We are currently staying in the Housekeepers Rooms (July 2020) as I have family nearby and was a bit wary of staying with them just after the easing of lockdown restrictions. This has enabled us to have a bit of a holiday and to visit family in a socially distanced manner. The apartment is very clean, a good size for a 2 bed with lovely views from the living/dining room over the main lawn of the castle. When we arrived the owners had thoughtfully provided a pint of milk, some biscuits, teabags, coffee, sugar and a small loaf of bread. You will need to bring/buy more of these things for the week of course but it’s nice that there was something on arrival. A few dishwasher tablets are supplied in case you forget them and there was washing up liquid, a sponge, a couple of tea towels, a kitchen roll and a couple of loo rolls, all of which were thoughtful touches and not something I have always found provided in holiday lets. There is a good kitchen with a decent amount of pans, utensils, chopping boards, knives and oven trays/dishes. There is a microwave, fridge freezer and a washing machine. A drying rail is supplied so you can dry your clean clothes. We had a couple of small issues earlier in the week, there were lightbulbs missing from a couple of lamps. When I messaged Harriet, one of the owners, these were quickly supplied. On one day we came back and the blind had fallen down in the twin room. Again the owners were quick to remedy this and it was repaired the next day. So it is things like this that elevate this place above the norm.
There seems to be hot water available for baths pretty much all day (it can get very hot) however the shower took a bit of figuring out to get it to work and be warm. I have added a photo of what we eventually settled on as the optimum setting (believe me, we tried everything). I also found that on a couple of occasions it didn’t seem to warm up at all, but when I restarted it, it was fine.
In the local area there is quite a lot to do. Obviously it is slightly limited at the moment as a number of places are still closed due to Covid (the Museum of Flight at East Fortune was shut this week, as were some historic Scotland properties, but I believe they are opening again soon), however you can still find things to do.
We enjoyed a walk around the glorious grounds and parkland at Penicuik House, which has a car park and walking trails. There is the shell of the old house (I believe it is an Adam House) which has been stabilised and looks fantastic, in much better condition than when I was a child growing up in Penicuik.
We also visited Foxlakes adventure park at Dunbar where we did the Ziptrail and the Foxfalls (low ropes over water). My daughter really wanted to try wakeboarding but it was all booked up for about 2 weeks in advance. If you want to do any activities there (and I do recommend it), book well in advance!
Close by there is also Vogrie Country Park with outdoor walks and a good play area and Dalkeith Country Park with the excellent Fort Dalkeith outdoor play area (again you have to pre-book). You also have the beaches of East Lothian very close by, so there are a good many things you can do outdoors here and maintain social distancing if you want to. You are quite close to Edinburgh as well, but we have done pretty much everything in Edinburgh over the years and didn’t fancy going in on this trip. So all in all, this is a good spot for a break right by East Lothian and all it has to offer, plus if you do wish to go into Edinburgh, it isn’t far to drive.