Where to stay in Edinburgh (on budget) ?

At that time in the morning you wont be using the tram to the airport. You will be using the airport bus #100 which runs all night. However both your proposed hotels are nowhere near a stop for that bus so just don't work.

You don't tell us your budget or your date. But one left field idea (for this forum) is the Wetherspoons White Lady Hotel. Wetherspoons are a national pub chain, and some of their older properties have a hotel attached. They are a step above either Premier Inn and well above Travelodge, but have very competitive prices. I have stayed in several (not Edinburgh) and they are very, very, well soundproofed from the pub and quite classy rooms for their budget point, with a hospitality tray well above many far pricier hotels.

You have to be a Brit to know about them.

Inverness is another great example, in the heart of the city.

It is at Corstorphine, 10 minutes on the airport bus from the nearby Drum Brae South stop.

You can get it for as little as £56 a night. I doubt you are getting the Hampton by Hilton at the airport for that price.
https://hotels.jdwetherspoon.com/hotels/

I only checked price of hotel and didn't realize if there is proper connection to city center or not.

I am looking for 22-24 March, around £200 for two nights.

I just checked Wetherspoons White Lady Hotel. For 22-24 March, it is £177 non-refundable (plus should be some more for breakfast). That should be fine.

If I choose to go with this, on my first day, should I drop the rental car at Sighthill and come to this hotel in tram (if it is in crowded city), or I can drive to hotel, drop the luggage and then give back car ?
Or better to leave the car at EDI Airport and then take tram to this hotel ?
I will be coming from Glencoe and should reach Edinburgh around 5 PM.

Do NOT drive into Edinburgh to drop off your luggage. I did and regretted it dearly.

I will rule out dropping luggage to Hotel.
Will dropping car at airport or Sighthill make it easy, and then come to hotel via public transport ?

The White Lady is on the Airport Bus route- the tram route takes a more southerly route into the City. From Google street view you can see that there is a red lane outside the hotel. On red routes don't even think about parking on the road side, not even for one minute. So unless the hotel has an off road car park, then off rent the car first.

Can't you off rent at the airport itself rather than at Sighthill? I know Sighthill is attractive because of having Edinburgh Park tram stop and National Rail station there- but that does bind you to the tram. I was going to say take the tram towards the airport, and transfer at Ingliston Park and Ride to the bus 100- but it doesn't stop there- only the airport express buses to Leith and Edinburgh East End stop there.

If you have to off hire at Sighthill then why not Premier Inn Hub Haymarket- it is on for £190 for those two nights. On the tram route in from Sighthill, and a very short walk from the Airport express bus stop.

For reference the first tram from the City gets to the Airport at 0615.

While I think 2 1/2 hours is adequate at Edinburgh I am not the one who will be buying you a new airplane ticket if you miss your flight. If that was not so there is a PI at Edinburgh Park within a stones throw of the car rental place for £193.50 for the 2 nights (a normal one, not a Hub with it's smaller but adequate rooms. While a PI hub has small rooms you are not going to Edinburgh to do other than sleep and shower in your room.

I agree, I will leave the car earlier.

I spoke to Celtic Legend and they say, I an drop the rental car at Sighthill as well as Airport, so I have both options without changing rental price.

Premier Inn Hub Haymarket is not available on 22 - 24 March. They have only double, not the family room.

Edinburgh Park (Airport) hotel is available. It is 26 minutes from Airport with #400 Skyline and around 30 minutes to city center via public transport. In addition, I have Wetherspoons White Lady Hotel as second option. Both are within my range. Which one would you prefer?

I stayed at Motel One Edinburgh Princes https://maps.app.goo.gl/gQ7L7ydMJKeJXjim7 Across the road from Waverly station and close to tram stops and bus stops. Very nice hotel for the price and double-glazed windows made it very quiet.

Private ensuite rooms at Edinburgh Central Youth hostel which has luggage storage, might be the perfect answer. On tram/bus line to airport.

Motel One Edinburgh Princes is over my budget and Edinburgh Central Youth hostel is full on my dates.
For now my 'good' options look like -
Edinburgh Park (Airport) hotel
Wetherspoons White Lady Hotel
Ibis budget Edinburgh Park (also checked this in same area).
I will check the public transport connections from these options.

The Premier Inn is a good budget chain. There are a few in town.

We dropped our rental off at the airport the day before departure and took the tram into town. The next morning we took a cab (£30) to the airport.

jaimeelsabio Did you stay in same PI ?

The basic problem from Edinburgh Park is that first tram being so pesky late, and it isn't on any airport express bus route.

To my mind checking in that early you either have to be at the airport (Hampton by Hilton) or on the #100 airport express bus route- which seems to have narrowed an off-site choice down to the White Lady.

But ,with the 8 year old (which I didn't realise you had until back checking earlier threads) you could stay at Edinburgh Park and pre-book a taxi for 5.15 am. Then you can drop the car at Sighthill and use the tram the previous day for your City exploration. I suspect you will have a much happier child by using the taxi. At an Ibis or Travelodge there will be staff around to call a cab if yours doesn't turn up (Ibis especially). At the White Lady you will struggle to find staff at 5am, and the taxi may not like the Red Zone. £10 for a taxi is no more than the bus or tram would cost you.

We have looked before, the EDI airport website says 2 hrs check in is fine, but all the transatlantic airlines say 3. So go for safety and aim for 3 hours. Get a bite of breakfast at an airside restaurant if you end up with time in hand.

Thanks so much. I think, this fixed a lot of issues 🙂

We stay at PI Edinburgh City Centre Royal Mile at both the beginning and end of the trip. The rate in October 2022, including the full breakfast buffet, 2 people, was £147 per night.

I checked that specific hotel for your dates and the total for two nights was £299 flexible rate. If you didn’t want to stay right in town, the PI Edinburgh Airport (M9, Jct1) hotel is much cheaper at £172 for two nights, standard room, pay upon arrival.

jaimeelsabio , yes PI Edinburgh Airport (M9, Jct1) hotel is cheaper, but that will keep me away from city.
Edinburgh Park (Airport) hotel is just £20 more, but will keep me close to airport, as well as city.