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Edinburgh's worst-rated hotel that used to attract David Bowie and Elizabeth Taylor

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date24 June 2022
AuthorDavid McLean
Publication titleEdinburghLive (Scotland)
The Belford Road establishment, which back in the day attracted a long list of A-listers, such as David Bowie, Elizabeth Taylor, Boy George, Wham!, and Sean Connery, has had a car crash in fortunes and is currently ranked as the capital's worst hotel on TripAdvisor

Now operating as budget hotel the Britannia, the Dragonara started out as the kind of hotel that was ready to "anticipate the business needs of the eighties". At the opening ceremony in July 1981, Alan Devereux, Chairman of the Scottish Tourist Board, went as far to label the Dragonara as "one of the great hotel developments that has taken place over the last 50 years in Scotland".

The four-star property, which was originally run by the Ladbroke Hotel Group chain, was befitting of its dreamy setting overlooking the Water of Leith at Bell's Mill, and during its heyday was the venue for countless wedding receptions, AGMs, Jazz Festival events, and high-profile business meetings.

In a 1981 edition of the Student, Edinburgh University's student-run magazine, the ritzy Dragonara was emphatically described as Edinburgh's "newest and poshest hotel". The hotel's Granary bar was billed as the kind of haunt suitable for couples arriving in an "MG Midget".

By comparison, the Britannia Hotel currently has 2.5 stars on TripAdvisor, and has been slammed by recent guests over noisy rooms, lack of cleanliness and occasional police presence.

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Edinburgh Live's own Sian Traynor headed to the Britannia last November to check out if the dreadful reviews were accurate and fair. During her brief stay, Sian noted, amongst other things, unwanted hairs in plugholes and mysterious white stains on the carpet.

It's a real plummet in status for a hotel that, in the 1980s, was thought to be right up there with the finest the capital had to offer and was the regular Edinburgh residence for dozens of top performers of stage and screen.

Gillian Smith worked at the Dragonara soon after it opened and says it was her favourite job and a place where she got the chance to...

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