A Family-Run Villa Between the Zoo and the Stadium
Two gilded lions sit on the frontage of a Victorian villa on Corstorphine Road, and they have been the landmark that tells arriving guests they have found the right gate since long before the current family took the place on. You pull in off the main road, park for nothing, and the bus into town stops on the pavement outside. Corstorphine Hill rises straight up behind the building, wooded and quiet, and the penguins at the Zoo are a few minutes' walk down the road.
Pick it for a free parking space and a bus at the door when you are here for a rugby international, a stadium concert, a family day at the Zoo or a dawn flight, all at a price the city centre will not match. Skip it if you want a modern room, an on-site restaurant or an en-suite you have not checked for, because half the room types share a bathroom.
What guests single out, over and over, is the people. The team here get the warmest feedback of any part of the stay, and the specifics are telling: staff going out to buy an iron for a guest, checking on someone who had got lost, carrying bags up without being asked. Breakfast is cooked to order rather than laid out in trays, with tea and toast brought over to the table. Twin Lions Hotel works well for travellers who care most about parking, position and a genuinely friendly welcome, and who would rather spend the difference on the trip than the room.
Which Room Should You Actually Book?
The one decision that shapes your stay here is the bathroom. Five of the ten room types are en suite and five share a well-kept bathroom just outside the bedroom, and the room title tells you which is which every time. Read it once at the point of booking and you avoid the single most common surprise guests report.
Beyond that, the rooms are traditional in the proper sense: pine bedsteads, gilt-framed prints, swagged curtains and walls painted in warm terracotta, dusky pink, lilac or clear cream depending on which part of the villa you land in. One room is done out entirely in deep jade green. They are not large, and the building has no air conditioning, so if you sleep light ask for something away from the Corstorphine Road frontage. The family rooms are the practical pick for a group, with a double and a pine bunk in the same room and space for four.
What Happens Downstairs?
Mornings are the best part of the ground floor. The breakfast room looks out over the garden, the cooked Scottish plate is made to order rather than sitting under a lamp, and guests keep mentioning how personal the service feels for somewhere this size. There is a continental spread as well if you would rather start light, and whether it is included depends on the rate you pick, so check that as you book.
Next door, the Caledonia Lounge doubles as the bar and the function room, holding up to sixty for an anniversary, a birthday or a rugby-weekend party, with a piano in the corner and a proper bar counter hung with glasses. There is no full restaurant here despite what some listings claim, so evening meals happen elsewhere. That is easy enough: Asha does Indian and Bangladeshi takeaway a few minutes along Corstorphine Road, and the city centre is a 15 to 20 minute ride on the bus from the stop outside.
Why Book Twin Lions Hotel?
Twin Lions Hotel is strongest for rugby crowds, concert-goers, Zoo-bound families and early-flight travellers who want free parking and a direct bus into town without paying city-centre rates.
Park free, or leave the car entirely
Six free on-site spaces, reservable when you book, and a bus stop on the pavement outside served by routes 12, 26, 31 and the 24-hour airport Airlink into the West End and Princes Street.
Walk to the Zoo and the stadium
Edinburgh Zoo is a few minutes down the road and Scottish Gas Murrayfield about a quarter of an hour on foot, which on a match day beats every road route into the area.
The staff are the reason people return
Family-run since 2014, and the team draw the warmest feedback of anything here: guests describe them buying an iron, checking on a lost arrival and carrying bags up unprompted.
Breakfast cooked to order
A full Scottish plate made when you sit down rather than kept warm in trays, with a continental spread alongside it and tea and toast brought to the table.
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- Reception staffed 24 hours
- Free on-site parking, reserve when you book
- Bus stop directly outside the door
Interesting Points About Twin Lions Hotel
- The two gilded lions on the frontage are the reason for the name, and the building traded as the Western Manor House Hotel before the current family took it on in 2014. It has been independently run ever since.
- Free parking is real but capped at six spaces and needs reserving when you book. On Murrayfield event days the streets around the stadium close to parking entirely, so the bus stop outside becomes the useful thing, not the car park.
- The Caledonia Lounge is a combined bar and function room holding up to 60, used for anniversaries, birthdays and rugby-weekend parties rather than as a public restaurant.
- Five of the ten room types share bathrooms just outside the bedroom and five are en suite. The distinction is in the room title, which is the single most useful thing to check before you book.
- The rooms Booking lists with a mountain or castle view actually look towards Corstorphine Hill, the wooded ridge directly behind the hotel. There is no mountain in Edinburgh, and no room guarantees a castle view.
