Was a little worried based on the reviews we read, but my wife and I honestly had an excellent experience stopping in for a drink the first night we were staying in the hotel. Our server was so kind and attentive and she consistently checked in on us to make sure we had everything we needed. We stuck with just a pour of whisky so nothing too strenuous on the bartender. The ambiance was very laid back and welcoming which we appreciated being severely jet lagged and just looking a drink. I would say don't read too much into the negative reviews as it seems that these issues have been remedied. read more

First impression you would assume it was a classy place that would provide exceptional service. I think this is one of the most difficult places I've ever gone trying to get served after being seated. The employees here are much more interested in socializing than any customer interaction. We were seated next to the bar where the employees had clear view we had no drinks for a very long time. They just didn't care. Disappointed you want to go in for a few drinks and you can't find anyone in this place to actually serve them to you. If the employees had any resemblance of caring this establishment would make a lot more money as we weren't the only table with empty glasses. read more

Beautiful space Service was amazing All I ordered was an espresso martini and half a dozen oysters. They came with a chili sauce omg probably the freshest I ever ever had def get them read more

I was disappointed with my experience. The cocktail I tried was not good. I waited for someone to come around to check in on my or give me a menu (I went with the intention of ordering appetizers at the bar) but no one ever came or spoke to me. when I finally went to the bar to ask about the drink, she told me she had made substitutions since they were out of some items. This was never expressed to me until I asked and still they did not ask if I liked it or would like something else... anything. I was completely ignored by staff. I will not go back. read more

Juniper - Sweet days of summer - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Edinburgh, MLN

First and foremost, the hotel's location is absolutely perfect, which made the rest of our trip fairly easy and worry-free. For my lengthy review, I will start off with the lovely bits and end with the sour ones. An important heads-up in regards to the sour portion of my review: there will be a tone of upset because I am. However, my experience and retelling are factual and matter-of-fact, and I hope that helps whoever is reading the reviews make an informed decision. The Good: Anna, (SP?) the receptionist, is an absolute delight who took extra time out of her shift to personally ensure that we made the absolute best out of our 3-day stay in Edinburgh. She marked spots on the map of the city and gave us personal recommendations. She took her time with us and genuinely cared about us experiencing the most we can during our stay. Anna was so wonderful, in fact, that we were a bit sad we didn't have the chance to say farewell before returning home.The Sour: Despite being a paying guest at the lovely, swanky spot that is Hotel Indigo, there were several employees, as previous reviews have mentioned (please see user "aclinkscales"'s Trip Advisor review dated 11/08/21.)that did not treat us as welcomed guests. In particular, Jack, the evening bartender, seemed bothered by our presence, uninviting, and as though he was put out by having to serve us. As foreigners, we wanted to ensure we didn't embarrass ourselves while abroad. We went so far as to ask reception specifically to properly gauge if there was a dress code at Junipers, and the lovely receptionist assured us we were more than fine. My partner, wearing a Zelda hoodie, was fiercely stared at by a few of the male employees, including Jack. Both the look on his face and his actions were the opposite of hospitality. I've gotten better customer service from angsty teens unwillingly working in their uncle's corner store. On Thursday evening (June 8th, 2023), Junipers happened to be fairly empty aside from two other couples enjoying their meals. My partner, myself, and our guests sat down to play a card game with the children. We planned to order drinks and small bites as well, but due to the children being there, we weren't allowed to. Which is understandable. However, the moment we stepped foot in the establishment, Jack began emanating his radiant disdain for us as a whole. In between scathing looks, he made sure to circle back to our table and make our guests feel as if they themselves were a bother. "so.. only TWO of you are guests right...? *sneer*" he circled back and said this twice. In order to keep things friendly, my friend and I separated from the group and decided to visit the bar while the rest of the group continued their game problem-free. That did not appease Jack either. Because you guessed it, it had nothing to do with being able to properly serve us. Jack had already made up his mind about us based on our outward appearance and continued to make that known. There was a specific and sort of silly instance where a friend of mine, who again, was not a guest at the hotel, and I ordered a mojito, and Jack let us know in his sour way that he was out of mint. We asked if we could "simply have it without," and he, being a purist of a bartender, which, if he wasn't snobby and outright rude, I would respect, scoffed and groaned as he spoke down to us and refused to make it. Cool, fine water off a duck's back. We then asked for vodka seltzers and were met with another groan and scoff combo. At that point, I made an educated guess that we were being mistreated for being outsiders dressed in tourist apparel, which is so strange, right? It isn't as if the hotel is centrally located in a touristy hot spot, right? So, feeling defeated I added flavor drops to our drinks, and he just about combusted. Admittedly, I enjoyed that more than I should have. Dear reader, Jack was beyond your typical level of pretentiousness, which I find funny as an employee you have no idea who your guests are, their occupation, or their tax bracket. * NOT that any of that matters!* You're solely judging them for the hell of it. The reason I find it cheeky is that Jack *chose* to be in the hospitality business but is seemingly too posh to function and a wee bit jaded to serve us feeble underlings. You may ask if I said anything to him in person, and the answer is no. I decided to bite my tongue because, as someone who also works in hospitality, I know a review is more important in the long run than kindly telling someone about themselves just because they happened to be... themselves. A few other male food service employees seemed to be on the same wavelength ( ie with the same unwelcoming philosophy) as Jack. However, Mohammed and the rest of the female staff were absolute stars. No fire-y glares from them insinuating we don't belong as we eat the hotel's spectacular dishes. (Seriously. 5 stars. Food is so phenomenal. Run don't walk.) read more

