Booked flight to Edinburgh, can’t find affordable accommodation

I've stayed in numerous Premier Inns without problems.
Look at Holiday Inn Express, Travelodge.
Try booking.com with a price filter.

Thanks, I did. Nothing comes up other than Premier and a few others that aren’t what we’re looking for. We’re not looking for a five star or even a four star but a nice hotel that serves breakfast, is clean, good location and safe. Seems a rarity in Edinburgh.

Quite a few regulars on the forum, including me, have stayed at Premier Inns and recommend them.

It sounds like your friends were unlucky. If Premier Inn is within your budget, I wouldn’t rule it out. Kids will be back in school in September.

September is not the best time to go, as I found out booking my trip for this upcoming Sept. Hotel prices were way more expensive than when I was there May 2023.

I’m booked at the motel one princess street and that was not cheap. And I booked last year. Prices are usually cheaper the earlier you book.

I was in Reykjavik, Iceland this past June and that was definitely more expensive than Edinburgh.

Good luck!!!

Edinburgh is comparatively small (in comparison with other top European city destinations) and extremely popular.

So, you know, the cost is the cost.

If you’re there weekdays during September, schoolkids are unlikely to be a problem in hotels.

There is another way of looking at the food supposedly "running out" at Premier Inn during breakfast.
And that is that at many of them the hot food is cooked in small batches, to keep it fresh and hot. Much the same people who would complain about having to wait for that would also be complaining if the food was piled high on the buffet going cold. A no win situation.
Every one wants to go to Edinburgh and stay in what is quite a small city area (far smaller than London). Prices reflect that.
The compromise is to stay further out and pay less, using the excellent city transit.

I'm doing that to an extreme in October, staying an hour out but only paying less than £50 a night bed and breakfast at a very good hotel That is an extreme case, but shows the difference. I'm not expecting anyone here to replicate that.

We stayed at the Edinburgh City Center Royal Mile in late September 2022 and had no issues. The breakfast was fine. Looking at some dates in September and the rate is about £200 per night.

I’m always skeptical of bad reviews as well as rave reviews. If there are complaints I ask myself whether they are justified complaints or people being overly picky. If there are a lot of complaints about the same thing spanning a period of time, then I take notice since that’s indicative of a legitimate problem. If kids running up and down the halls was a one off, then it isn’t an issue in my book. If food at breakfast runs out, tell somebody and it will be refilled. It’s been my experience that the understaffed breakfast crew does its best to keep up, but since there never seems to be enough staff, they sometimes fall behind during the busiest hours.

I've stayed at Premier Inns that were quiet and comfortable. During a September heatwave in London the AC was truly appreciated.

And I'm not big on most hotel breakfasts. There are plenty of places to find a decent morning meal in Edinburgh.

Without knowing your dates, take a look at Ibis Edinburgh South Bridge or Ibis Royal Mile.

Edinburgh is very expensive for accommodation unfortunately and seems to get more so every year. I would recommend looking at staying in Leith, which is a nice area to visit in its own right and you can very easily get the tram or bus into town.

I thought September was in the shoulder season, but was also shocked by lodging prices in Scotland. Granted, it's been a very long time since I've been abroad. Could be that I left it too late to find reasonably priced options, because availability is so limited. I was also shocked by the new norm of having mixed gender dorm-style hostel rooms. There are female/male-only ones available, but most are mixed. My aged mind was blown.

Citymouse, I don’t know your exact dates in September, but you could look into Kingsway Guest House, a highly rated B & B. I just checked their online booking and they have a small double available for 6 nights. Maybe you could divide your time in two places if the dates work out.

Here is a link to their booking page:

https://edinburgh-guesthouse.com/booking/

Look up short term vacation rentals that rent by the week. Friends of mine stayed in an apartment/condo with a short bus from DT Edinburgh. That way you can come home to privacy and a place to fix eats or heat up Deli food. Edinburgh is the new "It Girl". $2800 may be a "Deal". Check exchange rates before you pay. Bon Voyage!

Have a look at places to stay in North Berwick, Longniddry, Prestonpans, Musselburgh.
Small towns and suburbs connected to Edinburgh by frequent rail services of under an hour.

I stayed at a Premier Inn for the first time this year. It was in Cardiff and was a terrific value. No charm, but perfectly fine. No unruly children or noise. The breakfast was dreadful. Fortunately there was a Pret a Manger very close and I went there the second morning. It was perfect. There are lots of Prets in Edinburgh and you can eat in or take out.

Try Trivago. I just ran a search for 8 nights in mid-September, 8.0 rating or better, breakfast and max $300/night and got 13 results, about half of which were under $2000 total. Interestingly, the ones in Leith were in the middle of the pack. I agree that Leith is a wonderful place to stay with loads of restaurants and an easy tram connection to the major tourist sights.
The prices in Glasgow were much lower; Aberdeen lower still. Maybe consider spending some of your time in another location?

