Joselin S.
Yelp
First and foremost, the hotel's location is absolutely perfect, which made the rest of our trip fairly easy and worry-free. For my lengthy review, I will start off with the lovely bits and end with the sour ones. An important heads-up in regards to the sour portion of my review: there will be a tone of upset because I am. However, my experience and retelling are factual and matter-of-fact, and I hope that helps whoever is reading the reviews make an informed decision. The Good: Anna, (SP?) the receptionist, is an absolute delight who took extra time out of her shift to personally ensure that we made the absolute best out of our 3-day stay in Edinburgh. She marked spots on the map of the city and gave us personal recommendations. She took her time with us and genuinely cared about us experiencing the most we can during our stay. Anna was so wonderful, in fact, that we were a bit sad we didn't have the chance to say farewell before returning home.The Sour: Despite being a paying guest at the lovely, swanky spot that is Hotel Indigo, there were several employees, as previous reviews have mentioned (please see user "aclinkscales"'s Trip Advisor review dated 11/08/21.)that did not treat us as welcomed guests. In particular, Jack, the evening bartender, seemed bothered by our presence, uninviting, and as though he was put out by having to serve us. As foreigners, we wanted to ensure we didn't embarrass ourselves while abroad. We went so far as to ask reception specifically to properly gauge if there was a dress code at Junipers, and the lovely receptionist assured us we were more than fine. My partner, wearing a Zelda hoodie, was fiercely stared at by a few of the male employees, including Jack. Both the look on his face and his actions were the opposite of hospitality. I've gotten better customer service from angsty teens unwillingly working in their uncle's corner store. On Thursday evening (June 8th, 2023), Junipers happened to be fairly empty aside from two other couples enjoying their meals. My partner, myself, and our guests sat down to play a card game with the children. We planned to order drinks and small bites as well, but due to the children being there, we weren't allowed to. Which is understandable. However, the moment we stepped foot in the establishment, Jack began emanating his radiant disdain for us as a whole. In between scathing looks, he made sure to circle back to our table and make our guests feel as if they themselves were a bother. "so.. only TWO of you are guests right...? *sneer*" he circled back and said this twice. In order to keep things friendly, my friend and I separated from the group and decided to visit the bar while the rest of the group continued their game problem-free. That did not appease Jack either. Because you guessed it, it had nothing to do with being able to properly serve us. Jack had already made up his mind about us based on our outward appearance and continued to make that known. There was a specific and sort of silly instance where a friend of mine, who again, was not a guest at the hotel, and I ordered a mojito, and Jack let us know in his sour way that he was out of mint. We asked if we could "simply have it without," and he, being a purist of a bartender, which, if he wasn't snobby and outright rude, I would respect, scoffed and groaned as he spoke down to us and refused to make it. Cool, fine water off a duck's back. We then asked for vodka seltzers and were met with another groan and scoff combo. At that point, I made an educated guess that we were being mistreated for being outsiders dressed in tourist apparel, which is so strange, right? It isn't as if the hotel is centrally located in a touristy hot spot, right? So, feeling defeated I added flavor drops to our drinks, and he just about combusted. Admittedly, I enjoyed that more than I should have. Dear reader, Jack was beyond your typical level of pretentiousness, which I find funny as an employee you have no idea who your guests are, their occupation, or their tax bracket. * NOT that any of that matters!* You're solely judging them for the hell of it. The reason I find it cheeky is that Jack *chose* to be in the hospitality business but is seemingly too posh to function and a wee bit jaded to serve us feeble underlings. You may ask if I said anything to him in person, and the answer is no. I decided to bite my tongue because, as someone who also works in hospitality, I know a review is more important in the long run than kindly telling someone about themselves just because they happened to be... themselves. A few other male food service employees seemed to be on the same wavelength ( ie with the same unwelcoming philosophy) as Jack. However, Mohammed and the rest of the female staff were absolute stars. No fire-y glares from them insinuating we don't belong as we eat the hotel's spectacular dishes. (Seriously. 5 stars. Food is so phenomenal. Run don't walk.)