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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
John Gillespie

Furious couple say Edinburgh hotel was cancelled and re-advertised at higher cost

Scots locals were left fuming after their holiday plans were put in jeopardy when their hotel reservation was cancelled just days before they were due to travel.

28-year-old Megan Green and Stuart McFarlane were planning a trip to the capital to see the Eagles concert on June 23.

After booking the rooms at the Cairn Hotel in Edinburgh at the beginning of April they were shocked when they received emails just days before they were planning to travel telling them that the rooms had been cancelled.

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They phoned and spoke to the hotel’s manager, Graham, who told them that the rooms had been cancelled so the hotel could fix the smoke alarms in the building. However, the two say that nothing was ever directly communicated to them despite having the rooms booked for more than two months.

Later that day, they checked the hotel and saw that rooms were still available, but for far more than they originally paid. Their £115 and £130 rooms had now shot up to an eye watering £490 each.

The entire situation has left their holiday plans in chaos, with the expensive concert tickets already paid for and nowhere to stay in Edinburgh, they are forced to make desperate last minute arrangements to save their trip.

We spoke to Stuart, who said: “We haven't received any apology or indeed direct contact from the hotel on this whole matter, other than the phone calls which Megan and I initiated over it. That's been one of the main areas of frustration with this whole thing, as well as the fact we seem to get different answers on why the rooms have been cancelled every time we ask about it.

“The whole situation has been handled so badly, Booking.com said one thing and the hotel said another.

“Graham told us it was an issue with the hotel's smoke alarms that were causing the rooms to be cancelled but essentially passed most of the buck on to Booking.com as to the communication with us and why rooms were still available after Megan's had been cancelled.

“There wasn't an apology from him for the handling or the late notice of things and not really an answer as to why our second room was available and then suddenly cancelled later in the day without any word or reason”.”

We reached out to Cairn Hotels, who said: “As one of the UK’s leading independent hospitality groups, Cairn Group are passionate about customer service and guest experience. Cairn Group always welcomes guest feedback.

“We do not comment on individual guest bookings out of respect for their privacy, but we welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue directly with the couple at a time of their convenience.”

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