- Edinburgh Zoo's giant pandas, the only pair in the UK, left for China on 4 December 2023 after twelve years, so seeing them is no longer a reason to stay next door.
Rooms & Accommodation at Twin Lions Hotel
Family Room - Disability Access
3 guests · 17 m² · Private bathroom
The only room in the building with a disabled en-suite and step-free entry, on the ground floor with ramp access and its own way in. It is the right room for anyone who cannot manage the Victorian staircase, and the largest of the ten, so a family of three has genuine floor space rather than a squeeze.
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Family Room
4 guests · 17 m² · Private bathroom · City view
The largest en-suite family option, upstairs with a view over the rooftops and enough beds for four without anyone drawing the short straw. Families who want their own bathroom and a bit of daylight should start here rather than with the cheaper shared-bathroom family rooms below.
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Family Room with Bathroom
4 guests · 15 m² · Private bathroom · Private entrance
Its own entrance is the quiet advantage here, so a late return after a match or a concert does not mean walking the length of the building. Bunk beds over a double keep everyone in one room, which suits families with younger children better than a connecting door ever does.
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Twin Room
2 guests · 15 m² · Private bathroom · City view
Two proper single beds and a private bathroom, which makes it the sensible booking for friends or colleagues sharing rather than a double that has to be split. There is a dressing table with a mirror and a tea tray, and the window looks out across the neighbourhood rather than onto the main road.
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Double Room with Private Bathroom
2 guests · 12 m² · Private bathroom · City view
The cleanest-lined room in the building: pale walls, a pine headboard and three small framed prints instead of the heavier swagged curtains elsewhere. Couples who want their own bathroom without paying for the extra floor space of a family room will find this the natural fit, and there is a sofa and desk for the evening.
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Deluxe Double Room with Castle View and Shared Bathroom
2 guests · 10 m² · Shared bathroom
The best light in the building, warm coral walls and a window that looks out over the treetops towards Corstorphine Hill. Worth being straight about the name: the outlook is the wooded ridge and the city beyond it, not a guaranteed castle, and the bathroom is a serviced one just outside the door rather than en suite. Couples who want the brightest room here, and do not mind stepping across the landing, get the most out of it.
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Double Room with Mountain View
2 guests · 10 m² · Shared bathroom
Dusky pink walls, a gilt-framed painting and heavy red curtains: the most traditional decorative scheme in the hotel, and the one guests either love or find dated. The listing calls it a mountain view, which in practice means the wooded slope of Corstorphine Hill behind the building. Good value for couples happy to use the shared bathroom.
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Double Room with Shared Bathroom
2 guests · 10 m² · Shared bathroom
Painted top to bottom in a deep jade green, with a tall sash window that takes up most of one wall and floods the room in the afternoon. The plainest of the three shared-bathroom doubles, and right for travellers who only need somewhere to sleep between a match and an early flight.
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Family Room with Garden View and Shared Bathroom
4 guests · 10 m² · Shared bathroom · Garden view
Four beds in a lilac room looking over the garden at the back, which means no traffic noise from the main road at bedtime. It is a compact ten square metres for four and the bathroom is shared, so it suits families watching the budget rather than anyone wanting room to spread out.
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Single Room with Mountain View and Shared Bathroom
1 guest · 7.2 m² · Shared bathroom
At 7.2 square metres this is the smallest room in the hotel, built for one person with a bed, a desk and not much else. Solo travellers here for a single night before a flight, or anyone who genuinely only needs somewhere to sleep, get the cheapest way into the free parking and the bus stop outside.
Check PricesAmenities at Twin Lions Hotel
In every room
- Flat-screen TV with cable channels
- Electric kettle with tea and coffee
- Hairdryer, towels and free toiletries
- Heating and carpeted floors
- Free Wi-Fi, rated the strongest of all the facilities here
- Not available: Air conditioning or fans
Bathrooms
- Five of the ten room types are en suite with a bath or shower
- Five use serviced shared bathrooms just outside the bedroom
- One ground-floor room has a disabled en-suite
- Bathroom type is stated in every room title
Food and drink
- Breakfast room serving cooked Scottish and continental breakfast
- Lobby bar
- Caledonia Lounge bar and function room, capacity 60
- Not available: Full restaurant
- Not available: Room service
Building and services
- Reception staffed 24 hours
- Luggage storage and porter service
- Shared lounge and garden
- Meeting facilities and business printing
- Bike lock-up
- Daily housekeeping
- Not available: Swimming pool, gym or spa
- Not available: Tennis courts
Parking, transport and policies
- Free private parking, 6 spaces, reservation required
- Bus stop outside on Corstorphine Road: routes 12, 26, 31 and Airlink 100
- Ramp access at the entrance
- Non-smoking throughout
- Children of any age welcome, aged 6 and over charged as adults
- Cards accepted, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express
- Not available: Cots and extra beds
- Not available: Pets
- Not available: Airport shuttle
Where Twin Lions Hotel Sits, and Getting Around
Murrayfield is one of the leafier parts of west Edinburgh, a district of big Victorian villas on the slope between the Water of Leith and Corstorphine Hill, with the A8 running through the middle of it as Corstorphine Road. That road is the reason the address works. It carries the buses into town in one direction and out to the airport in the other, and the stop is on the pavement outside the hotel rather than a walk away.
