Where can I join an evening zoom call in central Edinburgh?

May 3, 2023 1:45 AM

I have to run an hour-long training session tomorrow from 17:30-18:30 UK time. Originally, I was going to do this from home, but since it was scheduled, I've been booked (by work) to go to Edinburgh. Is there anywhere within half an hour of Waverley Station where I could join a Zoom call for an hour, at this hour (17:30-18:30) specifically?

Since the training session was scheduled, I've had Edinburgh meetings scheduled for Friday morning, so I'm on a train that arrives tomorrow (Thursday) at 16:30.

I need, therefore, to find somewhere half an hour of Waverley Station where I could join a Zoom call for an hour between 17:30 and 18:30. Some background noise is fine (a quiet cafe with people chatting and ambient music, for example, or a pub with an upstairs room), and I'm fine with having to buy a drink/food since I'll have to eat at some point anyway.

I looked at libraries and museums (for their cafes) but I don't have time to arrange access to the Uni library and the public libraries and museums all close at 5 on Thursdays.

Wifi would be great but I can also use my phone as a hotspot in a pinch, so all recommendations are very welcome. Thanks in advance!

posted by obliquicity to Travel & Transportation around City of Edinburgh, Scotland (6 answers total)

No specific recommendations here (my various locals aren't really suitable for one reason or another alas), but I'd suggest posting this to the Edinburgh reddit, the folks there are pretty good with recs for this sort of thing. And in-jokes about Cumbernauld.
posted by aihal at 4:34 AM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

My go to for this type of things is a lobby or bar area of a nice hotel. Walk in like you belong, camp out in the chairs and ask for the internet access. Order a cup of tea to further legitimize your presence, but most likely no-one will ask.

Don't know any specific hotels in Edinburgh though.
posted by zeikka at 4:42 AM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The Balmoral Hotel is directly above Waverley station - their lobby / bar should be big enough for you to find a corner. The other place that occurred to me is coincidentally called the Waverley Bar - it’s on St Mary’s Street which is a 5min walk from the station - and has an upstairs room which would probably be quiet at that time.

I assume there’s a reason why you can’t go straight to wherever you’re staying tomorrow night & do it from there.
posted by Puppy McSock at 5:55 AM on May 3, 2023

Best answer: Seconding the recommendation for the Edinburgh subreddit, and with a bit of searching the answer you seek might already be there - similar things are asked from time to time, here's one thread with a few co-working spaces mentioned, for example, if you have any budget to throw at it.

(IME most of the in-jokes on the Edinburgh subreddit are about herons ....long story).

One place that might work - if you go in the entrance of the Traverse Theatre on Lothian Road, when you get through both sets of doors so you're facing the Box Office, turn left. Through there is a high-ceilinged atrium with seats and tables where you can sit and mind your own business without anyone bothering you. It’s open even when the theatre is closed. I’ve no idea who it belongs to but I’ve killed a bit of time there on several occasions. There's occasionally like, one other person there doing the same - looks like the Traverse has a gig on from 6.30pm so there might be a few people milling around, but the atrium area isn't part of the theatre and the high ceiling kind of swallows noise.
posted by penguin pie at 6:00 AM on May 3, 2023 [1 favorite]

Delivering training is a little more demanding in terms of your environment than a casual business call on Zoom might be. If you want to be confident of a little more of a guarantee of privacy and non interruption than you might have otherwise - then you could try booking a room for business use with a site like this. - from about £25 per hour.
posted by rongorongo at 6:07 AM on May 3, 2023 [3 favorites]

Response by poster: Nipping back in to say thank you for the hotel idea; it was perfect, although I ended up at the Cheval The Edinburgh Grand rather than the Balmoral (because their ambient music in the bar was aggressively loud, and it was table service even in the bar, which would have been disruptive). My train was late or I would have tried the Traverse Theatre -- more of the right vibe but a bit too long a walk when I only had 15 minutes rather than 45 to get settled.

And I vetoed coworking spaces because they all require a minimum day-long rental; for an hour, that felt very overkill.

Thanks, everyone.
posted by obliquicity at 7:00 PM on May 6, 2023 [1 favorite]