A very friendly hotel for families with small children.

We stayed here for 5 days (Friday through Tuesday nights). Although the other reviewers' comments about current construction on the Grassmarket (starts around 8 am, ends before 6), and the loud and rowdy bar denizens (on Thursday through Saturday nights; other nights were much quieter) are true, the location, view (if you get a room facing the Grassmarket), and the amenities for children are unbeat in my experience. A free little ducky in the shower, a gift bag for my 5-yr-old kid, a free kids DVD rental, and free kids meals in the restaurant if the parents are eating too! Plus free Internet for mom & dad.

Our room was spacious, with 2 double beds and a large bathroom with real modern shower (and not one of those annoying hand-held things found in so many British hotels). There was even a refrigerator so we could store yogurt, juice and the like for breakfast (important b/c the hotel's breakfast is not so great, read on).

However, I would not recommend the breakfast. The restaurant staff is poorly trained & makes many mistakes, & the food is mediocre. The food at other meals is better although the staff is equally unskilled. There are plenty of other options for eating elsewhere within walking distance, so just pass on the reates that include breakfast and you'll be fine.

As for the hills, if you don't like walking up & down hills, Edinburgh is not your town!

We stayed here after our wedding for one night. How I wished I had read some of the reviews before we booked.The receptionist was the first point of frustration when it took 20 minutes to get our key so that I could go and get changed.The room was nice enough but small.
When we arrived for breakfast the next morning we were ignored by the staff the vegetarian option was cold watery scrambled egg and when tea was requested twice it was tea that tasted strongly of black coffee! Toast was a real problem and what we were offered was brown bread in a toast rack. When we asked for it to be done again we were told the machine burns it if you put it through twice so 15 minutes later we had the same brown bread brought back to the table. Being situated just outside the kitchen door we could hear the staff making derogatory comments about us and another person who had also dared to ask for more tea.When we complained and wrote our comments they were not passed on. When we phoned nobody got back to us. We would thouroughly recommend NOT staying here but if you do go to Tesco for breakfast the staff are friendly helpful and know how to make toast.

Stayed here for one night on a business trip. The hotel is located right in Grassmarket, a convenient spot for touring Old Town, Edinburgh Castle and The Royal Mile. However, be forewarned: The Grassmarket is currently being repaved and re-landscaped, so there is noise and dust from all-day jackhammering. The hotel itself is nondescript, somewhat dreary in fact, despite some efforts at updating. Had a few issues with the bathroom – sink very slow to drain and a shower that took a long time to stop dripping after turning it off. Things like that turn simple tasks into needless frustration. On the plus side, room was large (by European standards) and beds were comfortable. The saving grace, and what gives this hotel a leg up, is the spectacular view of Edinburgh Castle from the fifth floor dining room. It’s absolutely stunning. If you can get a room with this same view (ours looked onto a back courtyard) then it might be worth staying here. Otherwise, look elsewhere.

Do not book for several reason's;

1. Superior rooms and standard rooms do not differ that much at all. Only difference is slippers, a robe and some more smellies.
(we were put in a standard when in fact we had paid for a superior).

2. The "superior room " was overlooking the Castle, nice you might think. But as darkness fell the "Stag and Hens " came out to play. I am only 32 and have been to many a hen doo, the hotel cannot take blame for the rowdiness. But they could improve the noise level by installing double glazing and doing whatever else is possible to sound-proof the rooms.
We had to open the windows as there was no air con, and even on a cold drab typical Scottish summer day, the room was like a sauna. So the noise level was even worse.

2. The "Spa", consists of a tiny pool (any more than 4 swimmers is cramped), a "tropicarium" (sauna to you and me) and a gym.
No i have stayed at the Apex in Dundee and the have a lovely Yu Spa, not here I'm afraid!

All in all, good if you are going for a wild weekend and have a drunken sleep to take you through he night.

I left feeling in need of a day off work to catch up on my beauty sleep!!