Things we knew before we booked: Construction & scaffolding on the building front.
Things we didn’t know: Construction everywhere nearby.
Verdict: Confusing and messy but doable.
Came by train from London after a 2 hour delay due to high winds—we were exhausted and ready for food and a comfy bed. The woman was nice at the desk & we took our own luggage to the room because we were desperate to get settled. The room was lovely but there was not air conditioning as advertised & it was almost windowless & worse claustrophobic. We trudged back to the lobby (the air was noticeable cooler the closer we got to the elevator) and said that the room would not work—we were pleasant but firm about it.
The woman behind the desk didn’t seem savvy enough to realize we were willing to stand our ground. She found another room but forgot to mention that it was a smoking room—another long walk for no reason. I was ready to find another hotel but my husband, a Hilton honors diamond member was not ready to give up. After 15 or so minutes we were shown to a beautiful room that was huge with a sitting area and a big bathroom and a view of roof tops and sky that was quite pleasant.
The 5 night stay was wonderful after that even though there were 2 fire alarms evacuations—we saw Sean Connery during the 2nd evacuation! As we waited for our return to the room during the 11pm alarm we felt comfortable enough to start up conversations with the other guests and met some interesting people--it was a hoot! The management sent out apology letters.
Room service one night was tasty even though it was just sandwiches. Breakfast was wonderful and the staff couldn’t have been nicer. I did ask for extra pillows and they came promptly. The bar was very friendly and went out of their way to accommodate us when we wanted dessert after 10pm. They also let my husband bring tea trays to the room as did the breakfast manager. The extras were nice—newspaper, bottle water, etc.
Taxis were easy to get out front and as other reviewers noted, there are plenty of great restaurants nearby. One favorite was suggested by a wonderful cabbie who took us to Howies Waterloo the first night—Sunday and it was getting late but we were served a gourmet meal while a large party was finishing up. I have to mention The Bombay Bicycle Club for Indian food--it was fabulous and the management was incredible. Beautiful city, friendly people, lots of walking and of course great sights to see.

Nice charming hoetl with friendly staff,. the staircase in the lobby is lovely and a real focus point of the hotel. Meet up friends one night in the hotel who were from Scotland and had heard about the great reputation the "Caley" and were very impressed. The room was nice with a view over Princes Street but was very noisy on the Saturday night. The breakfast were fab and the dining rooms were really nice. There was a extensive choices of fruit juices, cereals and hot breakfasts and danish pastries. One of the best breakfast ive had in a city hotel recently. Handy location to all the attractions of Edinburgh

Journey back in time and pay today's prices.

Edinburgh is the most visited city in Scotland and being Scottish I would never recommend this hotel to anyone visiting the city.

Old world charm it may have, but if you are looking for value for money this hotel is not for you. It would take millions of pounds to bring this hotel up to date.

The work has now finished on the outside of the building, so there is no need to listen to the workmen swearing throughout the day!
Not good if you have young children as our room was above their portacabin.

Starting at the front desk - Don't expect a warm Scottish welcome as none of the staff were from Scotland and I found them to be quite abrupt.
The price advertised at the desk for a double room was over £300, however book on-line and pay half this price.
The standard double rooms are small and there is no air-con, which can be very uncomfortable in the summer and the windows have very limited opening.

One of our party had a room overlooking a brick wall, less than 6 feet away and their room was in semi-darkness most of the day.
The bathroom was adequate and rooms were clean.
Only one extra pillow is provide for a double room and this is without a pillowcase.
Take care not to lift any of the contents out of the mini-bar for inspection as they will automatically be added to your bill.

Edinburgh has so many great restaurants that we did not eat in the Caledonian, and I would suggest that the only time you want to spend here is when you are in your bed.

The Caledonian Hilton falls way behind what I would expect from an average Travel Inn, and it's time that the owners took a careful look at this place as it is a real rip-off.

If you are new to Edinburgh I would recommend a couple of nights stay at Tigerlily and really feel the pulse of this exciting city.

My Husband I were celebrating our anniversary with a long weekend in Edinburgh. Let me start by saying there is a major renovation being done and HALF of the hotel is shut off.

We booked months in advance and paid extra for the Deluxe Plus room with a view of the castle. There are four floors in this hotel and in the short time we stayed, we moved four times!! The first room they gave us, while very roomy, was right next to a room that was under renovation. Hammering and banging with no signs of stopping. We called and were given another room. Not as big, but okay.....that is until the fire alarm went off at 11:30pm! False alarm (from the other reviews, this happens A LOT here!!!) We trecked outside and stood in the cold for an hour. AFter getting back inside and listening to the fire alarm for another 20 minutes, we discovered that the street noise was unbearable! Drunks and gangs of people parading ALL night. If that wasn't enough, the inconsiderate hotel guests coming and going all night, slamming doors prevented us from gettiing any sleep.

IT SEEMS THIS HOTEL IS NOT SOUNDPROOF, ESPECIALLY FROM THE STREET NOISE AND THE VERY OLD WINDOWS ARE NOT DOUBLE GLAZED.

Well, we moved the next day, then later in the day, moved to a quiet room, overlooking the back, simply because we needed to get some rest. I would not pay the big price to upgrade, unless you can go without sleep.

The staff at the desk were a bit rude, but the staff in the dining room were very nice, except for the lobby waiter who talked on for 20 minutes about his nasty divorce! (Not a good thing.) We avoided the lobby area after that.

The breakfasts were run of the mill and the fruit was not up to par. The tables on the upper level were shakey and could use replacement.

The manager was very helpful with the room situation and sent up a lovely fruit plate, which was lovely.

All in all, we spent the majority of our weekend, changing rooms. They'd be better off closing down and renovating all at once because the drilling and pounding is too much!