Edinburgh - The Kimpton Charlotte Square 

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland; it has a medieval styled Old Town & and an elegant Georgian styled New Town with gardens & Neoclassical buildings. With a population of approx. 506,000 people.

Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel is a Georgian styled hotel on Charlotte Square just few yards down from Princes Street. The hotel is owned by International Hotel Group (IHG) along with the Intercontinental along St Andrew Square. This hotel is a Luxury 5 Star Hotel with 3 restaurants including a Middle Eastern styled restaurant called BABA. It is one of the few luxury 5 Star Hotels that is also pet friendly which amazed me.

I checked in to the hotel on the 24th September to stay for a few nights to settle into the city centre. When I got to the room. I was greeted to a Welcome Card, Scottish Fudge and a can of Irn-Bru to welcome me to Scotland and get settled in.

On the 25th September I went down for breakfast, sat at my table, went up to go the buffet, saw there was haggis that I heard was the staple of Scottish food. I couldn’t resist, had to try some, loved it and thought I’d be prepared in case I get offered haggis during my travels. After the breakfast, I went for a stroll around the cities along the 2 towns of the city centre. That evening I popped into the kitchen to introduce myself to the acting head chef Agustin and to check what time I needed to be in the kitchen to start my 1st day of placement so I would plan my night around the roster and was given a little tour of the kitchen while I was chatting with him.

On the 26th of September my 1st day of placement started where I arrived around 7:30 to start the breakfast shift at 8 where I was introduced to the breakfast chefs and was shown around the kitchen before starting to prepare scrambled egg mix for service. Looking around the kitchen while I was getting the 1st day nerves which quickly went away when I began doing preparation for breakfast service for both this morning and the following day which reduced my nerves and homesickness as it’s my 1st time living away from home for 3 months. Time flew by after getting to know the other chefs and kitchen porters as well as staff from the various departments around the hotel.

After the 1st day of placement, I felt exhausted after heading back to the room after learning the different techniques and demonstrations and had to pack up to check out the following day as I am moving to my accommodation which is where I’d be living for the rest of the semester.

So far, I’m getting on ok living in Edinburgh, hopefully when I arrive to my accommodation where I hopefully will get settled in and feel like I’m home. I’m also looking forward to seeing what Edinburgh has to offer.

Wishing myself the best of luck on this new chapter of my life!

Oscar Fitzgerald