, there is no accessible toilet on the third floor. When I returned to him, I had found it for myself and I was returning to express my concern about the provision. I started by saying I had gone downstairs and could not find the accessible toilet. He again stated that it was on the third floor. I continued and said I had found it on fourth floor and I was unhappy with it and he referred me to the bar manager. I spoke with the bar manager and he apologised about the misdirection and listened to what I had to say about the problem with the accessible toilet. He said that it would be better if I spoke to the Hotel manager and he arranged for him to come. Kiran, deputy manager, came quickly to speak with me. He listened to concerns. I explained what the problem was and he said that he would follow this up with the hotel manager. I said that I would be writing a EG review about it, and he asked me to wait until the hotel had addressed my concerns before writing and publishing it. I explained I would do my review, and if the hotel wanted to respond with what it had done to address my concerns I would be happy to include their reply as an addition to my review, when it was received. I felt that both managers listened to what I had to say, however, to resolve this issue will involve structural changes to accommodate a truly accessible spaced toilet. I look forward to hotel's comments.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

Until I asked about the accessible toilet at the end of my meal everything had been perfect. It's a beautiful venue, the menu and service is excellent. It has the WOW factor. However, NOT having an accessible toilet fit for purpose really detracted from all the nice things. This is what I feel should change 1) Staff having disability awareness training - all staff should be able to correctly direct visitors to the accessible toilet. Remembering not all disabilities are visible, many people with bowel and bladder conditions use accessible toilet and they may have an accident if they are given incorrect directions. This will then maybe lead to embarrassment and a lack of confidence about going out again in the future. 2) The current accessible toilet needs to be updated URGENTLY, so the size and layout can safely and comfortably accommodate wheelchair users and fixtures and fitting need to be installed so that grab rails, hand towels, etc are in easy reach for wheelchair users. Not all wheelchair users have companions to assist and the toilet layout should enable wheelchair users to access the space independently, on par with non-disabled people. Serious consideration should be given for a second accessible toilet. 3) The accessible toilet should be easily signposted. 4) Access information needs to be included on The Scotsman's website, so that disabled people know how accessible the hotel is. While the information is missing disabled people may assume the hotel and its facilities are not accessible and take their custom elsewhere. I am happy to add The Scotsman's reply to this review, if the hotel staff want to contact me please please do so via Euan's Guide.

Photos