I thought September was in the shoulder season, but was also shocked by lodging prices in Scotland.

Scotland is very popular with older people, those without school age kids, so September is one of the most popular months for travel with that demographic. So while it’s not as busy as August, it’s still an extremely popular travel month for Scotland.

Re Premier Inn you can get kids running around all times of the day in any large hotel, and from my point of view I've never had that experience at a Premier Inn. As for the breakfast, I've had good and not good 24 hours apart in the same hotel, the mixture of heatlamps and minimising the amount of food.

I've had a look at Booking.com and there are some still there mid Sept, and a few under $2,000 US. It does depend on the area, and of course date. Edinburgh is a very compact city and accomodation has always been constrained. It may be worth looking at Glasgow, over in Fife, down in the Borders for a multi centre break as additional places.

It’s not at all what you’re looking for, but in case you’re really stuck, we stayed here and liked it a lot: https://www.booking.com/Share-Njer2j

I suppose it's worth remembering that Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and a major tourist destination. London has a lot more hotels than Edinburgh, which is actually quite a small city despite its status. It's a question of demand and supply. Have you considered the suburb of Leith? There's a Holiday Inn Express there that I've stayed in several times and never been disappointed and it's a quick ride to the centre by public transport. Also we sometimes stay in the Doubletree Hilton at North Queensferry and get the train into the city. That should be within budget and is a very decent hotel.

If you do decide to stay in the Premier Inn (e.g. York Place is a good one), then don't take their breakfast - it's overpriced anyway and costs extra on top of the room rate. You can easily go to a nice cafe, or get breakfast supplies from a supermarket and have it in your room.

Alternatively look for a nice B&B - I'm sure folks here can recommend something. The breakfast will certainly be very good at a decent B&B.

We stayed at the Premier Inn York Place in Edinburgh in September 2023. I don't recall kids running up and down the hall at all hours of the night, and the breakfast buffet didn't run out of food.

2400USD equals 2060 Euros. For 8 nights that would be $257.50 Euros per night - honestly not a very realistic budget.

I take it that over the course of your travels you've never been to Boston, London, Paris, NYC or San Francisco.

I can't justify paying almost $2500 for a Premier Inn, I'm not looking at reviews online, I'm basing this off of family that have stayed at one and left after a few nights. It's not just the kids and the breakfast there were complaints about; cigarette stains on the bedding, rude staff and more. For the price they're charging, it needs to be better than that. As much as I want to visit Scotland, maybe it's just not in the books for us. I understand it's a destination a lot of tourists want to go to, same with Paris, London, Rome etc., which btw I've never had issue with finding rooms, good clean rooms with breakfast for under $200 USD a night. There is a real issue with price gouging happening in Edinburgh. I've been looking at visiting Edinburgh for the past few years, have looked at accommodations every month with the exception of August as I'm well aware of the festival that happens. Doesn't matter what month I choose, prices are through the roof.
I live in a large metropolitan American city, am well aware of what hotels charge and have traveled to over forty five countries. I travel internationally four or five times a year so I'm well aware of what other cities charge for hotel rates. I'm not knocking the city, I'm knocking the rates that the hotels charge and get away with it. If a hotel wants to charge me $300 USD a night, it needs to be a pretty darn good hotel, not a mediocre one.
With only being there for eight full days, it's not worth the hassle of moving locations. City buses are out as my significant other can't ride a bus, she claustrophobic and can only be in the front, the further back she gets in the bus especially one that is crowded the worse it gets. A tram might be possible but of course we can't control the crowds especially rush hour crowds that use the tram. That's why I've been searching for a hotel that is walkable to most sites in the city. The Holiday inn in Leith states it's a 30 minute walk, which to be honest isn't a problem, we enjoy walking. Not sure if that's accurate or not and of course if it's raining or we're carrying packages, no one wants to be walking 30 minutes one way.
I've been looking for a hotel now for the past three months so it's not as if I just booked the flight and have waited for the last minute. We had thought about staying half the time in Glasgow as we'd like to visit a town outside of Glasgow that we used to live in but realized we can do that as a day trip from Edinburgh, or at least an overnight. Doesn't justify packing up and moving our luggage for one day. The cost isn't worth the effort.

I think the rate that you are experiencing would have been better if you had been able to book earlier. I was fortunate enough to realize the need to change our September Scotland plans and booked the Premier Inn York Place in early May for $275 a night for a twin room. I was surprised at the difference in hotel prices in Edinburgh vs. Glasgow, but that rate was on par with what I have paid in Washington DC or NYC. Another city that surprised me when I was exploring was Dublin. It is expensive as well.

I hope you can find peace with whatever you decide to do. Hope you are able to find something else that works for you and your partner.

Thanks. I’ve been looking for affordable accommodations since I booked my flight a few months ago. Thought for sure the prices would come down. Quite the contrary, seem to be increasing. I’ve looked hotel websites as well as other travel booking sites. Yes I agree about Dublin. Too expensive for what’s offered.

