Advertising Company Issues Apology for “Horrendously Bright” Screen at Scotland Marriott Property
It appears that the installation of an eye-catching digital display at a Marriott property in Edinburgh’s city center has stirred quite the commotion. This monumental screen, which has been hailed as the largest in all of Scotland, now graces the exterior of the Omni Center, a multifaceted complex that houses a mix of retail, a movie theater, various dining establishments, and the elegant Glasshouse Hotel, affiliated with Marriott’s Autograph Collection.
While the screen is angled away from guestrooms, the sheer luminance of this mammoth display would likely reflect off nearby buildings and back into guests’ windows, not to mention generally ruining the charm of the immediate area. To give you a sense of the scale, one glance at a snapshot shared by @SuperStevie268 on X (formerly Twitter), and you’d swear the entire square was in daylight at midnight – a sight that, to be fair, isn’t uncommon in the summer months at such a high latitude.
Thankfully for the hotel’s occupants, the good folks at The Glasshouse Hotel seem to have had the foresight to furnish their guestrooms with blackout curtains. After all, Scotland’s summer sun, with its penchant for lingering late into the evening, is an old acquaintance for those familiar with the region.
Having checked in at this establishment just a month prior to the screen’s installation, I can vouch for its charm and sophistication, frequently commanding rates north of GBP £300 per night. Nevertheless, the promise of the impending Hyatt Centric Edinburgh Haymarket would likely prevent me from needing to stay with Marriott on future visits to the Scottish capital. A comprehensive review of The Glasshouse is in the pipeline, so stay tuned for that (UPDATE: review now live).
News has reached us that an investigation is now underway by the council, thanks to the diligent reporters over at EdinburghLive.co.uk. The seemingly audacious screen has raised enough questions to warrant official scrutiny, and rightly so.
GEM Display, the company behind this luminous spectacle, had boasted about their creation, describing it as “Scotland’s largest” and the “first large format digital display within Edinburgh’s World Heritage zone in the city center.” Well, it appears they’ve certainly accomplished their mission of being unmissable, but perhaps they didn’t factor in the sleep patterns of the hotel’s guests, or the fact that it’s in, well, a World Heritage zone.
It’s safe to say that this larger-than-life display isn’t going unnoticed, and its brightness is, well, certainly hard to miss. We’ll be keeping an eye on how this situation unfolds, but for now, all we can say is, sleep tight, guests of The Glasshouse – and don’t forget to pull those blackout curtains!