The room was very clean,beds were big and very comfortable and the staff were very nice to deal with.
Only downsides were the breakfast on the first morning and my partner complained that the lighting in the bathroom was poor.

Stayed here for one night ( mid-week ) during June 2009.
Good points: Clean, efficient, professional service, free internet use, large rooms, close to castle, great views of castle.
Bad points:
1) I personaly didn't like the bed. Much to soft for me, felt like sitting on a big lump of bread dough as you sink into it and then bob up and down. The pillows also are incredibly over soft and hardly give any head support at all. My wife loved it though. But if you prefer a slightly firmer support, this is not the hotel for you.
2) Floors are very thin and there was a lot of banging and bumping from people in the above rooms and even people walking past in the corridor outside.
3) The hotel is located in Grassmarket. The area is full of restaraunts, bars and cafes. Great earlier in the day or evening but we had young people going past the hotel upto 3am singing, shouting and swearing. Since there is no air-conditioning in the room, so in summer it was quite warm. So we opened the (single) large window to let some airflow into the room. It was quickly closed again due to the loud shouting of drunken people leaving the pub and many heavy lorries and trucks passing the hotel. Not the best nights sleep i've had!
4) Eating in the hotel seemed expensive. Nearly £14 per person for breakfast. Instead we went to a small cafe on the royal mile and got a good breakfast for 3 people for about £12 in total.

I stayed at the hotel for two nights in March 2007 on a business trip and had a pleasant and comfortable stay. I usually stay at budget hotels so it was a nice change to enjoy the trappings of somewhere on the next rung up the ladder.

My room was a double room at the back of the hotel, so I missed out on the sweeping views of the castle from the front, which my other colleagues staying on that side of the building told me about with glee, but I could sneek a peak of it from the window if I craned my neck somewhat!

The room was clean, spacious and nicely decorated in beige and coffee tones. The bed was very comfortable and the ensuite was bright and had a shower and a bathtub to choose from.

Grassmarket is a nice starting point for exploring Edinburgh. There are lots of bars and restaurants nearby and it is close to Waverley station, The Royal Mile and lots of other attractions (...did I mention the castle?!)

Having said that there was a bit of noise from the bars later at night and from bottles being emptied in the early hours, but I suppose that is the price you pay for a central location.

I had dinner in the restaurant downstairs, which had a good choice of reasonably priced food. There is a fancier restaurant on the top floor, where you can dine while looking out at the castle, but you pay more for the privilege.

But fear not as you needn't miss out if you are on a budget, as the top floor restaurant also doubles as the breakfast room and you can enjoy some stunning views of the castle while you eat in the morning, with a good spread of food to choose from. In fact I'd say the view is the hotel's greatest selling point - it's certainly what I remember most from my visit and I would recommend the hotel to you on that alone.

A word of warning though, if you do decide to stay here remember that it is the Apex International, as confusingly there is another Apex hotel on Grassmarket, which looks a bit shabby from the outside so I think this one would be a safer bet.

We booked a room via hotel.club the price was quite expensive and we didnt get any breakfast..The bad things with this hotel is that it looks on the surface good but our room was a big dissapointment shreds on the walls of colour.. remote controls to tv and dvd not working and most important very bad air no ac in the room so you must have the windows open at then you have to hear all the noise from late partypeople and this is like you are in the pub almost .. its only one thing that is really good and that is the location...