Thanks. I’ve been looking for affordable accommodations since I booked my flight a few months ago
and this --I still have until midnight to cancel my flight.

Cannot help with the hotel/lodging issue, but curious what airline and what type of ticket you bought.

United and regular economy. Can cancel up to 24 hours with no penalty.

My husband and I are planning a trip to Scotland in February. We were thinking of spending a weekend in Edinburgh, and found reasonable rates at the Resident Hotel, which is about a mile from Waverley station. It doesn't have breakfast. This doesn't help you for your September trip, but in case you decide to reschedule, you may want to look into February/March. I found prices much more reasonable about 6 months out.

All the other cities you mention e.g. Paris, London, Rome are huge compared to Edinburgh. It’s as simple as this - demand outstrips supply. You honestly might be better looking for either a B&B or a self catering (e.g. VRBO or AirBnb) but even there demand outstrips supply especially since the new Short Term Let licensing scheme has pushed some small operators out of business.

Prices were never going to fall in Edinburgh as it got closer to your trip, that only happens when there is unsold inventory.
Prices are almost always hugely lower in Glasgow, under an hour by train.

Also looking today you could have got any of the central Edinburgh travelodges for around $1800.
Another budget hotel chain, a step below Premier Inn. Yes the price excludes breakfast, see that as an opportunity, not a problem.

In London you are not going to find any hotel within 20 minutes walk of everywhere you want to visit. That is a physical impossibility.

There are solutions to your problem, but you have to be willing to compromise.

I personally would never stay in Edinburgh or York due to the high pricing, driven solely by high demand, but then I'm willing to be creative in finding solutions for my problem. York is the same problem - demand outstrips supply.

It's all about supply and demand. And as Robert Klein used to say: "They have all the supply, so they can demand whatever the #$%^ they want."

Edinburgh has seen a rise in hotel prices over the past few years. A drastic rise.

When I am choosing a travel destination I check flight prices and accommodation prices to find somewhere that’s within my budget. There is no point choosing a destination because you like the idea of it, then getting upset because it’s too expensive. The budget and the destination have to be considered together as part of the same initial planning process.

I had a conversation about Edinburgh with friends only a couple of days ago. They had an idea to take their kids up for the weekend but found it’s too expensive. They were quite surprised at the prices but they’re just going to choose a different option now. Nobody is upset about it.

i recently booked at Motel One Edinburgh for 237 pounds including taxes and breakfast. Yes, Edinburgh is expensive. In fact, we had another two nights there but opted to go to Glasgow instead as it is cheaper.
It seems that you booked your air to Edinburgh before you looked at the cost of staying there.
Looking at booking.com for Sept there are many places to stay for a lot less than your $350 night. Especially if you are willing to stay outside city center.
All is not lost. Take a breath/

Too bad your one relative had a bad expérience with Premier Inn. I have stayed at several, including in Edinburgh, and been very happy with the product.

Too bad too that you are looking for September hotels now in August.

As others (among them Golden Girl and Skyegirl, isn31c, Frank II) have explained nicely, supply and demand is the name of the game. And Premier Inn prices, as isn31c notes, would absolutely have been lower for September had you booked them months ago, not that you were ever going to do that.

Also you say in one place that you booked your flight months ago; in another you say you booked it within the last 24 hours. It's not clear which is the case.

Hope you will find a destination that suits you.

I feel your pain. I am Cdn where the dollar to pound conversion is even worse.
I am searching for next May and booked Holyrood Aparthotel for Edinburgh. Sign up and the price drops several hundred pounds. I did a quick look and there is availability in mid September for just over £1000. Prices do go up on weekends, and may depend on your needs, but if you don't need a hotel with all the peripherals, it may work.
I have used Premier Inn a few times and they were fine, but I didn't see any price benefits in Edinburgh. If you go that route, just rein in expectations.

I’ve used Premier Inns and Motel Ones and while you can hear people in the halls, I’ve never had children screaming and running down hallways. But I did have that experience in an expensive Marriott Hotel. It’s life.

As for breakfast, in the UK, I usually just pop down to a Costa Coffee or a sandwich shop that has breakfast sandwiches. And unfortunately Edinburgh is expensive no matter what the month. It’s a popular stag/hen party city and also with foreigners and history buffs.

If I never stayed at a chain hotel again due to me or a friend experiencing noisy neighbors or poor breakfast on one occasion, I would have to eliminate all the Hiltons, Marriotts, Hyatt's, Holiday Inns, Intercontinentals and more from my travels.

isn31c speaks the truth here:

Prices were never going to fall in Edinburgh as it got closer to your trip, that only happens when there is unsold inventory.

citymouse, are you aware of the tram that travels from Edinburgh airport into town (and of course back to the airport)?

Check prices at the airport area hotels....I'll bet they're substantially less than hotels in the center of Edinburgh.
You could stay there and travel by tram each day into town for sightseeing.