We booked online for almost two weeks, and got there to find this is in a BAD neighborhood. We asked a local about coming back late at night, since we were there for a convention at the SECC, and he just laughed "take a cab, it's not safe otherwise!" While we joked later that we ended up in the "Trainspotting" part of town - an industrial, down-at-the-heels neighborhood, enhanced by the large towering graffit-ridden/broken windows of the council flats down the block - we definitely did not feel safe there. The Ranger Stadium is down the street, with several bars all sporting the sign "no football colors!" - a little too gritty to be charming.
Got locked out at 2AM one night, as they left the key in the vestibule door, despite having our own key just for this sort of thing, and telling our hosts we would be in late that night due to an award banquet on the other side of town. Not fun, and neither of us were happy.
Breakfast - cold cereal, tea, kiddie yogurt and a banana (but not every day). Some variation would have been nice, and everything came from the local Walmart.
Lobby - dirty and dusty. Bathroom shower backed up our first two days. Toilet seat came unfastened. Sheets were not changed every day. Phone for use of visitors turned out to be a home line that just took coins. I was told to not use it during a critical period when I was trying to locate a shipping service for our convention materials.
Last but not least - despite confirmation of our reservations well ahead of time, by phone and by email, they got our departure date wrong, had rebooked the room, and insisted that we had to leave nonetheless. This despite showing them the email printout, and having already been there for 11 days, and leaving us without accomodations for the last two nights of our stay. The landlady seemed confused by email, was not helpful, and at 11AM, despite my obvious distress over this, kept insisting we had to leave. I got her to finally agree to give me two hours (had to go to SECC and finish packing our wares) and my partner came back and she said to him she'd been "a wee bit hasty" and would give us her daughter's room for the next couple nights. PLEASE! We got out of there as fast as we could, and although the husband gave us a ride (charging us) to the accomodations we hastily found (at $$$), we were glad to see the last of it.
There are many nicer places to stay in Glasgow proper. Although I feel sorry for an elderly couple trying to make a living with renting rooms in their house, the low cost was completely offset by the inconvenience of the area, the behaviour of the hosts in insisting we leave, and the general shabbiness of the place. Stick with places on the SECC side of the Clyde, and avoid Holly House.





Value
Location (e.g., convenience, views)



