About Valentine City Centre Guesthouse in Edinburgh

The Valentine City Centre Guesthouse is within Edinburgh’s City Centre. It is situated on the second and third floors of an 1840's early Victorian TownHouse, a significant building in the area's history. We will of course assist if anyone requires assistance with luggage.

We operate in a modern and professional manner- a year-round guesthouse and NOT a family home simply renting out spare rooms. You will receive a key to the guesthouse and your room which gives you full access during your stay; there is no 'locking-up' time at night, and no period when you must vacate during the day between nights that you are staying. Our breakfast room is large enough to accommodate all guests at once and is not used for any other purpose.

ALWAYS A HAPPY FACE WHEN WE SEE YOU - GUARANTEED!

Check-In and Breakfast times

Check-in is normally from 1pm onwards, but in the case of early arrivals; luggage can of course be left with us in the event your room is not yet ready.

We serve 100% pure fruit juices, Kelloggs cereals, unlimited tea, fine filter coffee, or hot chocolate; unlimited white/wholemeal toast, eggs to order (fried, poached, scrambled or boiled) and a full Scottish cooked breakfast cooked to order of your choice of sausage,bacon, haggis, black pudding, tomato, egg, mushrooms and baked beans at the following times: Monday-Friday 8am to 8.45am Saturday-Sunday 8.45am to 9.30am

Our Location: The closest Guesthouse to the Castle!!!

	If you have not stayed with us before, we are situated at the beginning of Gilmore Place on the South West corner of the city centre, within walking distance of all city centre attractions.
	We are 10 minutes walk to Prince's Street and15 minutes walk to The Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle. We are situated adjacent to theatres (we are the closest accommodation to the King’s Theatre), restaurants, cinemas, pubs, shops, and a short walk from the Edinburgh Conference Centre, and Edinburgh/Napier Universities and all major tourist attractions.

Car Parking in any City Centre is always difficult and/or expensive. Free daytime on-street parking does not exist anywhere in central Edinburgh. We can offer limited FREE car parking which needs to be reserved in advance. We also have secure arrangements for Motorbikes.

Lothian Bus number 10 from Princes Street and number 27 from Hanover St/The Mound/North Bridge (Royal Mile) stop right outside our door. Many further services run across the end of Gilmore Place, less than a one minute walk away. See 'directions' for more detail.

To make a booking, you can call us on the number below, or use our booking form.
You can find out more about our rooms and facilities here.

The closest Guesthouse to the Castle in the very heart of Edinburgh. The finest of full Scottish breakfasts is included every morning of your stay, entirely cooked to order.

A Touch of Local History...

Why is this part of the City Centre called Tollcross?

	A long time ago, cities raised part of their finance by charging a toll or tax to enter the city, ironically there was a proposal to do this again recently in Edinburgh as a 'congestion charge'. One of the tolls to Edinburgh was in the area now known as Tollcross centred on the junction where the famous clock now stands. The pillar clock at Tollcross was gifted to the City of Edinburgh, by Provost Sir James Steel and Treasurer Cranston in 1901.
It was one of four similar clocks in the city made by the Edinburgh Clockmakers, James Ritchie & Son. Originally a pendulum clock, in 1926 it became spring driven and was wound once a week by the makers. In 1969 it was converted to electric mechanism. When, in 1974, the crossroads area was being improved to accommodate the widening of Earl Grey Street, the clock was removed and later, after much public pressure, replaced close to its original position.

Why is it called Gilmore Place, and where does the name 'Lochrin Annexe' come from?

Gilmore 'Street' was constructed in 1798 through property owned by Samuel Gilmore who owned a large ropemaking factory on the north side of Gilmore Place, as it became known. Older maps (eg 1830) show the spelling as 'Gilmour', which is probably the original authentic spelling.

	Samuel owned a retail outlet at 100 Grassmarket and also owned the mansion house called Lochrin Lodge whose entrance was on the north side of Home* Street adjacent to the factory *correctly pronounced 'Hume' if [presumably] the Street was named after the Scottish Philosopher David Hume - more on the 'o' versus 'u' below!).
David Hume 1711-1766

The Lochrin Annexe of the Guest House is in Lochrin Buildings, a block opposite the guest house built on the site of the rope factory. 'Lochrin' was a term used to describe a burn (Scottish stream) which 'ran to the Loch' (Loch-run). The Loch in question was the now long gone Burgh Loch. This was drained by 1812 and is now the famous parkland area known as 'The Meadows' home to many of Edinburgh's Summer events.

Which Tartan is it down the left margin on every page?

The tartan used on the website is the Hume tartan, this is the adopted tartan of the Wilkinson family that own the Valentine, first used at the marriage of Rob Wilkinson and Vicky Hume. As Vicky was prepared to take Rob's surname, it seemed only appropriate that he and subsequently their children have taken the Hume tartan (The clan links for the name Wilkinson are very weak). The tartan actually belongs to both the Hume and Home names, both pronounced 'Hume', the 18th Century Scots Philosopher David Hume changed his name from 'Home' to 'Hume' - some say because their were aspects of his family's history he wished to distance himself from, others say it was in frustration at the constant misprounciation of his name!. The small picture used for the tartan has been repeated or 'tiled'to create this background - can you spot the technical error in the design that this introduces?