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Like Sharon said in her review, I also love the decor in Juniper! It is really tastefully decorated and I love the lounge feel of the place. Unlike so many other cocktail bars in Edinburgh that are tiny and really loud, I liked that it was quieter although I count vouch for weekend nights. Unfortunately, where they really fall down is in the service. Tonight ten happy Yelpers came in to a very quiet Juniper and it took over half an hour to take our drink order, then over another hour to be served the first cocktails. For those of us indulging in the taster menu (see more below for a word of warning), it took us over two and a half hours to receive the four cocktails. This made for a long evening of waiting, and some frustrated Yelpers. I really enjoyed sharing a taster menu of cocktails as it was fun to get to try eight different cocktails and see what we liked best whilst navigating the extensive cocktail menu by taste. The server kindly let us share two taster menus - eight cocktails total - amongst four people but be careful since the menu does state that the £25 cost is per person. If sharing the taster menu with over two people, don't tell them you are sharing it! I think we only got away with it since we were bringing them so much business. The server made it clear that she was being extra specially nice to us even though we were receiving the eight cocktails amongst four instead of the four cocktails per person that is outlined in the £25 price. Call me a lightweight, but I didn't want four cocktails on a Tuesday night so I was really happy to share! read more

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I have been here a few times now and should have written a review before now! I have rated Juniper 4 stars as an average as it can fluctuate between 5&3 stars. The drinks are great and look spectacular and taste amazing, however the service is totally hit and miss. I have ordered puddings here and they were served without cutlery and I have had to go and track someone down to get cutlery do we can eat it! Also I never did get a reply to my email enquiry asking about a veggie option when I was invited to the VIP Christmas menu tasting night, so I missed out on that one. The venue is great and the views stunning, the food and drinks are both top notch, the staff just need to be that bit more on the ball with their customers. read more

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Ah so great to be back home and enjoying this wonderful city. This is a review of Juniper and the ajacent restaurant. So on a hungover Saturday I met two friends here for a spot of lunch. The setting is really something, wooden floor, high ceilings and a very well turned out dining room. The staff do a great job of being attentive without being intrusive. 20 Princes St has gained notice over the fact its one of the few places in Edinburgh and even Scotland to have a Josper grill. For that reason alone I went for the sirloin steak and chips. Served with a hot Bearnaise sauce and small side salad the steak was cooked perfectly. The grill gives it a wonderful smokey flavour. After finishing our meal we moved through to the Juniper bar, very busy with it being the last Saturday before Christmas we were lucky to find seats. again a wonderful setting the background music was great. We made a good effort of working through the cocktail list, the real highlight of which had to be the Strawberries and Steam. A glass teapot with the cocktail is served with dry ice creating an amazing theatrical experience. Juniper come highly JD Recommended! read more

Juniper - Cocktails served in an oriental style! - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Edinburgh, MLN

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Juniper is slightly hidden and not at all obvious from street level. It's a hotel bar but is open to non guests. Juniper serves great cocktails and bar snacks. The cocktail menu is quite extensive and has a lot of quirky options as well as a traditional set. Our group tried various things including a coffee cocktails served with dry ice, a mojito with chocolate chilli ice cubes and more traditional vodka cocktails. They all were very good and some extremely strong. The bar was very busy when we arrived so service was a little slow but not excessively. Once the group of 12 or so who were also ordering cocktails left it got much quicker and attentive. One minor annoyance is we didn't need all three members of waiting staff to check separately if our drinks were ok but it was fine. I'll certainly be back and try to claim the window seat again for the great view of the castle. read more

