An Overnight in Edinburgh | Bedtime Stories With Novotel
[AD: This post is sponsored by Novotel]
Last week, Terry, Max and I headed into Edinburgh for the night, to sample the family package at the city’s beautiful Novotel Hotel: here’s our Novotel Edinburgh Centre review!
With Max newly recovered from his Hand, Foot and Mouth ordeal, and Terry and I… er, not quite so recovered from Max’s Hand, Foot and Mouth ordeal… a night away seemed like the perfect end to a pretty horrible week, so we were very excited as we checked in: yes, even Max:
Novet(Yes, we are wearing matching camel coats. Well, would you seriously expect any less of me?)
Located right in the city centre, the hotel is just a short walk from attractions like Greyfriars Bobby and The National Museum of Scotland, and it’s an area that’s very familiar to me from my university days, so I really enjoyed being close to my old stomping grounds, and think it would make an excellent base for someone new to the city, too. With the Novotel family offer, accommodation and breakfast are free for up to two children under the age of 16, and there’s also a ton of other family-friendly features, like play areas in the lobby (I really wanted to steal the tiny Eames chairs from this one…), balanced children’s menus, and late checkouts on Sundays. Max loved the little soft toy he was given on arrival, and there were more surprises waiting in our room, so it felt like a real treat for all of us.
Novotel Edinburgh Centre Review: the room
Our suite was on the top floor of the 6th-storey building, and I loved everything about it, from the giant murals on the walls (Which made me mentally start redecorating my house as soon as I saw them…) to the panoramic views of the city from the balcony. Had we been staying here in summer, I’d probably have spent all of my time out on the balcony, taking in the view: unfortunately for me, the weather in January is just a little bit too cold for that, but luckily the room itself was nice enough to more than make up for it:
This time, though, he was actually looking forward to bedtime, because, well, just look at where he was sleeping:
We made the transition from cot to toddler bed back in December (When we happened to look at the video monitor during naptime one day, just in time to catch Max straddling the top bar of his cot, in the process of climbing out of it…), so this wasn’t his first night in a ‘big boy’ bed, but it WAS a particularly special big boy bed, so we were pretty sure he was going to be waaaay too excited to sleep. Thankfully, though, the promise of some new “bookies” to read was enough to calm him down a little (Our favourite: ‘Bedtime for Max‘, which I’ve been reading to him every night before bed. Not only was this personalised with his name, I was also able to personalise the illustrations, by choosing hair and skin colour, so the little Max in the book looks just like our own little Max: so cute!): never fails! (OK, it does sometimes fail, tbh. Not this time, though, luckily…)
Even more amazingly, once he was asleep, he did actually stay in bed until morning, albeit with a fair bit of middle-of-the-night rambling from him. We were absolutely convinced he’d get up and have a good rummage around the room (So much so that we put everything movable out of reach before we tucked him in…), but, much to our amazement, he stayed in bed until just before breakfast arrived next morning:
Novotel Edinburgh Centre Review: breakfast in our room
Speaking of breakfast, as I mentioned, it’s free for children aged 16 and under, and obviously be eaten in the hotel restaurant, if you prefer. While Max’s behaviour in restaurants has definitely started to improve over the last few weeks, though, we figured breakfast in our room might make for a slightly more relaxing start to the day, so we filled out our menus card before we went to bed, hung it on the front of door, along with our preferred delivery time, et voila: not quite breakfast in bed (That would be a little ambitious with a two-year-old in tow…), but lovely all the same.
After that, though, it was time to check out, and head home to look at giant wall murals and funky chairs on the internet. Watch this space, people.
Mary Katherine
Wow!
1. Those.murals. If I can’t BE there, I want them.
2. You look fabulous.
3. Max is adorable as usual. Extra points for the matching coats.
4. I am ready to book in to that hotel. It looks like they’re doing everything right.
5. Food looks wonderful (or am I just hungry?)
6. Did I mention how much I love Edinburgh?
Amber
I can definitely recommend the hotel – such a great base if you want to explore the city!
Brenda
I was in Edinburgh about 1 1/2 years ago. I loved loved loved it. It is such a cool city and so easy to get around. I missed the Christmas Market by a couple of weeks, so it is a goal to go back during that time. The Novotel Hotel looks like a really great place to stay! I’ll add it to my list!!!
Amber
The Christmas market is lovely (Although SO busy!): we didn’t make it this year either, but we do normally make the time to have a wander around – I actually wish they had something similar all year round!
Claire
The Novotel looks like great base for a stay in Edinburgh – I love all the murals too <3
G is for Gingers xx
Amber
I’ve been looking at murals online since we got back: so tempted to get one in our living room now, even although I suspect it would lose some of its impact with a TV slapped in front of it, somehow!
Myra
I painted them in our first house in Blackpool. The living room had a simple landscape of green land, blue, and yellow sun. I loved the kid who said it was great because the sun was, always shining in our house. The second was in Darren’s room where he, wanted our star, system. It was really good, but I somehow managed to miss our moon. Good fun to do.
Myra
It looks great
dubliner in deutschland
What a fun little mini break! I can’t get over how like Terry Max looks in some pictures. Glad to hear the transition to toddler bed went well!
Victoria Bewley
We stay here every year! Going again at the end of the month and we will be visiting the cat cafe again! My favourite part in the room was the glass shower too! ❤️🥰