So Why 'VALENTINE' City Centre Guest House?
The Valentine is named after James Valentine, a very important figure in Edinburgh's tourism history. His Father John started a printing Business in Dundee in 1825. Ten years earlier he had a son, James, who went on to take over the Business, and expanded the company into the increasingly popular 'cartes de visite' and then the publishing of photographs. The company grew through his children and published for several decades around the 1900's many postcards of Edinburgh (and later the rest of Scotland and the UK) that are now an important archive of Victorian Edinburgh. A large collection of his work is on show in the Edinburgh Room of the Central Edinburgh Library on George IV Bridge. They now have a fantastic collection of on-line views of Edinburgh called the Capital Collection. In 1861 James Valentine was one of seven founding members of the Edinburgh Photographic Society, a respected organisation which is still going strong today! The Valentine Company went on to become a household name in the UK as a publisher of greetings cards. It lives on now as part of Hallmark cards, but the Dundee factory closed in 1994.

Is it true Edinburgh was once in England?
Founded as a fortress town by Edwin of Northumbria (North East corner of what was at that time England and is again now though was not always in between!) in 626, Edinburgh was captured for Scotland by Malcolm II ('Malcolm Canmore') in 1018. Although Dunfermline remained the nation's capital, Edinburgh rapidly became its major metropolis. The city was occupied and the Castle sacked by Edward I of England in 1296, but was retakened by the Scots in 1313. Robert the Bruce granted Edinburgh a Royal Charter in 1329, and by the 16th century, it had supplanted Dunfermline as capital of Scotland.		1836 view of Edinburgh from beyond St Mary's in the Royal Park - not that different today, a great view for climbing the easiest part of Arthur's Seat.

Please use the menu links across the top of the page for further information or to check availability and price for your stay.

 

Phone or Email us with any questions or availability enquiries

+44 (0)131 2295622

Email Valentine Guesthouse

or contact us via one of these easy to use forms:

 

 

 

(please ignore this text it simply repeats information from across the site to help people find us when searching)

The Valentine is a Family run Edinburgh city centre guest house providing holiday and business accommodation of a luxurious standard. Our central location is enhanced by our offers of bed & breakfast with great breakfast, a full scotish breakfast served in our very friendly guest house in its city centre Edinburgh location. We are ideally situated for edinburgh hogmanay accommodation, New Year, fringe festival, festival accommodation, as well as those travelling through Scotland or looking for digs or vacation rentals. Despite our high standards we aim to be at the budget end of prices, providing cheap B&B (or B+B or BB or BNB ) accommodation, for those on a budget, we are the closest to edinburgh castle, where the military tattoo (tatoo) takes place as well as being ideally situated for holyrood house, the Royal Mile, Princes's Street, the six nations rugby at Murrayfield, close to shops, close to the Edinburgh International conference centre, close to playhouse, close to downtown Edinburgh City,closest guest house to the high street, close to all main tourist attractions and in fact we are walking distance to all attractions, also nearest rooms to the Kings' Theatre. We have a free car park. We are ideal for a weekend in Edinburgh, or just a weekend away, and offer long-stay discounts, web offers, and other special offers. If you are looking for a romantic weekend, dirty weekend, hen nights, or other groups (we offer group discounts) then the Valentine is a clean, reasonably priced option, with rooms for one, two (twin rooms or double rooms), triple, quads and even fives. We are discreet and offer key access 24/7 which suits all guests young and old, straight or alternative - we are gay friendly, lesbian friendly, and welcome all ethic groups. An ideal base for touring, we are close to Edinburgh airport, close to Waverley railway station, well situated for those doing the Edinburgh marathon, or coming to visit Scotland for hogmanay, our reviews will indicate that we are a highly recommended clean b&b, with internet access. There are many things to do as from the Valentine we are on a large number of main city and out-of-city bus routes to take you to rosslyn chapel (roslin chapel or roslyn chapel) by direct bus, also direct services to the Brittannia, we are also very close to the route of the airport bus. Inm summary, we offer perhaps the best breakfast in the city, we offer, private, quiet, friendly accommodation within easy walking distance of all Central Edinburgh attractions. Our modern decor, reflects the Georgian elegance of our historic building, a credit to Auld reekie, both comfortable and clean, better value than many hotels or budget city centre hotels located adjacent to Princes Street. A Great location, friendly service guaranteed, and attractive prices with many special offers. A Scottish owned and operated guesthouse with entirely Scottish staff. Whatever your itinerary or needs for lodging, we can help, we provide vegetarian breakfasts if required, and a taste of Scotland with local produce for every guest, an environmentally concious step we source from local suppliers. Best place to stay or similar translates into European languages as follows:.Maison d'Hôtes Edimbourg Ecosse, Casa de Huéspedes Edimburgo Escocia, Camera dell'ospite Edimburgo Scotia, Edimbourg "Bed and Breakfast" - Logement en centre ville avec parking, Edimburgo Bed and Breakfast – Alojamiento en el centro de la ciudad con aparcamiento, Hotelunterkunft, pension im Zentrum von Edinburgh, Hotel w centrum Edynburga.