The Edinburgh Stay Where the Car Is Not a Problem
Book it if you are driving to Edinburgh or flying in and want a quiet, spotless room without the central-parking fight: the drive is free, the airport bus goes from the end of the road, and every room has its own bathroom. Skip it if you need step-free access or breakfast waiting downstairs.
Most Edinburgh trips start with the same problem, and it is usually parking. Here you pull onto a block-paved drive in front of a white house with a red door, leave the car there for nothing, and stop thinking about it. Flying instead? Lothian's Service 17 runs from Blackhall to the airport in around twenty-five minutes, and the stop is roughly three minutes from the front step.
Inside, this is somebody's house rather than a hotel, and the standards follow from that. Guests write about rooms cleaned daily, hosts who hand back things left behind, tea and coffee restocked without asking, and a genuinely quiet night in a residential street. Three rooms are let, two Deluxe Doubles and a Single, and all three have a private bathroom rather than a shared one along the landing. The Wi-Fi has been speed-tested by the host at 63 Mbps, which is a real number rather than a promise. It suits couples and solo travellers who want their days in the city and their nights somewhere calm, and it does not suit anyone who needs to sleep on the ground floor.
Blackhall: The Quiet Side of the City
Hillhouse sits in Blackhall, on the Craigleith side of Edinburgh in the Inverleith ward, west of the New Town and well outside the streets where every second building is a hotel. The upstairs rooms look over neighbouring rooftops towards the hills, and the loudest thing most nights is nothing at all. Guests keep saying the same thing in different words: they expected an urban stay and got a quiet one.
The trade for that quiet is that the famous sights are a journey rather than a stroll, and the page should be honest about it. Buses into the centre run from a stop about a minute's walk away, and the host puts the ride into town at roughly ten to fifteen minutes. Murrayfield Stadium and Edinburgh Zoo are each around twenty-five minutes on foot, which makes this an unusually practical base on a rugby weekend. Craigleith Retail Park, with its supermarket and cafés, is under ten minutes' walk, and that matters because nothing is served here in the morning.
A House Run by the People Who Live in It
There is no reception desk. You arrive between 16:00 and 23:00, having told the hosts roughly when to expect you, and someone is normally there to let you in. The hall has a red carpet and a striped runner up the stairs, and the bedrooms are all on the floor above. That layout is the one thing worth checking against your own needs before booking, because there is no lift and no ground-floor guest room.
What you get in return is the kind of attention a small house can give and a hotel cannot. Rooms are serviced daily. Bathrooms are private to your room, though in the Single that bathroom can be across the hall rather than off the bedroom. Bags can usually be left before check-in or after check-out if you ask. If there is a recurring criticism, it is temperature: several guests in cooler months have mentioned a chilly floor or wanting more heat stepping out of the shower, so pack accordingly if you are visiting between autumn and spring.
Why Book Hillhouse?
It earns its place on the practical things: parking, transport, cleanliness and quiet, rather than on facilities it does not pretend to have.
Park for free
Private parking on the drive, currently listed as needing no reservation, in a city where a night's parking is usually a search and a charge.
One bus to the airport
Lothian Service 17 links Blackhall directly with Edinburgh Airport, about 25 minutes on the bus plus roughly three minutes on foot.
Measured Wi-Fi
The host has speed-tested the connection at 63 Mbps, so working from the room or streaming in the evening is a known quantity.
A quiet night
A residential street on the Blackhall side of the city, where guests consistently report sleeping better than they expected to in Edinburgh.