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I visited Juniper on one of those beautiful Autumn afternoons. When you first walk in there are tables and chairs in a light and airy area. But the real delights await further down the bar area where it opens up to a beautifully designed sitting area. There are very comfortable sofa's laid out nicely in groups of two for those quiet meetings or imbibing one of their signature cocktails. There are a couple of larger sofa areas for bigger groups. The service was brilliant, attentive and personal. We started with a prosecco as how else do you celebrate a new find like Juniper? We then moved onto the apple martinis. These were delicious and would highly recommend them. They were the colour of real apple juice, just how they should be (unlike some that are a fluro green!). And very quaffable indeed! I'd highly recommend this as a great new place to try, it's a good place to meet friends or for a date. They have wifi there and have been told their coffee is good so I'd also recommend it as a great place to work or catch up on surfing :-) read more

Juniper - The comfy bar area - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Edinburgh, MLN

i was a massive fan of juniper and after having a few enjoyable experiences here i'd suggested it for the monthly cocktail quest a few of us yelpers go on! so with an area booked for 15 thirsty yelpers, i was well excited for all of us to try out this still rather new bar. however, my excitement died down pretty quickly as the night progressed. i appreciate this place is table service but we sat for over 20 minutes waiting for someone to take our order...and then a further 20-30 minutes for our first drink! so while we arrived at 7pm none of us got a drink til 8pm although for those of us that had ordered food that arrived fairly promptly. however no one ever came to check and see that we were happy with our food.... from this first wee glitch, came an evening of endless waiting for drinks. although we kept asking if they could continue to bring the cocktail tasting drinks for those of us that ordered them a bit more quickly we were told that they were extremely busy and were trying to get things out. however on a walk through the bar there were only a handful of people there, apparently they claimed the restaurant was busy.... so after an hour wait for our first drink, we had another half hour wait for the second drink, a further half hour to get the third drink, but to be fair the fourth drink arrived only 15 minutes after the third. i'm assuming the restaurant had cleared out by this time so we could get some proper service. i'd probably have updated my review to only three stars if i was basing this on the service alone, however my third drink came with a fancy flower floating in it. yes it was a very pretty idea, but on closer inspection i discovered that my flower was mouldy. yes, a mouldy flower in my expensive cocktail.... unbelievably i didn't send it back as i was terrified of how much longer my wait for a new one would be if i did! totally shocking that this drink was allowed to leave the bar.... so i'm sorry Juniper, but i'm unlikely to come back after my experience last night. the length of service seriously needs to be sorted out as three hours for four cocktails is a bit ridiculous and a mouldy flower in someone's drink is unacceptable. i'm sad as the food is tasty and i so wanted to try out fondue fridays, but i just can't bring myself to spend my money here again! read more

Juniper - The twister!! - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Edinburgh, MLN

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Another autumnal visit. The staff were friendly and attentive. I love the seating arrangement particulary in the back area where there is comfy seats ahoy! The perfect place to enjoy a cocktail after a long hard day baking! The cockatil of choice was the Russian Roulette - which was delish! The small food menu is great. I choose the chips and they were yummy. the had some heat but had a dip at the side so you could cool them down! I'll defo be back with the girls as it will be a perfect place to chill out afer walking the length of Princes Street shopping! read more

I thought I was going to end up giving Juniper three stars, but at the end of the day "A-OK" just doesn't describe our experience here. I expect there to be some waiting involved when you order cocktails - they obviously take more time to prepare than a glass of wine - but the waiting we did at Juniper wasn't just for the cocktails. We waited a long time for a waitress to take our initial orders. We waited a long time for tap water to arrive (it came well after the first cocktails, actually). And we waited a long, long time for cocktails. So much so that it became one of the major topics of conversation at our table, wondering when our thirst would be quenched. The waitstaff was mildly apologetic and blamed the delays on how busy they were, but they were far from full of customers. I'd hate to see how slow the service gets on a day when the place is crowded. Other than the speed of the service, it was a good evening. The cocktails were interesting, and not excessively sweet. The sofas and armchairs were comfortable, and the room was well-decorated. The noise level was conducive to conversation. Based on all this and its nice, central location, I'll probably end up giving Juniper another try, hoping to discover that the slow service we experienced this time was was just a fluke. read more

