Stayed here 2 nights on business 6/7 Sept 2007. Lovely welcome from check in staff - never had such a friendly welcome anywhere. Had a room overlooking zoo car park so it was quiet. Took advantage of pillow menu and got lovely feather pillows delivered to my room within minutes of arrival. Comfortable beds and plenty of space in the room. Hotel dining was reasonable - I was on business so I was not paying myself. I did send back one meal as it was not very hot and they brought me a fresh meal piping hot and could not apologise enough or do enough for me. Breakfast was a very good selection of hot and cold foods. My course was held in the hotel's Academy on 5th floor - all very good. If I were a tourist then you are rather a way out from the city and would need to use transport but there are lots of buses to town from right outside the hotel.
I have stayed in lots of hotels and my overall memory of this hotel is the fantastic staff - they were lovely and nothing was too much trouble, I was really genuinely impressed!

this hotel stinks with some smell...almost like a huge swimming pool which is not cleaned for ages!
Most of the staff is illiterate and doesnt understand simple statements to bring right kind of drinks to reserve a room. I was asked to vacate the room during the day because someone at reservation took the call, confirm my extension but never made the entry in system! To top that, the person who extended my stay ended up booking me for rom with b/f despite of very clearly saying I dont want b/f included. During the check-out, the the worst and rude person who happens to be the manager just refuse to listen and forced me to pay for 10 days of b/f charges!! - I had to pay...
The charges of the room at ridiculously high - I paid 140GBP per night with b/f for standard room and I could have paid just 150GBP to stay at Scotsman instead with MUCH MUCH better place to stay and quality of service!
If you want to waste your money and stay in a smelly place then be Holiday Inn's guest in Edinburgh!!!

Other reviews have already covered the distance from the City Centre, the expensive Taxis, the regular buses into the City and the criminally expensive bar.

So what can I add?

Well this hotel is clearly striving to attain mediocrity. The bar and public areas have recently been refurbished, but the rooms leave a lot to be desired. They vary from cramped to spacious, but all have second rate bathrooms, trouser presses that fall off the wall, and spaces where mini-bars used to live.

Some of the staff have clearly been on Customer Management courses, while others it's less evident.

Keep at it, you might actually attain the status of 'mediocre' one day, but you've still got a long way to go.

For a large hotel and well known brand they have far to go to reach even a 2 star hotel. It was total rubbish. The man on the reception was rude and unhelpful. They seem to have a dont care less attitude. The rooms are small, and the bathroom dirty with black hairs in the bath. For the price, it was a total rip off.

This is my second poor experience with Holiday Inn and I'm not going to choose this brand again. They have lost my business!