Check Availability at Hillhouse
- Free private parking on site
- Private bathroom with every room
- No booking fees
Interesting Points About Hillhouse
- The airport bus is Lothian Service 17, not Skylink 200. Lothian renumbered it in April 2025, so any page still telling you to look for the 200 is out of date. The host puts the airport to Blackhall ride at about 25 minutes, then roughly three minutes on foot
- The host has speed-tested the Wi-Fi at 63 Mbps, which is a measured figure rather than the usual claim that Wi-Fi is fast
- Private parking is on the drive and currently needs no reservation, and the host has confirmed guests parking motorbikes there overnight
- The Cove, an Indian restaurant at 12 Hillhouse Road, is about a minute's walk from the door. Since Hillhouse serves no breakfast and has no restaurant, that matters more here than it usually would
- Every guest bedroom is on an upper floor reached by stairs, and the hosts have confirmed there is no ground-floor guest room and no lift. The same address is also listed on major review platforms under the name No. 2 Hillhouse
Rooms & Accommodation at Hillhouse
Deluxe Double Room with Bath
One large double bed · private bathroom with a bath · upstairs
Choose this one if a proper soak after a day of walking matters to you, because it is the only category with a bath rather than a shower alone. It is the most generously furnished of the three, with fitted wardrobes, a desk, a dressing area and garden and city views, plus tea and coffee, a flat-screen and soundproofing. Best for a couple staying more than a night who want somewhere to unpack properly.
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Deluxe Double Room with Shower
One large double bed · private bathroom with shower · upstairs
The same size and standard as its sister room, with a shower rather than a bath, and guests consistently rate the shower highly. Carpeted, soundproofed, with a desk, wardrobe, tea and coffee and a private entrance arrangement, it works best for a couple who want a good night's sleep and are out most of the day. The window looks over neighbouring roofs rather than a street, which is a large part of why the nights are quiet.
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Single Room with Bathroom
One single bed · private bathroom · parquet floor
A proper single with a parquet floor, a desk and its own bathroom, which is rarer than it sounds at this end of the market. Worth knowing before you book: one recent guest found the private bathroom was across the hall rather than off the bedroom, still reserved for them alone. Best for a solo traveller here for work or family and glad of a desk, a kettle and a quiet room to close the door on.
Check PricesFacilities at Hillhouse
In the room
- Free Wi-Fi, speed-tested at 63 Mbps
- Private bathroom
- Flat-screen television
- Tea and coffee facilities with an electric kettle
- Desk and wardrobe
- Heating
- Soundproofing
- Hairdryer, towels and slippers
In the house
- Bar
- Patio
- Wake-up service
- Luggage storage by arrangement
- CCTV in common areas and outside
- Security alarm
- Not available: Lift
- Not available: Ground-floor guest bedroom
Parking and transport
- Free private parking on site, no reservation needed
- Parking garage
- Bus stop about a minute's walk away
- Lothian Service 17 to Edinburgh Airport from Blackhall
Food and drink
- Tea and coffee in every room
- Not available: Breakfast
- Not available: Restaurant
Location and Getting Around
Hillhouse is at 2 Hillhouse Road in Blackhall, on the Craigleith side of Edinburgh in the Inverleith ward, west of the New Town. Look for the white-rendered detached house with a red pantiled roof and a bright red front door, set back behind a lawn and a block-paved drive.
The drive is the first practical thing to know. Parking is private, on site, free and currently listed as needing no reservation, which removes the usual Edinburgh problem entirely. The host has also confirmed that guests have parked motorbikes there overnight. Street parking is a different matter and should not be assumed, since council controls vary from street to street across the city.
Without a car, the bus network does the work. The nearest stop is about a minute away on foot, with the airport service stop roughly three minutes, and the host puts buses into central Edinburgh at around ten to fifteen minutes. For the airport, Lothian's Service 17 runs between Edinburgh Airport and Ocean Terminal through Blackhall, up to every thirty minutes; the airport-to-Blackhall leg takes about twenty-five minutes. Older listings still mention Skylink 200, which Lothian renumbered in April 2025, so search for the 17 rather than the 200. Haymarket is the nearest station at roughly three kilometres, though no reliable door-to-door journey time is published for that leg.
Locally, Craigleith Retail Park is under ten minutes' walk for a supermarket and a café, which matters because breakfast is not served here. For dinner without moving the car, The Cove is an Indian restaurant at number 12 on the same road, about a minute away, open to 22:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday and to 23:00 from Thursday to Saturday, closed Mondays.
