hostels in Edinburgh

We stay at the Royal British. It is across Princes Street from Waverly Station. Short walk across the bridge and over to Royal Mile. Close to the park, good views, good breakfasts.

I stayed at Budget Backpackers and loved it:

http://www.budgetbackpackers.com/

It's in a great location, great rooms, tons of bathrooms, free walking tours, free pubcrawls, cheaper laundry, etc

Castle Rock Hostel in Edinburgh right by the Castle. Walking out the front door of the hostel, you can look up to the Castle.

http://castlerockedinburgh.com/

I second the Castle Rock Hostel. I stayed there in 2008. The view is amazing, perfect location and the actual hostel is very vibrant and funky, with lots of unique artwork on the walls etc. The common area is large with high ceilings, was how I pictured the common rooms in Harry Potter to look like. The staff was also very friendly. It's one of the top 5 hostels I stayed at while in Europe.

I highly recommend Royal Mile Backpackers: http://www.royalmilebackpackers.com/. It's on High Street, right in the middle of everything.