Favorite Hotels in Edinburgh?

Sure, but it would help to know what you are looking for. And especially what your budget is. What is the top amount you are willing to spend for a hotel? Do you want it to include breakfast? Or at least have breakfast available to purchase? Any particular location? And lastly, when do you plan to travel there? We don't need exact dates but it's helpful to know the month (or season) and year.

Most hotels that tourists stay at are located in either Old Town (on/off or near the Royal Mile) or New Town. Old Town has the advantage of being right where the action is, so to speak, but it also means lots of tourist activity around you and can be very crowded. New Town is nice because it has a more residential feel (lots of trees, St. Andrew's Square, and so on) but is still pretty close to the sights. I stayed in New Town and really enjoyed it there. It was a lot quieter and I loved walking around on the tree-lined streets with the gorgeous Georgian neoclassical architecture. There were lots of shops, restaurants and cafes around as well, especially on St. Andrew's Square.

My hotel was the Premier Inn York Place, which I really liked. This is more of a budget hotel chain, but I've stayed at several and they are almost always consistently clean, comfortable and very reasonably priced. Breakfast is available but at a separate cost. Another hotel near there (a bit higher on the food chain) is the Hotel Ibis, located on St. Andrew Square. I did not stay there but know some people who did and they really liked it. I was in the lobby as I was meeting someone there for lunch, and really liked the look of it.

Thanks so much for your detailed reply, Mardee.
We had no idea of where to stay, but I think given your description of New Town (the quiet, the trees, neighborhood feel) - that's probably the area which would suit us best. I took a look at both of the hotels you mentioned - very nice, and price-wise, definitely in the ballpark.
We're planning on an early spring trip. Very excited!

We just returned from a trip to Scotland and England. While in Edinburgh we stayed at a fun and quirky boutique hotel in New Town called the Tigerlily. It has a busy bar and restaurant, but the rooms aren't bothered by noise at all. It's located on George St, less than a block from Charlotte Square. And it's only a few minutes walk to the buses and tram on Princes St. LOTS of pubs, cafes and restaurants in the area.

CJean, thanks very much for your input! I'll check it out.

To throw one more suggestion into the pot: I have stayed at the Apex Waterloo Place on my visits to Edinburgh last June and this past May, and liked it a lot both times. I found it to be well managed, with an efficient and welcoming staff.

It has an excellent location just past the east end of Princes Street, so it’s in the New Town but just across North Bridge from the Royal Mile. Calton Hill is right down the block, and the hop-on, hop-off buses stop across the street, as do Discover Scotland’s buses for day tours and longer ones.

I have yet to take advantage of the hotel’s restaurant, pool, or spa, but those are other nice features.

Nancy G - The Apex Waterloo Place looks great! The rooms seem really spacious and it, like the other hotels mentioned here, seem to be ideally located. Light sleepers here, did you find the hotel to be pretty quiet at night?

We appreciate your hotel suggestion - thanks!

I did find it pretty quiet, especially after I got moved to a room on the next-higher floor when my original room had a leak in the ceiling near the windows after a day of torrential rain. That happened last year. Both rooms faced the street, and the higher-floor one had a bit less street noise. I had no trouble sleeping in either room, or in the room I got this year, which was also on a high floor but facing in a different direction.

Thanks for your quick reply.

We loved our stay at Ibis St. Andrews Square! This hotel is located in a very convenient location in New Town, within walking distance to restaurants and everything we wanted to do. We walked to the Princes Gardens, to the Royal Mile, to Edinburgh Castle, to the National Museum of Scotland, and to the Royal Botanical Gardens, although we did take a bus back from the gardens. Our room was small but clean. The staff were efficient and friendly, and we liked the included breakfast buffet. I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again.

We stayed at the Kingsway Guest House. It was run by a lovely young couple and it is a great location. Quiet but very close to a bus that ran directly to the Miracle Mile. Breakfasts were excellent. I highly recommend it.

We appreciate this Dean!

And thank you, kmkwoo. The Ibis looks interesting. We'll be checking it out soon.

Although it's a better choice for the last day before your flight home, this Spring we found the Brooks Hotel to be a perfect spot. It's in the immigrant section of Edinburgh (so it's inexpensive), but the rooms were like new and breakfast was great. It is only a few yards from the bus stop to EDI, and is a short walk to Digger's Bar, where you can usually find music. The night we were there, the musicians had just come from Sandy Bell's and they said it had been horribly crowded and we're lucky we hadn't tried to get in. We had just come from Shetland, and after some great sessions in Lerwick, it turned out the Shetland Edinburgh Fiddlers Club was playing at Digger's so it was a great last fling. It's a slightly longer walk to Old Town.

We stayed three nights at an AirB&B on the Royal Mile in 2022 but found it too noisy to sleep well and getting a cab to the airport was difficult since you have to walk to meet the cab (assuming you can describe where you'll be).

When’s your trip? I just booked my Edinburgh hotel for Sept. Prices are way higher than when I visited in May 2023. Way higher! I got priced out of the hotel I stayed at last year—the Market Street hotel—which I really liked. I booked at the Motel One on Princess Street. And even that hotel is more than what I paid last year at the nicer hotel. I was almost going to travel somewhere else instead, but I have my heart set on the Rabbie’s tour of the lake district.

Carrie, far be it from me to dissuade anyone from revisiting Edinburgh, but Rabbie's runs the Lake District Explorer tour out of Manchester as well. Might that be an option for you?

“It's in the immigrant section of Edinburgh “

Having lived in Edinburgh, I’m curious to know where this supposedly is??

I appreciate the suggestion NancyG. I did look briefly at Manchester when I was deciding if I wanted to add a second location in addition to Edinburgh. It didn’t appeal to me as much as Edinburgh. I have some favorites from Edinburgh I’m looking forward to returning to—Dunbar and North Berwick—and some new places to try—Berwick upon Tweed, Leith and Newhaven. So, I’ll stay in Edinburgh the entire time and just pay the higher price. My Keswick hotel for the tour, Royal Oak, was cheaper, so that will help.

Another endorsement for Kingsway Guesthouse. We stayed five nights in December 2022.