Novotel Edinburgh Centre

Modern hotel in excellent location in the heart of old town - a short walk to Grassmarket, Royal Mile, various cafes & restaurants, National Museum of Scotland. Room was surprisingly quiet given the location. Although more expensive than I'd normally go for, I chose the hotel for its central location and secure underground car park (although be aware there is a charge to exit the car park - normally £20 but £16 for an Accor loyalty card member). Slightly quirky room layout - bathroom with shower, bath and basin, but separate toilet. Mini bar in our standard room was empty but for UHT milk pots. (If there's a mini-bar, at least give us fresh milk not UHT in it). Basement health club has a very small swimming pool, hot tub (not as hot as I'd like), steam room and sauna. (You have to switch the sauna on - it takes around 15 minutes to heat up) rather than it being on all the time. One or two odd bits of peeling paint on the walls in the health club - the maintenance team needs to be more on the case. Reception staff very helpful when we asked about public transport to the zoo - clear maps and bus numbers provided. (They were happy to help too, rather than referring us to the "electronic concierge" info screen service - not as good as proper internet access). We didn't eat in the hotel restaurant - we headed to nearby cafes for breakfast.

We stayed here during our first visit to Edinburgh last week and were not disappointed! Walking distance to the Grassmarket (restaurants and bars), the castle, the Royal Mile, the Palace, King Arthur's Seat, Holyrood Park - see separate reviews for each). Very clean, quiet and modern. They have a bar/restaurant by the lobby (same place we had a buffet style breakfast every morning), small gym, pool, hot tub and sauna. Staff were very friendly and helpful. They have a very small (15 or so cars) garage. The City car lot is about 3-4 blocks away and cost about 12£/day. We were lucky to arrive late Saturday afternoon, found on street parking next to the hotel and paid a few pounds to get us to 6:30pm after which it is free parking through Monday morning til 8:30am. The on-street parking is about 1£/20 minutes. Pay at kiosk and leave printed ticket on your dashboard. We were told by the hotel reception that the meters are patrolled very frequently. However, they tend to ignore the temporary parking at curb directly in front of the front lobby doors for offloading and loading luggage.

From the looks of it, you would think it would be better than it is. It is not bad, but not excellent. The rooms are comfortable, but beds a little on the firm side for me. There is a hot tub, sauna, steam room, pool, and weight room. The hot tub is not hot and the pool is over chlorinated. The steam room is hot.

Lovely hotel, the rooms are comfortable and fresh. The staff is very professional and friendly. It is located very close to many of the sites in Edinburgh. There is a bus stop within a block of the hotel, where you can catch one of the "Hop On Hop Off" buses. With a market just around the corner you can get anything you may need in the way of snacks. We will stay here again.

Stayed two nights with a Trafalgar tour group and two more nights at the end of our trip. The hotel location was perfect for walking to Edinburgh Castle, the Grassmarket area, Royal Mile, Harry Potter sites and the fantastic National Museum of Scotland! Inexpensive taxi ride to the train station as well. The staff was very helpful, rooms were clean and comfortable and a lovely hotel restaurant and bar. Pack you swimsuit to enjoy the hot tub!

Stayed two nights this week. Arrived from Sydney minus luggage which was still at Heathrow. Staff super helpful. Hotel very quiet and minutes walk to major attractions. Drop off and parking a bit of a hassle, otherwise great.

We stayed here for one night over the weekend. Although, the hotel advertises parking, it was full so had to park down the street and pay. The water temp for the shower wasn't very hot on both days. For the price we paid to stay on a Saturday night, I expected better.

Not only was this the worst hotel we stayed in during our tour of many countries it was also the most expensive, even more than New York. Our stay here coincided with the Edinburgh festival which apparently gives them the license to charge excessively! Seperate toilet is right next to entry, as there is no handbasin in the toilet you then need to go to the very small bathroom to wash hands. The bathroom is located next to the bed & I mean next to the bed which we had to move to enable us to shut the outward opening door to the bathroom. Supply of soap & toiletries was limited to one of each, as our stay was unfortunately for 4 nights I had to request more of everything. No face cloths supplied but worst of all we had as instructed left our used towels in the bath so they would be replaced with fresh ones only to find on our return to the room the towels we had left in the bath had been refolded and hung back on the rack - unbelievable! When I complained clean towels were supplied. As for the housekeeping they made the bed & changed the towels (after the first experience) as for washing glasses & cups forget it - just didn't happen, in fact I was so disappointed on our last day I just asked the housekeeper for towels & told her not to bother with the room. I had to ask for a replacement iron, the one in the room had exposed wires. As for the carpet that was dirty & had lots of stains on it. Unlike all the other hotels we stayed in there was no complimentary water. With the exception of the Australian receptionist who was very helpful the rest of the staff gave the impression they would rather not be there. No way is this a 4 star hotel!

Very comfortable and clean. Front desk staff helpful. Great location, close to Grassmarket and Royal Mile. Only complaint was room location was terrible. We were in the front of the hotel right over the entrance. Constant noise and commotion. Could hear non-stop noise from street. Also smokers right out side front of hotel and smoke rose right into room. Would suggest that in future staff inform guests, and give them the option to change rooms. Very disappointed in that respect, and it will definitely effect any decision to stay there again.