Edinburgh lodging

Before our RS tour, we stayed at The Parliament House Hotel, then during the tour we were lodged at Wilde Aparthotels Edinburgh Grassmarket. We enjoyed them both!

Budget? Keep in mind, hotels in Edinburgh are not cheap.

I often stay in the Hub Hotels, but you won't want to do that with a friend, the rooms are way too small.

We stayed at the Premier Inn York Place location last fall. It was the most affordable option for us at the time as I was booking two rooms. A little bit off the busy center of town, with a slight uphill walk to get to the train station, but was quiet and typical of the PI chain. They have air conditioning, which you may need in June. They also offer twin rooms, which my daughter and I appreciated. We were surprised by having a room with a lovely view of Edinburgh, although I didn’t request it. I would stay there again.

I have stayed at the Motel One Princes Street location and will be staying there again next year in between the Rabbie's tours I have planned. It has been recently renovated and is convenient to both the new and old towns.

I also stayed at the Premier Inn York Place, and enjoyed my stay there. It's in a really nice area. I like staying in New Town rather than Old Town, as it's quieter and has a more residential feel. It was near an area with a large square that had lots of trees, and there were restaurants and shops close by. It is about a 15- to 20-minute walk to the train station, but it's a nice walk, albeit a little uphill, and you can always get a ride share if you have a lot of luggage and don't want to walk it.

I've stayed at a lot of Premier Inns throughout England and Scotland and have always found them to be consistently clean and very comfortable. They have excellent prices, and keep in mind that the earlier you book, the lower the price so it's good that you're starting your search now. https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hotels/scotland/lothian/edinburgh/edinburgh-city-centre-york-placest-james-quarter.html

We also stayed at the Wilde Aparthotels Edinburgh Grassmarket during an RS tour. The location was excellent; Edinburgh Castle is on a hill directly above it, and the Royal Mile is an easy walk. It was nice having a kitchenette; there's a grocery not too far away and we ate a few of our meals in the room.

However, it's quite pricey -- a sample date next June quotes over $500 a night. The other downsides are that the room is small and the beds are a bit weird. The beds are mattresses on wooden platforms. Our twin beds were OK (though the mattress would slide around when I was trying to get on the bed), but you would definitely want to be sure you got twins and not a double. The double bed is on one platform that goes wall to wall and right up against the window. The person sleeping on the far side (window side) has to climb up on the platform and get into the bed from the bottom instead of the side. No nightstand or storage of any type on that side.

I've stayed several times at the Ibis Styles St Andrew Square, both in 2025 and this last summer. Be sure to book thru the Accor app as on he 2025 booking I somehow wound up on a Travel Agent site which was charging huge fees. I decided when I do anything with Accor I will do it thru their app. Also if you sign up as a "member" you get some kind of price break. The breakfast was delicious and the staff were very nice. Rooms are tiny but that didn't bother me. I like the location as there are a number of excellent restaurants in the area.

I also stayed at Parliament House in 2025 at the end of my trip. The elevator to my floor was broken and looked like it was broken permanently. In fact I'm not even sure it went all the way to my floor. On arrival the registration guy grabbed my bag and sprinted up 5 flights. I got my bag back down for check out but I'm a light packer. Bed was comfortable, bathroom nice and modern but I'd not stay here again due to the elevator issue. Once you're out for the day you just stay out to avoid the 5 flights, hahaha!