"Fondue?! Count me in!" That was the message that shot back immediately when I texted my friend mentioning Juniper's Fondue Fridays. I'd heard great things about the cocktails at this new pad but that wasn't a massive pull for me. But fondue - well, that's another matter entirely. Hopping up the first flight of stairs just inside the Royal British Hotel, we arrived at the trendy and swish bar to be greeted by a cheery staff member. Plush purple sofa-benches, flowers in pink water on the tables, space-age egg-chairs, and cool textured wallpaper make Juniper a cool and sophisticated take on the cocktail bar. The music (funky stuff - Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson and so on) worked very well with the feel of the place although it could have done with being a fraction quieter. It was quite early in the evening and not that busy but we were having to raise our voices to talk. Nevertheless, it was super-suave - a far cry from our "usual" type of place but very impressive and enjoyable. There were two choices of both savoury and sweet fondue that night; we went for cider, cheese and bacon, which arrived pretty quickly with a lovely board of dunkables: salmon, mussels, herby chicken, tender beef steak and raw carrot sticks. Heaven! We didn't have that problem that so often occurs with fondue, when you run out of dippy bits before you run out of fondue to dip into. It was superb, and at £16 for both of us together, a pretty cheap way to dine out. We were certainly too full to indulge in a sweet fondue to follow, so that'll have to be a separate trip... oh, so I have to go back? Fine by me! As I said, it wasn't that busy. Even though it was early that evening (we were there just before six and stayed until around eight), it definitely deserves to pack out quickly. Hopefully as word spreads, it'll become a regular go-to spot after work for lots of people. read more

I am in love with this bar. I would visit Edinburgh just to go here. The staff are amazing, the ingredients fresh, and the availability of gin's etc are top notch. I cannot say enough good things about the food, liquor, cocktails, staff etc and great location and decor. Im a fan obviously. read more

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Oh dear. Drinks decent but service awful. Tried to book a table 5 days in advance. Tried 3 times and no one would pick up the phone and gave up as the Germany vs Brazil Blitzkreig was starting. Called back two days later - after an extended discussion about seating arrangements (size of group & suitable tables) then high table by window was confirmed. Arrived at designated time, table given to someone else and they didn't know about the booking. Just as well a couple of the gang didn't make it as they'd given away our big table which was made such a big deal of when I tried to book. Saw 4 walk-in's arrive after us and get served before us. No acknowledgement when I arrived. Took 40 mins to get the drinks - cocktails (nearly 25 mins after arriving before the order taken and got some water as knew cocktails might be a bit slow). Then 10 mins after that to get snacks that we had to ask again for. The guy that ended up serving us was really nice but he only arrived 25mins in as he was a bit more aware than the girl serving when we arrived. So Juniper, nah. Had I not been using a voucher, I'd have walked. And the voucher was a 2nd chance after friend's horror stories of bad service... read more

We stopped in for before dinner cocktails because we had heard good things and were intrigued by the vast cocktail menu. We were not terribly impressed - everything was OK and the snacks we had were good. Our cocktails were just not impressive though - very sweet or just average, which was surprising given their extensive menu. Our server didn't seem to have much knowledge about the cocktail menu either and just told us "it's nice" when we asked about specific cocktails. The view was nice and the seating was easy to get for our group of 7. read more

This is a perfect spot for a weeknight cocktail catch-up, and very well hidden away - you have to know it's there before venturing up the stairs into what looks like just a hotel. But take a left at reception and voila, the very tastefully decorated Juniper bar that I'd never known was here! As well as admiring the views out over Prince's St and coveting the velvet pouffes for my bedroom, the cocktails here also look and taste lush. One note of improvement would be for staff to be a little bit more on the ball - they started well but got progressively less attentive. I was pretty absorbed in my friend's proposal story though so didn't mind too much! It's a good sociable volume inside too to have a proper chat which I appreciated. I'm sure I'll be using this newly-discovered spot again given how close it is to the train station. read more

Posting on behalf of my better half: " Myself and 2 friends visited yourselves at approx 4PM today for the first time. Myself and my friend went to the bar and said to the bartender "it's our first time here, what cocktail would you recommend?". Her reply was the following "I am actually very busy making cocktails, sit over there and my colleague will serve you when she is ready". Myself and my friend found this to be rude and unacceptable customer service. We shall not be visiting or recommending Juniper to any of our friends and family. " read more