Valentine City Centre Guesthouse Policy

We ask that you read all of the information on this page to ensure your arrival and stay with us is as smooth as possible. The information below forms part of the terms and conditions of your booking.

Booking and Confirmation

All reservations require current credit card details to be held and these details act as security against the full booking in the event of non-arrival without appropriate cancellation, and a source of funds for any additional charges.

Email bookings will always be confirmed by us by email. Bookings initially made by phone will normally be offered an email confirmation, although guests often decline this offer for bookings made only a few days in advance.

A response to an email enquiry is an offer and not a confirmation, where an offer is accepted and booking details supplied, a confirmation will then be issued.

Click to enlarge this panoramic view of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat to the Castle (Source: Arahman, http://commons.wikimedia.org/)

You can email us directly using either our Contact Form or Availability Enquiry/Booking Form.

If you prefer not to send Credit Card details by email you can use this Secure Server Service.

Payment and Cancellation

Payment is taken at the end of your free cancellation period as dictated by your selected rate, this will be typically when booking (for non-refundable) or 30 days before arrival for flexible, and at present there is a 24 hours before 'COVID19' rate.

Cancellation (subject to above charges) can be made at anytime upto the advised arrival time. In the event of non-arrival without cancellation (or 'no-show'), the full charge will be levied to the card used to secure the booking, plus a £15 administration fee, and all cancellation charges will be subject to banking/handling charges of 5% regardless of card type. All cancellations must be confirmed by email or in writing, a cancellation notice will be supplied in all cases.

* Multiple room bookings will be asked to make a 20% deposit (unless non-refundable selected), and have cancellation terms which differ from those above. These will of course be detailed within both the offer and confirmation emails. Where any deposit has been taken, on cancellation prior to late cancellation charges being due, all refunds will be subject to a £10 charge (or 5% of the total deposit paid, whichever is the greater), to cover administration and bank charges. This does not apply within the cancellation period where the appropriate charge is the full amount payable.

Where an arrival date is reached and no estimated time of arrival has been made available we may charge the card used to secure the booking after 4pm for the full stay.

We believe these terms compare very favourably with other Edinburgh Guest Houses.

A rainbow over the King's Theatre at the end of our street as bright sunshine replaces a heavy shower. We can't promise a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but roughly where it 'ends' you will find the Scottish Crown Jewels within Edinburgh Castle just 900m away. Directions from us to Edinburgh Castle

Credit Card Charges

The Valentine Card Charge Promise

1. Our policy is, AT MOST, to pass on ONLY the charge incurred by ourselves in processing your payment by debit/credit card. Most credit cards will incur a charge of 4%, but some cards such as American Express are up to 7%.

2. UK banks do charge for the use of UK debit cards, but debit card use is free at the Valentine as we will NOT pass this charge on to you. (note non-UK debit cards are treated by UK banks as credit cards)

Smoking and other damage to rooms

Sorry, but smoking can only take place outside under Fire regulations and recent Scottish Law. All Hotels and Guesthouses are legally bound to fit smoke alarms within all bedrooms. All rooms are therefore now 'no smoking' within any Scottish accommodation. Guests can expect an entirely smoke free environment and the price paid does not include the costs of damage related to smoking. Note that under the law we are not permitted to 'knowingly allow anyone to smoke on the premises' and where there is evidence during a stay that smoking has taken place in the Guest House, we would have to require you to vacate immediately without refund. Should it be necessary to reinstate rooms after smoking related damage or other maintenance beyond normal wear and tear, that cost is borne by those causing the damage rather than all guests. A full steam clean of a room and its soft furnishings, if necessary, would cost £100 to cover labour, costs and administration. This figure has been agreed with other accommodation providers.

Normal wear and tear and reasonable accidental damage is expected, however, guests are responsible for any unreasonable damage such as damage from smoking, loss or breakage of items beyond that reasonable, or need for significant re-decoration. Towels are supplied for drying purposes only and should not be used for makeup removal or other activities such as fake tanning, where badly stained towels remain marked after washing, the replacement cost will be charged. Keys are provided for your 24 hour access to the building and your room. If luggage is being left on your departure day we will supply a pass key to ensure you are not later delayed, there is no charge for this service. Unreturned keys will be charged at £15 each (£25 for room set) to cover replacement cost and lock switching.

There is 24 hour emergency availability of staff either at reception while it is open or out of hours by phone using the main guest house number. On rare occasions, problems have occurred such as damaged keys or electrical failure (blown fuse) all of which naturally require staff attendance at any time and there is of course no charge for this. Callouts at unsociable hours due entirely to problems of guests own creation will be charged for to reflect staff inconvenience. These discrtetionary charges are £10 between reception closing and 11pm, or £20 between 11pm and the start of breakfast.

Exclusions

As we are situated over four floors of a listed Victorian TownHouse, we are of course not allowed to fit a lift and are therefore unsuitable for guests with mobility problems. We will of course assist if anyone requires assistance with luggage. In the interests of other guests we are unable to accommodate families with very young children/babies, and with over 35 steps to some rooms our premises are unsuitable for pets. We have no ground floor bedrooms.

Check-In/Out

Check out: 10am.

Check in.

All guests are requested to supply an estimated time of arrival, which can be altered at any time up to and including the arrival day, and a flight number if applicable. We obviously endeavour to meet all arrivals, and of course normally do so, but should you find the guest house unattended on arrival, please phone the main guest house number 0131 229 5622 which is forwarded to a member of staff at all times, if you do not have a mobile phone there is a public phone box just around the corner from the guest house in Home Street. Informing us of changes to your travel arrangements will ensure a smooth arrival, and we would ask in particular that we are informed of any changes that would impact a previously supplied time by more than an hour, even at short notice. This information is also displayed prominently on the guest house main entrance.

Early Check-In: 08:30 to 12:00. Where your room is ready we are more than happy to accept an early check-in, where this is not the case we will store your luggage, and enable you to start your time in Edinburgh unhindered by your luggage, while your room is prepared.

Standard Check in: 12:00 - 16:00. Advising an arrival time in advance will ensure a smooth start to your stay.

Where an arrival date is reached and no estimated time of arrival has been made available we may charge the card used to secure the booking after 4pm for the full stay.

Evening Check-in: 16:00 - 21:00. Check-in between these hours is no problem at all, but as we do not have a 24 hour reception, we do ask that an arrival time is supplied, otherwise there may be a small delay in getting you checked-in, this may amount to a few minutes wait only, but where no arrival time has been supplied there is the possibility that a short spell in one of our neighbouring cafes or pubs may be required while a member of staff travels back to the guest house to meet you.

Late Evening Check-In: After 21:00. Arrangements can easily be made if we are informed in advance, though these will require to be treated case by case in the interests of other guests. It may not, however, on a particular date be possible to accept a late night arrival without prior notice, please avoid this situation as in such circumstances this will be charged as a non-arrival, as all guests are asked to supply an arrival time as part of the booking conditions. The normal late-night entry process involves accessing a simple coded key box - used hundreds of times without problem. There is no charge for this, however, if an attended arrival is necessary after 21.00, there is a £10 charge (£20 after 11pm) to contribute towards staffing costs as this is not within the normal room charge.

And Finally...

Terms and conditions always tend to give reasons to not book! The details on this page are designed to ensure your stay with us is incident free from the start and equally that we keep prices down for the vast majority of our guests by levying clear charges for situations that would otherwise force an unfair burden on our guests. Please take a look at this last page for some final reasons to book the Valentine City Centre Guesthouse.