I should have listened to the other reviews of this hotel on Trip Advisor. I have never been let down in the past. But I was hung up on the 'balcony with the view of Edinburgh Castle'. The balcony was about 2 feet deep, very dirty, no chairs. So much for sitting out with a glass of wine gazing at the castle. And the Grassmarket is totally under construction. There is drilling going on all day, and barriers and detours everywhere. The hotel is big, modern and sterile. The bed was terrible - could feel every spring in the mattress. The shower had no curtain and the whole bathroom floor was flooded everytime we took a shower. (these last two points were mentioned in previous Trip Advisor reviews). I do have to say, the reception people were very friendly and helpful.
I have had much better luck with the smaller boutique hotels. They seem to have more character and warmth. If you have a reservation here, I would definately recommend cancelling and staying elsewhere.

My husband and I just returned from a weekend in Edinburgh. It was a fantastic trip. The city itself is one of the most picturesque in Europe. While I am sure there are more traditional hotels in Edinburgh, Apex International was clean and sleek.

The hotel is located in the trendy Grassmarket area just south of Edinburgh Castle within easy reach of all of Edinburgh's main attractions.

Our room faced the car park, which one might think to be a draw back. However, we were pleased because we figured it much quieter than the rooms facing the trendy Grassmarket. Throughout the night we had to keep the windows open because (believe it or not) it was a lovely weekend in Scotland. We didn't have any problems leaving the windows open --- there was obviously some noise from the car park but it was relatively inactive. The only real noise problem in the back rooms with regards to noise is that the hotel has used poorly fit, paper-thin, doors in their recent retrofit. I could literally hear every word from neighbours as they walked into their rooms. I was a bit fearful of what they might hear from us, as when we were passing other people's rooms on the way to the lift we heard sneezes and entire conversations. Despite the events that took place at the hotel over the weekend - a masonic party a wedding reception - our corridor was quiet with the exception of the issues arising from the paper-thin doors.

The view of the Castle from Heights Restaurant (and I imagine rooms above the 3rd floor facing Grassmarket) is spectacular. If for no other reason, definitely head up for a cooked breakfast upstairs.

We particularly appreciated the hotel's attempts to accommodate my husband, who was running the marathon. The already lengthly breakfast time frame was expanded by 30 minutes to accommodate the start time of the marathon. Also, despite having checked out of the hotel the morning of the race, the hotel offered my husband the use of their "Spa" shower/changing facilities --- which was very much appreciated after the 26.2 mile run and the up and coming flight back to London.

The reasons I cannot give the hotel an "excellent" review are:

1 - The "Spa" was literally swarmed with children. At one point I counted 10 kids in the 15 metre pool. Calling the swim/sauna area a "Spa" implied something luxurious and while the facilities were fairly nice, you certainly cannot call an area where people unleash their children to do cannon balls and splash about a "Spa".

2 - The bathroom facilities were highly impratical. The tub was a 1/2 or 3/4 size and was not bath worthy. And although the room had both a trouser press and iron --- it didn't have a blow dryer!

Despite these gripes the staff were friendly, the breakfast good, the views magnificent and the hotel clean and modern.

I have never experienced noise like this. Ever.

Our room was at the front of the hotel, facing the castle. (Sounds nice, but you really had to stand way to one side of the window to see the castle. But I digress.) The front faces Grassmarket, which, little did I realize, is extremely noisy. There are several small pubs that cater to "Stag and Hen" (Bachelor and Bachelorette) parties. These are extremely rowdy (more so than in the US) and the crowds were outside all night long. All. Night. Long.

Now, the APEX certainly can't stop drunken crowds from being outside their windows, but there are things they can - and must - do to improve the situation. Like double glazing the windows and doing whatever else is possible to sound-proof the rooms. A week later we stayed at The Point hotel (just down the street) and they designed the windows/front of the hotel to block street noise. I heard virtually nothing.

Having said all that, even if this hotel was fantastic, I could never recommend anyone stay in this part of town unless you are in your 20's and want to join in on the massive binge-drinking parties happening on Grassmarket. I am only 41 - and like a good party - but even walking down the street was a nightmare.

Other than the noise, the hotel itself was nice enough. Nice decor. However, the staff was less than helpful when we checked in (gave us no info about the pool, the fitness center, breakfast, Edinburgh, etc.) and the room that I reserved (w/ 2 queen sized beds) turned out to only have one bed. I should have dealt with that, but couldn't be bothered. For most, though, that would be an issue.

Seems like many other people had good stay at this hotel, but, unless you like paying $250 per sleepless night, I wouldn't recommend staying here...

I stayed here with my friend on Saturday/Sunday 26th & 27th April. Our room wasn't ready as promised by 2:15 but they did give us a complimentary drink, so could n't grumble as there was nothing they could do, there was a large wedding going on there. All staff really nice and polite, front desk John (i think) and Jane especially. We had a twin bedded room which had just been refurbed - 3010. Clean & Modern, location great. You could see the castle when having breakfast from the 5th Floor.

All in all I was impressed with the Hotel & staff.

The lovely scottish people all made us very welcome, especially a group we met from Inverness.