Two of the city's biggest draws are within striking distance on foot. Edinburgh Zoo, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's hillside park famous for its penguin parade, is a few minutes down the road. Scottish Gas Murrayfield, Scotland's largest stadium at 67,144 seats and the home of the national rugby team since 1925, is about a quarter of an hour's walk, which on an international weekend is worth more than any parking space. Behind the hotel, Corstorphine Hill gives you woodland paths and an open view back over the city towards the castle, and almost nobody staying in the centre ever finds it.
For food, Asha does Indian and Bangladeshi takeaway from 123 Corstorphine Road, a few minutes' walk along the main road, and there is a Costa about 850 yards down for a coffee before the bus. Roseburn and Corstorphine either side of the hotel have the everyday cafes, chip shops and a supermarket that make a self-sufficient stay easy.
Getting into the centre takes 15 to 20 minutes on a 12, 26 or 31 from the stop outside, dropping you at Haymarket, the West End or Princes Street. Haymarket station itself is about a mile and a half, walkable in 25 to 30 minutes or a few minutes on the bus. The airport is 3.3 miles: the Airlink 100 runs 24 hours and stops nearby, and the tram calls at Murrayfield Stadium a short walk away. On match and concert days the streets around the stadium close to parking altogether, so leave the car where it is and walk.
- Edinburgh Zoo: About 950 yards, a few minutes' walk. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland's hillside park, best known for its daily penguin parade. The giant pandas left for China in December 2023, so they are no longer here.
- Scottish Gas Murrayfield: About 15 min walk, 4 min drive. Scotland's largest stadium at 67,144 seats, opened in 1925 and home to the national rugby team, and the city's main venue for stadium concerts.
- Corstorphine Hill: Immediately behind the hotel. A wooded local nature reserve with paths up to a tower and open views back across the city rooftops towards the castle rock.
- Asha: A few minutes' walk at 123 Corstorphine Road. Indian and Bangladeshi takeaway, the handiest hot dinner within walking distance of the door.
- Haymarket Station: About 1.5 miles, 25 to 30 min walk or a few minutes on the bus. The city's second mainline station and the tram interchange for the airport line.
- Edinburgh Castle: About 2.2 miles, 15 to 20 min by bus. Scotland's most-visited paid attraction, with just under two million visitors in 2024, on the volcanic rock above the Old Town.
- National Museum of Scotland: About 2.9 miles by bus. The country's most-visited free attraction, with 2.3 million visitors in 2024, covering Scottish history, science and world cultures under one roof.
- Cramond Beach: About 3.6 miles, 15 min drive. A Firth of Forth shoreline with a tidal causeway out to Cramond Island, walkable only at low water.
Getting to Key Locations
Photo: Glen Bowman, CC BY-SA 2.0
Edinburgh Zoo
A few minutes' walk uphill, an 82-acre hillside zoo run by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and best known for the penguin parade that goes out most afternoons. Go early: the site climbs steeply and the enclosures at the top are the quietest part of the morning.
View on Map
Photo: daniel0685, CC BY 2.0
Murrayfield Stadium
About a quarter of an hour on foot, the 67,144-seat home of Scottish rugby since 1925 and the biggest stadium in the country. It doubles as the city's stadium concert venue in summer, and on any event day the walk from here beats every road route in.
View on Map
Photo: Colin Park, CC BY-SA 2.0
Corstorphine Hill
The wooded ridge that rises straight up behind the hotel, a local nature reserve with paths, a walled garden and a stone tower at the top. Walk up in the late afternoon and the whole city lays out below you, castle rock and all, usually with nobody else there.
View on MapHow to Get to Twin Lions Hotel
- From Edinburgh Airport: Take the Airlink 100 towards the city and get off on Corstorphine Road at the stop near the Zoo, about 15 to 20 minutes. The service runs around the clock. A taxi takes 20 to 30 minutes.