- Nearest bus stop: about 1 min walk
- The Cove, 12 Hillhouse Road: about 1 min walk
- Craigleith Retail Park: under 10 min walk
- Murrayfield Stadium: about 25 min walk
- Edinburgh Zoo: about 25 min walk
- Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh: about 10 min drive
- Edinburgh Airport: about 25 min on Service 17
- Central Edinburgh: about 10 to 15 min by bus
Getting to Key Locations
Photo: Ham, CC BY-SA 3.0
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
10 min drive
About three kilometres east, roughly ten minutes by car, the Botanics spread over more than seventy acres with entrances on Arboretum Place and Inverleith Row. Entry to the garden itself is free, which makes it the obvious first move on a morning when you have nothing booked.
View on Map
Photo: daniel0685, CC BY 2.0
Murrayfield Stadium
25 min walk
About 25 minutes on foot, Murrayfield is Scotland's national rugby ground and one of the country's biggest concert venues. On a match or gig day the council urges people to walk or take a bus rather than drive, which turns a room within walking distance into a genuinely useful thing to have booked.
View on Map
Photo: Glen Bowman, CC BY-SA 2.0
Edinburgh Zoo
25 min walk
Around 25 minutes on foot along Corstorphine Road, the zoo is best known for its penguin parade and its hillside setting. Lothian routes 12, 26 and 31 stop outside the entrance along with the Airlink 100, so it is an easy morning even if the weather turns and you would rather not walk back.
View on MapStockbridge and the Water of Leith
Staying in Blackhall puts you on the north-west side of Edinburgh, which is a different city from the one on the postcards. This side is residential streets, big gardens, the Water of Leith running through it, and neighbourhoods that people actually live in rather than visit. Stockbridge, a short way east, is the best-known of them: independent shops, a Sunday market, bakeries with queues, and the riverside walkway threading through the middle.
It is a useful contrast to have on a trip. The Old Town and the castle are there when you want them, roughly ten to fifteen minutes away by bus, and August turns the whole centre into a festival, with the International Festival, the Art Festival and the Film Festival all running through the month. Then you come back out here, where the streets are quiet by ten and the car is still on the drive.
A Local's Walk Around Stockbridge
A resident's tour of Stockbridge, the neighbourhood on the Water of Leith between Blackhall and the New Town.
Is Hillhouse worth it?
Yes, if you are arriving by car or by air and want a clean, quiet room with a private bathroom, free parking on the drive and a direct airport bus from the end of the road. Skip it if you need a ground-floor room, a reception desk or breakfast in the morning, because the bedrooms are all upstairs and nothing is served here.
What Guests Say About Hillhouse
Scores and review counts are aggregated from verified guest bookings on major travel platforms.
Superb
Two things come up again and again: how clean the rooms are kept, and how helpful the hosts are. Guests mention daily servicing, tea and coffee topped up without asking, books left out to borrow, and belongings posted back after a stay. The other constant is the quiet, which surprises people who booked an Edinburgh address expecting traffic. The recurring complaint is temperature. Several guests visiting in cooler months found the floor cold underfoot or wanted more heat stepping out of the shower, so it is worth packing for that between autumn and spring.
Called the room clean and bright and the hosts accommodating, with straightforward access from the main roads, good buses towards the centre and a shop within walking distance.
Robert
Singled out the friendly owner, the convenient parking and how close the buses are for central Edinburgh and the castle.
Noted how clean it was on arrival and that it stayed that way with daily servicing, and praised a comfortable bed with warm bedding. Would have liked more heat when stepping out of the shower in cold weather.
Valued the quiet neighbourhood, the frequent buses nearby, the attentive daily cleaning and the friendly hosts. Tea, coffee and a shelf of books were unexpected extras; the room could feel chilly by evening.
Found the hosts welcoming and the single room basic but clean and comfortable. The private bathroom turned out to be across the hall rather than off the bedroom. Rated the bus access, including the airport link, and noted that no meals are provided.
Described helpful owners, a convenient position and a clean, comfortable room. Would have welcomed more plates and cutlery for eating in, and felt the mattress and pillows could be better.
