Manchester/Scotland 2025 - Arriving in Edinburgh Premium Inn Hub Area

When you hear about how bad and unpredictable the Scottish weather would be, it seems amazing that we pulled into Edinburg with just nothing but blue skies! I wasn't sure what to expect of this city. All the buildings looked so old. Naturally I am always afraid and have my guards up when I'm in a new city. And Edinburgh did looked scary with all it's old buildings. 

We went looking for our hotel upon arrival. I've booked us into a pretty central but cheap location, so it was slightly at one end of the Royal Mild. The photo above shows the Balmoral Hotel behind (I think). I just thought what a contrast the little red car was, parked there among the gloomy architecture behind it. I guess if it rains, the whole of Edinburgh would just be one gloomy looking city. 

Can you fault me for conjuring images of English crime stories in my head, with rowdy Scottish people rolling out of bars? It would have smell of damp air and mold too, but luckily the weather was pretty cold to smell anything :P

I was trilled to find that the Scotsman Step was just nearby. I've seen it many a times on my social media. I've always though it was a building named as such, but later found out that it is actually a public walkway, connecting you to the elevated part of the Royal Mild. Yes, Edinburgh is a city of layers. I find myself pretty breathless here without knowing why, but then again, you're climbing steps and walking up and down hills everyday when you are here. 

Yes, the entrance looked eerie enough. But inside it's all stone or marble stairs leading up. It's pretty wide too, so it was very comfortable to walk. I think I only took it once time, when I go lost along the way and walked down from there while carrying my luggage. Breathless indeed -____-

Almost every building in Edinburgh is a historical monument. Here are some information about the Scotsman Steps. There are no modern skyscraper in the city of Edinburgh, making it one of the most unique city in the world that looked stuck in a time long gone by.

The drinking culture is also strong here. There was a lovely big brewery nearby our hotel too, just opposite one of the exit/entrance of Waverlay Station. We didn't visit any pubs on our own on our last trip, but I do plan to visit one in our upcoming trip, a pub that was part of a scene from Good Omen :) Don't worry, I did visit at least one scene from Good Omen on our trip in 2025, will post more about that when the time come.

I'm stunned at how beautiful the brewery looked. It's almost like a work of art. So very different from my concept of a drinking place that is gloomy and rowdy, and probably smelly. This one looked bright and shinny and almost flowery!

There were some very weird shops along the walk to our hotel. I'm not much into themed dining. But I like looking at shop decos, and this one kinda stands out too, cause they have dinosaurs!

After going to the wrong hotel on our first attempt, we finally found the correct one. So Premium Inn has a Hotel, and a Hub on the same road. Hotel is a  more expensive and higher class accommodation compared to a Hub. A Hub is almost like a dorm, super cram, but also a lot cheaper than a Hotel. We were going to be spending most of our time outdoor anyway!

And here is what our room looked like. That is basically it! Haha. Behind the glass is our super small toilet and bathroom. And I actually paid more for a bigger room since we were going to be staying here a few nights. I did the same for our upcoming trip too. There was hardly enough space for our luggage! Thankfully, Japan business hotel has trained us well! Hahahahaha. We have become very good at playing sokoban in the room with our luggage.

What I love about the room was the bed headboard, which has the whole map of Edinburgh on it. So every morning, or evening, while resting, I could just look at it and reflect on my day plans without looking at my phone. Aren't it awesome! I think more hotels should do this!

After the day's hard work, above is our food spread from Mark & Spencers. Although we ate out from a supermarket most of the time, I think we ate quite well. We always have great seafood, and lovely fresh fruits and milk. It was a lot cheaper to eat well in Scotland than it was in Malaysia or Singapore! I enjoyed every meal there, and it was often below my daily meal budget too. Plus, the milk in Scotland is so much better than the one in England! More about food in future post! Promise!