- From Edinburgh Waverley: Walk up to Princes Street by the Scott Monument, about five minutes, and take a westbound 12, 26 or 31. Get off on Corstorphine Road at the stop by the hotel, roughly 15 to 20 minutes.
- From Haymarket: Pick up a westbound 12, 26 or 31 on the main road towards Corstorphine, about five to eight minutes. Or walk it in 25 to 30 minutes straight along Corstorphine Road.
- By tram: The tram from the airport calls at Murrayfield Stadium, a short walk from the hotel, which is the easier option if you are arriving with heavy bags on a match day.
- Arriving by car: The hotel is at number 92 on the north side of Corstorphine Road behind a stone wall, with the two gold lions on the frontage. Reserve one of the six free spaces when you book. On stadium event days the surrounding streets close to parking, so arrive early or come in by bus.
Murrayfield and West Edinburgh
West Edinburgh gets written off as somewhere you pass through on the way in from the airport, which is exactly why staying here works. You get Victorian villas, mature trees and the Water of Leith walkway instead of stag parties on the Royal Mile, and a bus that puts you on Princes Street in under twenty minutes.
Demand here is event-driven rather than seasonal, and the calendar matters if you are picking dates. The Six Nations brings Scotland against England on 14 February 2026 and against France on 7 March 2026, with Japan visiting on 21 November 2026. Summer brings stadium concerts. Then August fills the whole city: the Fringe runs 7 to 31 August 2026, the International Festival 7 to 30 August, and the Tattoo 7 to 29 August. For the same easy access at a calmer pace, late spring and early autumn outside event weekends are the sweet spot.
One local habit worth copying: walk up Corstorphine Hill behind the hotel before dinner. It takes twenty minutes to the top, the view runs from the castle rock to the Pentlands, and it is the sort of thing visitors staying in the centre never get round to.
Is Twin Lions Hotel worth it?
Yes, if your trip is built around Murrayfield, the Zoo or an early flight and you want free parking plus a direct bus into town rather than city-centre prices. The staff and the position are what guests rate most highly, and breakfast is cooked to order. Skip it if you want a modern room, an on-site restaurant, or if you might book a shared-bathroom rate without reading the room title first.
What Guests Say About Twin Lions Hotel
Scores and review counts are aggregated from verified guest bookings on major travel platforms.
Pleasant
The people are what guests write home about: warm, attentive staff who keep checking in, and a freshly cooked breakfast that comes as a genuine surprise at this price. The position earns almost as much praise, with free parking, a bus at the door and both the stadium and the Zoo walkable. Where the marks drop it is consistently about the building rather than the welcome, with older fittings, small rooms and small bathrooms, main-road noise in the front rooms and no air conditioning coming up again and again.
Called it a really lovely stay and said she would come back. Warm staff who kept checking she had everything, a good-sized room with all she needed, a small but satisfying breakfast, and an easy walk to her event venue and the sights. Her one gripe was a creaky, less than firm bed, though she still slept well.
2026-07-26Rated it good value. Liked the price, the helpful team and a bus stop right outside running straight into the centre. Marked down for noise off the main road and the lack of air conditioning or even a fan.
2026-07-16Stopped over for work and found the position handy and the staff very friendly. The only thing he flagged was decor that is showing its age.
2026-07-14An attentive welcome, a spotlessly clean room and a very convenient spot. Singled out the warm English breakfast served in a cosy setting as a real lift to the morning. Would have liked a microwave and a wardrobe in the room.
2026-07-20The breakfast was the highlight, cooked to order with tea and toast brought over. Staff were kind and helpful whenever she needed anything. The room and bathroom were very small, hard to move around in the bathroom, but it did not spoil things as they were out most of the day.
2026-07-22A comfortable stay for a family of three thanks to a bunk bed. Handy for the bus into the centre, friendly and warm staff, and good value overall. The room and shower were on the small side but he still rated it worth the money.
2026-07-22Praised amazing, courteous and helpful staff, comfy beds and how handy the stadium is. Felt the property as a whole is in serious need of refurbishment.
2026-07-26Appreciated the friendly team but noticed damp on a wall and felt it was not the best value for what he paid.
2026-07-21Good to Know Before You Book
Private or shared bathroom, check the room title
Five of the ten room types are en suite and five share a clean, regularly serviced bathroom just outside the bedroom. The room title always says which, so read it once as you book and you avoid the single most common surprise here. The en-suite family rooms and the Twin Room are the safest picks if a private bathroom matters.
Parking is free, but only six spaces
The on-site parking costs nothing and is genuinely useful in this part of the city, though there are only six spaces and they need reserving when you book. On Murrayfield event days the streets around the stadium close to parking altogether, so plan to arrive by bus or tram and leave the car at home.