Found it ideally placed for visiting family, praised the shower and the cleanliness, and appreciated clear arrival instructions from the host. The cold bedroom floor was the memorable downside.
Found the compact room pleasant and felt it held everything the two of them needed for the stay.
Good to Know Before You Book
Arrival
Check-in runs from 16:00 to 23:00 and check-out is by 10:00. Tell the hosts roughly when you expect to arrive, because there is no reception desk and someone needs to be there to let you in. Later arrival has been arranged individually in the past, but treat it as a request rather than a guarantee.
Parking
Private parking is on site, free, and currently listed as needing no reservation, which is the single biggest practical advantage of staying out here. Guests have also parked motorbikes on the drive overnight with the hosts' agreement. Do not assume unrestricted street parking as an alternative.
Breakfast and eating
This is a room-only stay: no breakfast is served and there is no restaurant. Every room has tea and coffee and a kettle. The Cove, an Indian restaurant at 12 Hillhouse Road, is about a minute's walk, and Craigleith Retail Park with its supermarket and café is under ten minutes on foot.
Stairs
All the guest bedrooms are upstairs and reached by stairs. There is no lift and the hosts have confirmed there is no ground-floor guest room, so anyone who needs step-free sleeping accommodation should look elsewhere.
The visitor levy
Edinburgh's visitor levy applies to qualifying stays from 24 July 2026, charged at 5% of the accommodation cost for the first five consecutive nights. It is a council charge rather than anything the property sets.
Cancellation and payment
Cancellation and prepayment terms vary by room and rate, and the exact policy is shown against the option you pick before you confirm. No blanket damage deposit is documented for this property, though it is worth having some cash for any extras.
Photos of Hillhouse
Hillhouse FAQs
Yes. Private parking is on site, free, and currently listed as needing no reservation. The hosts have also confirmed that guests have left motorbikes on the drive overnight. Street parking around the city varies by zone and should not be assumed as a fallback.
No. Hillhouse is room-only, with no breakfast service and no restaurant, though every room has tea, coffee and a kettle. The Cove Indian restaurant is at number 12 on the same road, about a minute away, and Craigleith Retail Park has a supermarket and a café under ten minutes' walk.
Arrivals run from 16:00 to 23:00 and departures are by 10:00. Let the hosts know roughly when you will get there, since there is no reception desk. A later arrival has been arranged individually in the past but is not guaranteed.
Take Lothian Service 17, which runs between Ocean Terminal and Edinburgh Airport through Blackhall up to every 30 minutes. The host puts the airport to Blackhall leg at about 25 minutes, plus roughly three minutes on foot at this end. Search for the 17, not the old Skylink 200, which Lothian renumbered in April 2025.
No. Every guest bedroom is on an upper floor reached by stairs, there is no lift, and the hosts have confirmed there is no ground-floor guest room. No accessible bathroom or wheelchair-adapted room is listed either.
Usually yes, by arrangement with the hosts, including collecting bags after check-out at a time you agree between you. Longer storage is handled case by case rather than offered as a standard service, so ask when you book.
Pets are not allowed and the house is non-smoking throughout. Children of any age are accepted under the current house rules, but cots and extra beds are not available, so the beds in the room are all there is.
Yes, all three current room types have a private bathroom rather than a shared one. The Deluxe Double with Bath has a bath, the Deluxe Double with Shower has a shower, and the Single Room has its own bathroom which one recent guest found to be across the hall rather than off the bedroom.
Other Places to Stay in Edinburgh
Twin Lions Hotel
On Corstorphine Road in Murrayfield, closer to the stadium and the zoo, and a hotel rather than a private house if you would rather have a front desk.
Luxury Waterfront Retreat for Groups
Up on Granton Road by the water, and set up for a whole group in one place, which Hillhouse's three individual rooms cannot do.
Crosskeys Edinburgh
Over at Slateford on the south-west side, worth a look if you want the Water of Leith walkway on the doorstep rather than the airport bus.
Ready to Book Hillhouse?
Three rooms, all with private bathrooms, and a free space on the drive for the car. See which nights are open.
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