We spent two nights at the Old Waverley in May 2006. It is in an extremely convenient position in Edinburgh. We had a double room on the first floor overlooking Princess Gardens and the castle. The room was reasonably spacious, pleasantly decorated and furnished and more importantly, clean, as was the bathroom. We had one meal in the Hotel Restaurant which was extremely good, the breakfasts are also excellent with a lot of choice. My only complaint is the overpowering smell in the reception area from the Lush shop below the hotel, which obviously they can't do much about. The staff were helpful and friendly, we were able to leave our luggage after check out, and we would definitely stay here again.

We stayed here for a romantic getaway for a weekend. The first impression was not too good on seeing the dirty, cracked skirting boards along the corridor of the entrance hall, then there was the overpowering smell of 'LUSH' cosmetics from the neighbouring shop. There is a flight of stairs to climb with your case before you reach reception, you can ring for assistance if needed.
The reception was clean and bright, but again, the smell of the LUSH shop underneath made it smell of overpowering pot pouri.
Check in was slow as the Duty manager answered the phone three times during it and made an error with our booking. Eventually we were sent on our merry way to the 6th floor.
As we got into the tiny lift, an American guest jumped in and began to tell us what a horrible hotel this was.
Our room was TINY. It could just fit the double bed in, but there was no room for a wardrobe, so a clothes hanging bar was placed above the bed!!! There was a tiny window, but it looked straight onto another wall. The room was like a sauna too. The only redeeming feature was the bathroom, it had been newly fitted and clean and modern. The bedroom looked as though it had been recently decorated, however, the finishing was slapdash and it showed!
We could not sleep in our room because of the intense heat!
We complained the next day and we were told that rooms ending in the number '04' were bad rooms and they received many complaints about them.
We were quickly moved to the only available room left which was a junior suite. The staff were helpful and quick in moving us and did not charge extra.
Our new room was spacious and clean. Again, it had been newly decorated and some corner cutting was evident. However, it was more than adequate for a 3 star hotel.
Breakfast was good and the waiting staff were courteous.
Checkout was slow because we had to contest our being charged for two newspapers we didn't receive, but we could leave luggage to collect later.
My last concern is about fire safety. There were no notices on the backs of hotel room doors to advise what to do in a fire. There were also no fire klaxons or smoke detectors in both of the rooms we stayed in.

A summary of our stay:

Good features of the hotel:
excellent location - very central
good breakfast
some helpful staff
good bathroom facilities, especially the shower.

not so good features of the hotel:
rooms ending in '04' -----> do not accept this room if given!!
tired, dated and tatty décor in communal areas
slow check in and check out (with some seemingly aloof staff)
no morning papers delivered (in our experience)
no fire safety advice in rooms or fire safety equipment in rooms
No leaflet in rooms advising of breakfast times, checkout times etc (we weren't told at check in either.)

We've just spent the bank holdiday weekend in this Hotel. On arriving the reception area seemed bright and cheerful. However when we were sent to our 5th floor apartment our opinion soon changed. The hall was partly wallpapered, the bedroom doors look like they hadn't been renewed since they built the hotel. Our room could barely contain the bed never mind our luggage. With a small window which only faced another wall our bedroom soon felt like a sauna. We could hardly move, unpack, or refresh ourselves due to the heat. We went to reception. They couldn't move us until the next day..nor could they supply us with a fan. We spent the night awake!!
The next day we were moved to a much larger room on the the third floor. this room faced onto Princes Street. It had large windows which allowed in plenty of air. Yes the view was fantastic outside but inside it was terrible. The roof was covered in black marks, the bath had a large black stain running throughout the middle of it. The sinks taps were covered in rust.
The bar area and the breakfast room were fine, very outdated though. Breakfast was good..plenty to choose from.
The only thing about this hotel that deserves 3 stars were the staff and the location. The staff were vere polite and friendly.
I won't be staying here again!!

Stayed here for two nights. Hotel rooms have been refurbished to a high standard and were spotlessly clean. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate and shortbread provided in rooms and replenished each day. Staff very friendly and helpful. Were happy to let us leave bags in hotel after our check out time until we were ready to collect them. Hot and cold buffet breakfast was very nice with good choice. Would definitely stay at this hotel again.