Cards are accepted, and breakfast depends on the rate
You can pay by card on arrival, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express. Some older listings still show cash only, which traces back to a spell in 2015 when the new owner had no card machine, so confirm at booking if it matters to you. Whether cooked or continental breakfast is included depends on the rate you choose and it is easy to add.
Cancellation and prepayment
Cancellation and prepayment terms vary by room type and by the rate you pick, and the full conditions are shown before you confirm. Some rates allow free cancellation up to a stated date while others are prepaid or non-refundable, so check the wording on the option you have selected rather than assuming.
A traditional building with a few quirks
This is a Victorian villa run as a small hotel, so expect character rather than uniformity. Front rooms face Corstorphine Road and can catch traffic noise, there is no air conditioning or fan anywhere, and cots and extra beds are not available. Children of any age are welcome, though anyone aged six and over is charged as an adult.
Accessibility
There is ramp access at the entrance and one ground-floor family room with a disabled en-suite, which is the room to ask for if stairs are a problem. No lift is documented for the upper floors of the building, so step-free access above the ground floor should not be assumed. Reception is staffed around the clock if you need to check before booking.
Photos of Twin Lions Hotel
Frequently Asked Questions
Scottish Gas Murrayfield is about a quarter of an hour on foot and the Zoo is a few minutes' walk in the other direction, both from the front door. On an international or concert day walking is far quicker than driving, because the roads around the stadium close and street parking is suspended. The hotel sits on Corstorphine Road between the two.
Parking on site is free but limited to six spaces, and you do need to reserve one when you book. The property confirmed the six-space figure directly. On event days the streets around the stadium are closed to parking entirely, so the bus stop outside becomes the more useful asset.
Five of the ten room types are en suite and the other five use shared bathrooms kept just outside the bedroom and serviced regularly. Every room title states which arrangement applies, so check it before you confirm. If a private bathroom matters, look at the Twin Room, the Double Room with Private Bathroom or the en-suite family rooms.
Breakfast is served in the hotel's own breakfast room, cooked to order or continental, and whether it is included depends on the rate you choose. There is no full restaurant here despite what some listings claim: the food and drink offer is the breakfast room plus a lobby bar and the Caledonia Lounge. For dinner, Asha is a few minutes' walk along Corstorphine Road and the centre is a short bus ride.
The Airlink 100 bus is the simplest route, running 24 hours from Edinburgh Airport and stopping on Corstorphine Road near the hotel in about 15 to 20 minutes. The tram is the alternative, calling at Murrayfield Stadium a short walk away. A taxi takes 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic on the A8.
Cards are accepted, including Visa, Mastercard and American Express. The cash-only note that still appears on some listings dates back to a spell in 2015 when the incoming owner had not yet installed a card machine, and it has not been true for years. If it is important to your plans, confirm when you book.
There is one ground-floor family room with a disabled en-suite and ramp access at the entrance, which is the room to request if stairs are difficult. The building is a Victorian villa and no lift is documented, so step-free access to the upper floors should not be assumed. Reception is staffed 24 hours if you want to confirm the details first.
You can check in any time from 14:00, and rooms need to be vacated by 10:00 the following morning. Reception is staffed around the clock, so a late arrival after a match, a concert or an evening flight is genuinely fine. Early or late times can be requested when you book, though neither is guaranteed.
Children of any age are welcome, but no cots and no extra beds are available, so families need a room with enough beds already in it. The family rooms sleep three or four using a double plus bunk beds or singles. Anyone aged six and over is charged at the adult rate.
Those room names describe an outlook towards Corstorphine Hill, the wooded ridge directly behind the hotel, rather than a guaranteed view of Edinburgh Castle or of any mountain. From the hill's own paths you can see across the city to the castle rock, which is where the description comes from. Book those rooms for the light and the aspect, not for a specific landmark framed in the window.
Other Stays in Edinburgh
Haymarket Station Rooms
Pick this over Twin Lions when you are arriving by train and want the platform on your doorstep instead of free parking. It is closer to the centre but has no car park and no cooked breakfast.
Bellevue Guest House
Better if you want a Georgian townhouse on the south side within a confident walk of the Old Town, and are happy to give up the stadium and Zoo proximity along with the parking.
Mayfair Guest House
Swap to this when an en-suite in every room is non-negotiable and you would rather be south of the Meadows than out west by the stadium.
Ready to Book Twin Lions Hotel?
Free parking, a bus at the door and a walk to both the Zoo and the national stadium, with a family team that guests rate higher than anything else here.
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