If your idea of a value meal is a ‘double cheeseburger and fries’ for $1.99 rather than a three-course dinner for £10, then the Holiday Inn Express is perfect for you. I would have expected far less for £40, but the room was spacious, comfortable, and contained all the essentials, including a hair dryer and one of those fancy separate-knobs-for-temperature-and-flow showers. It contained a double bed and a pull-out sofa-bed – and they did allow 4 people (no compulsion on having two kids). Plus, you get breakfast included, even if it is rather plain jane. In my book, that’s 20-quid each for a 3-star hotel, and makes even Etap and Formule 1 hotels seem poor value.

We had a warm welcome from the reception staff (though that was a Scottish rather than Holiday Inn trait). I guess that is essential when the hotel is this far out in rural Scotland. Like the all-American burger and fries, this hotel is best as a stopover on a road-trip rather than a visit to Edinburgh. It’s neither in... more