Booked this hotel due to its reputation, Tony Blair was staying there whilst we were, so we thought it has to be good. It was very drab and disappointing. On arrival the receptionist spent the first fifteen minutes insisting that we pay for the room, this has been done prior to arrival, it took the manager who spoke proper English to explain to the young girl on reception that we had indeed paid for the room before arrival, this was highly embarassing and very unprofessional. The first room we were shown to had the dirtiest carpet I have ever seen in a room, after inspection by the manager we were moved to another room overlooking the castle. Surely housekeeping check carpets! We paid £200 a night for a room, the best thing about the hotel was the location and that really is not worth it. We saw many other lovely hotels , which we will stay in next time. Edinburgh is a fab city to visit very interesting to those who have never visited, but I'd not recommend the Caledonian

My wife three kids (7,5and 3) and i stayed here for 2 night 19th 20th of January. The welcome from Gordon at the front door was fanastic, a nice wee bit of banter and some jokes for the kids about getting their room ready in the castle dungeons!!.
Booking in was easy and the receptionist phoned straight through to book us a table for dinner.
The room had two double beds and a single bed, fantastic views over the castle and princess street gardens. Had a issue with one of the windows not closing properly which ment we got no sleep as the wind howled through the small gap.The window was fixed within 30mins of raising it with reception the next morning, good stuff.
Dinner on the first night was good but not what i was expecting, i had to send my steak back as it was cold and the portions were small, however for the kids they had a excellent selection.
The hotel in general was looking a little worn,and tired. Carpets in the room, stained, bath chipped, wallpaper ripped, lights with cobweds!! tv with a layer of dust on it.
What makes this hotel is its people, warm and welcoming.
We paid £400 for two night, first night dinner ,breakfast both mornings. I would say too much for what we got.

We stayed at the Caley in the middle of January 2007 for three nights. We both thought the hotel was very good and the staff more helpful and genuinely pleasant than the norm. The concierge (Thomas) in particular was very helpful.

Initially, as we had asked for a quiet room, we were shown to a room at the rear of the hotel, which overlooked the courtyard garden. It was a nice room but a little on the small side and with very limited hanging space. After a short chat with the concierge and the receptionist this was changed for a much larger room on the front of the building. So we sacrificed increased noise for more space but we felt it met our requirements better.

We ate in the Chisholm restaurant as part of our package and the meal was really rather good, the service too was attentive and friendly. Drink prices as you'd expect weren't cheap (£19 for two glasses of house champagne) but not ridiculously so.

We also ate in the lounge as well as having room service on the one occasion. Both meals were large, well prepared and decent value for money

The Hilton likes to fame itself for the quality of its breakfasts and we were left just a little disappointed due to some items being a little cold and the sausages, whilst cooked were colourless and unappetising. This really was the only negative we had of the hotel.

The bedroom itself was large and well decorated. The tv set could do with updating but was generally acceptable. The bathroom was large and well stocked and all areas were reassuringly clean.

The hotel is situated in an enviable location, being right next to Princes Street and only half a mile from the Royal Mile. The trade off for this does mean that the hotel is in a noisy position and presumably because of its listed status does not have double glazing but rather the less insulating secondary type. However, all in all we were pleased with our choice of hotel for Edinburgh sightseeing.

We enjoyed visiting the castle, although it can get bitterly cold up there and the Royal yacht Britannica was really well worth a visit. On the other hand we found "Our Dynamic Earth" a little naff, despite its impressive looking building. It is perhaps best suited to parents with younger children but it really shouldn't be compared with a disney type experience. We also went out onto one of the Ghost tours (City of the Dead) and this was okay but in truth our guide wasn't that good, so I'm sure others would be more imprssed than we were. The Edinburgh Bus tour costs £9 and is valid for just 24 hours (unlike the usual 2 days in some cities) so you have to be thoughtful about when you commence your ticket.

Just how pleasant the staff were at the Caley was emphasized when we left Edinburgh for Glasgow, where we stayed in another five star Hilton. The concierge was dower and the staff, whilst professional appear to be more acclimatised to the business traveller.

As for tips I'd have to say read the menus and receipts properly as on some occasions service charge is included, although we did leave extra by choice because of the quality of service. Also if you prefer a larger room it may be appropriate to ask for a room with lots of wardrobe space as our first room had one small double but our second had two and a half large double wardrobes, together with a room about twice as big.

Would we go back to the Caley? Absolutely, it's certainly not the cheapest but it is a proper hotel.

Two night stay in early December - 2 adults + 2 children (10+12).
This hotel is well positioned close to airport bus stops at one end of Princess St. Everywhere is walkable.
Being orginally a railway hotel it has large rooms suitable for families.Room facilities good ; bathroom huge.
Grand wide wooden staircase is atmospheric.
Staff are friendly and helpful e.g.advising on buses to the Royal Yacht (bus stop just outside)
Food - breakfast good selection ; dinner at the minor of the 2 restaurants was tasty bistro level.
The children enjoyed a swim in the lesuire club.
This is the second time we have stayed here with the children and again we enjoyed it.
The cost / location /facalities ratio is positive- especially for families.
We shall return.