Edinburgh hotels

We stayed at the Kimpton Charlotte Square. We had a party of about 10. making the reservations was not easy (for 6 rooms & different travel days) but once we got to the reservation desk at the hotel it was much easier. Pretty central. It's in New town & easy walk to Princes Street (Tram) & it's on Rose street with lots of food & drink options. Johnny walker around the corner

Premier Inns are not boutiqey but straight forward & there are a bunch of them in Edinburgh

Are you doing the tattoo & Fringe? Best get on it straight away

We stayed at the Market Street Hotel in October 2022 both at the beginning and the end (for extra days) of our RS Best of Scotland tour. Convenient to train station and the Royal Mile. On Booking.com still has 9 out of 10 rating. Would highly recommend.

The Balmoral. Not “boutique”, but a classic old grand dame of hotels. Right at the train station. The lobby, rooms, housekeeping, room service breakfast and concierge service are all impeccable. We ate dinner in local restaurants so I can’t report on the hotel offerings.

And having an unusually fine wee dram in the Scotch Whisky Bar off the lobby? A lifetime experience. Expensive, but as good as it gets.

There are a number of recent posts about Edinburgh hotels. Just filter your results so that you only see the last year or two.

Recent thread here about Edinburgh hotels:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/edinburgh-hotel-options
Lots of suggestions.

A couple of hotels suggested here:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/scotland/edinburgh-accomodation

I will second Mark's opinion from his post; Premier Inns are always comfy, clean, with a good breakfast buffet. I highly recommend this chain. There are a couple of them in Edinburgh.

I think the place I stayed this past spring definitely fits your description of boutique-y and upscale. It is the ibis Styles in St. Andrew Square.

https://all.accor.com/hotel/9058/index.en.shtml

We stayed at the Ibis Styles Hotel St. Andrews Square last June, and we were very happy with our stay. Location is excellent. Walking distance to all our sightseeing and all the restaurants we dined at. The lobby is very nice; filling breakfast buffet is included; our room was small but clean. Staff very friendly and helpful. Nothing to complain about.

My choice when visiting Edinburgh for special occasions is always the Hilton Waldorf Astoria (Caledonian). It's at the western end of Princes Street with views of the castle from some rooms. Rooms are gorgeous, staff can't do enough for you, food is very good too.

Premier Inns are not upscale boutique-y hotels. I'm sure some are nicer than others, but they are not in the same league as Kimpton, Waldorf Astoria, The Balmoral, Intercontinental, or Hotel Indigo. They are much more equivalent to Holiday Inn Express or maybe Hilton Garden Inn (but that may be a step up as well).

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but they can't be compared as equivalent.