A couple have hit out at a former Edinburgh Four in a Bed contestant after their three-night stay left them "stressed" and "angry" - over a row that began with a cup of tea.
Earlier this year, 18 Craigmillar Park had featured on the popular Channel 4 competition, with owner Craig Bonnar impressing his competitors with pristine rooms and a top-notch breakfast.
A former military man, Craig was noted for his high attention to detail, with the venue known to receive a high number of five-star reviews online.
However, this week one couple told Edinburgh Live how their stay at the Georgian villa had been ruined after a small issue over a cup of tea spiralled into an online feud.
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Arriving on May 31, the capital was the last stop on a tour of Scotland for guest Paul and his wife, who had been staying in different B&Bs across the country.
Impressed with all of the guesthouses on the holiday so far, the couple said they expected 18 Craigmillar Park to be no different. But upon arrival, they instantly got a sense of what was to come.
Speaking about the stay, Paul said: "We spent three-and-a-half weeks travelling around Scotland and Edinburgh was the last stop on our trip, so Edinburgh was our last stay of about ten B&Bs we had visited, and all the others we loved.
"I think the whole thing maybe started on a bad foot because of the parking. Craig says on the site there is free parking but when we arrived and for the most of our stay it wasn't available, all the spaces were taken and there is none actually outside the building because of a cycle lane and yellow lines. When we came in I had made a comment about it but it seemed fine."
Settling in, Paul said he could not fault Craig's attention to cleanliness and decor, with the B&B itself "brilliant" in its appearance. However, after returning to their small double room on their second day, the pair noticed their cups were missing, and had tried to get some replacements - a request that would send their stay spiralling.
Paul continued: "The building itself really is brilliant and the room was absolutely pristine, it looked great and we really were happy with it. Because the room was small we'd put our case on the window ledge and also plugged in our extension cable so we could charge our laptop, but when we came back on the second day our extension lead was unplugged and also our cups were missing.
"It was around 8pm and we were gasping for a cup of tea so I emailed the contact we were given if we needed anything but didn't get a response. We also tried ringing the number we were given a few times for if we had any issues but didn't get an answer there either.
"I had gone downstairs but couldn't see anyone, and it was getting late so I tried the door to the private accommodation and very quickly Craig came storming down and acted a bit weird but said yes and got us the cups. I maybe should have left it there but I just took the opportunity to ask about the adapter lead and he said all this weird stuff about why you couldn't have them and then he left.
"The next day at breakfast when we came in he made a sarcastic comment about the lead, something like 'laptop okay?' We just sat quietly and he came up to all of the other guests except for us and didn't bring us any tea or coffee either so my wife had to go and get it. I wanted to ask why he was making it so awkward and horrible."
With an atmosphere appearing to build between the two parties, Paul explained that Craig had later approached them to discuss the situation.
Offering to refund for them for their last night in return for them leaving the B&B, the couple claimed Craig had 'screamed at them' in an aggressive manner, an act which the Four in a Bed star denied to Edinburgh Live.
Paul said: "We were about to leave when I opened the door and he was waiting outside. He asked me 'you don't seem happy, what's up', so I calmly just told him how we felt about the cups and also his attitude at breakfast.
"All of a sudden he just started screaming 'I'm not a 24/7 concierge service I was busy'. We were both taken aback at why he was suddenly screaming at us. He said 'you're clearly not happy here, you should leave', which we said no to, we weren't going to be any trouble and only had one night left, we didn't want to spend it trying to find new accommodation. But he insisted and said he would refund us for the last night which again we said 'no' to. I think he just wanted us out because he didn't like the criticism but it meant i couldn't enjoy the last day in Edinburgh as this was hanging over us.
"Later that day we got an email from booking.com to say we had been 'no shows' at the B&B which obviously was not the case. In my opinion it seemed to be a play that would have meant we were not able to leave a review.
"This was not sorted by Craig and we had to somehow prove to Booking.com that we had stayed there, so we were forced to hide the keys in the room so that he would have to acknowledge we had stayed there. When we tried to leave he demanded to know where the keys were but we said they were in the room, which ended up with him threatening us in a tirade that he would get the police involved."
With further issues occurring between the two parties via Booking.com regarding the booking, which are still in dispute, Paul took to TripAdvisor to share his concerns.
In a since deleted response, Craig had claimed the couple were "miserable" and "wouldn't be happy anywhere."
Paul added: "I had put a review on TripAdvisor to which he responded saying we were the type of people that 'wouldn't be happy anywhere' but that really isn't the case, all our reviews prior showed the fact that if that hadn't happened with him we would have been perfectly happy."
However, speaking to Edinburgh Live, Craig stated that he had been forced to initially "bite his tongue" with the guests and denied acting aggressively in any confrontation.
Claiming he had offered for the couple to leave as a solution to suit both parties, he said on behalf of 18 Craigmillar Park:
"On arrival he accused me of false advertising saying we did not have free parking, not a great start on check in but I have been dealing with difficult guests for over five years now and you learn to bite your tongue.
"As you will see in all our reviews before and after the guest stayed, 100 per cent of our guests give us glowing reviews and continue to do so.
"On the second day the cleaner did forget to replace the cups for which we apologised. When he returned to the property instead of just ringing the bell to the staff quarters to inform us there was no cups he sent a email to inform us. Unfortunately I do not read emails every five minutes.
"After 20/30 minutes he did come to the staff area to inform us and again clearly unhappy. It was at this point that I asked him if he would like to move to another property with a full refund of the remaining nights, as he was clearly not enjoying his stay with us. He declined this offer which I found I found strange.
"At no point during his stay was myself or any of my staff aggressive towards Paul, in fact it was the complete opposite, we found his behaviour unacceptable especially in the breakfast room where he even made other guests uncomfortable which they brought to my attention. As you will see by our reviews we offer a warm Scottish welcome, great hospitality, fantastic service and outstanding value for money. Unfortunately you sometimes come across certain people that no matter how much you do for them you're never going please, but that's hospitality unfortunately."
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