With no confirmation on the state of the Dewars Centre expected until March next year, Tabletop Scotland is moving to the Royal Highland Centre by Edinburgh airport. (For us soft southern types, that’s half an hour less of driving.) All the hotels on site are already full. I can drive in and out each day but I’d welcome a recommendation for a place to stay that has parking, quiet rooms, and a hot buffet breakfast.
You’re a tram ride and walk from Edinburgh city centre. The highland centre is very close to the airport.
If you’re driving then just having been at a concert there I would say the parking is mental.
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Are the trams wheelchair-friendly? (I have this games trolley.)
They apparently do but never had to use it.
https://edinburghtrams.com/royal-highland-centre
There are details on the site.
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If you were at the Killers too @GeeBizzle then it took us an hour to get out on Tuesday! Everyone was leaving at the same time.
That said a lot fewer people at Tabletop - though being closer to Edinburgh probably more people will attend.
The tram is close but still a 20 minute walk from the park and ride and only a little bit closer from the airport (which has a much higher fare). And having seen your trolley @RogerBW then i am not convinced the tram should be plan A.
That said there are lots of hotels in the vicinity. You will be in edinburgh in the late summer though so nothing will be particularly cheap.
Will provide a bit more info on possible hotels later!
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It was the killers and the car park was a fresh hell. Took us about 45 mins when we found the back exit.
Gig was good though.
Yes it was. I had a 19 year old niece in the car who was missing her post festival work lock-in as every minute ticked by.
The Whole of the Moon though, plus Jonny Marr, made it a bit special!
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My automatic approach would normally be to stay on-site, but everywhere within an easy walk is full. (I’m sure this isn’t (just) TTS people given that it was the case four hours after they announced the date and venue.)
I was going to skip TTS 2024 because I can’t afford to go to Glasgow for Worldcon in Aug, then go up to Scotland again in Sept for TTS.
However for 2025 if the nearby hotels being full and/or expensive is a regular occurrence, then TTS is off the cards for me. Rail fares to Scotland are bad enough, without adding taxi fares to and from a remote hotel…
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I’d love to have any excuse to visit Edinburgh again
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I assume the TTS committee are aware of the hotel situation (I certainly told them about it) and will be looking into it. I strongly suspect this is some kind of block booking which will expire closer to the time.
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So this is the show ground showing likely area for parking, hotels, and the park and ride, where the tram stops. Like I said it is 20 minute walk from the tram stop to the exhibition hall and is not great re pavements etc - it has bits that are not really designed for walking. But it is possible, I have done it myself.
The hotel nearest the site is not normally known as brilliant (Holiday Inn Express). The airport has three hotels all about five to ten minutes walk away - the Moxy, Doubletree Hilton and Hampton by Hilton. It seems odd they are booked out so early.
It is a massive site, and the buildings themselves are also large and designed for showing animals and produce at the Royal Highland (agricultural) Show.
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This one shows the wider area. The tram line has a number of nearby hotels on it, with the caveat of the walk from the tram at the end. All are of course easily drivable.
These include
Premier Inn Newbridge, travelodge Ratho station and Norton House Hotel (posher) to the west which are all tantalisingly close but probably still require a 5 minute drive or short taxi. On the tram route and in an office park are the ibis budget Edinburgh park, Novotel Edinburgh park and premier inn Edinburgh Park. The tram costs c£2 per journey. Again all easily drivable in 5 mins or so,
Of course there are many more, these are just in the vicinity. You won’t see historic Edinburgh from here …
Note - I live round here and my work means I am familiar with the showground. Any questions just ask!
Hope helpful
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It may well be that the hotels aren’t set up to take bookings a year in advance so are sayibg ‘full’ by default.
That seems to have been the case - I’ve now got a room in the Holiday Inn Express right next to the site. (Yes, probably not brilliant, but I am lazy.)
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Yep - that’s a grand location for the show and probably much better than when it used to be a ‘Quality’ Hotel …
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The new location makes it a much easier proposition for me. See y’all next year!
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