Edinburgh City Centre Royal Mile hotel

This has been a quite difficult review to write, and is very much going to be "a review of 2 halves". I chose this hotel as I was needing to stay 3 nights and this came within my budget. Unfortunately, the lovely hotel where I normally stay on Market St have priced themselves out of my price range now, by a considerable amount. Anyway, booking 3 nights in a Premier Plus room was affordable, and I was looking forward to trying, what I thought, would be a little extra 'luxury' from the standard Premier Inn room. I had also read the several reviews which mentioned it was near Waverley station and ideally located for the Royal Mile and Princes Street, which was a necessity for me. I'm afraid that this is where I have to give a different viewpoint. I have several health issues which affect my mobility and I tire easily. It took me a good 15-20 minutes each time to walk to and from the station and the Royal Mile, and even longer to get to Princes Street, St James' Quarter etc. so please bear that in mind if you are older or have walking difficulties. I suppose I could have taxis all of the time but not when you're trying to keep to a budget. Now to the hotel itself. The reception staff I came across during the stay were pleasant and helpful, although I didn't use the dining area, so can't comment on the service there. My room (414) was clean and comfortable, a decent size, with a large picture window overlooking the trains and Calton Hill up in the distance, with the various monuments up there. Quite a nice view in the sunshine. There's an added bonus of a small fridge in the room, which definitely came in handy over the 3 days. The bed was clean and comfortable, and I slept extremely well over the 3 nights of my stay, with no disturbing noise from either inside or outside the hotel. Now for the not so good parts. The hotel itself looks 'tired' and in need of some TLC, downstairs entrance looked dingy, not a good first impression. Carpets were a bit worn in places. Some of the furniture in my room had seen better days, the comfy wing - back chair was okay, but the desk chair and footstool were worn on the edging, and there was also a strange bald patch on the bed's headboard, which I think would look a lot better if the whole headboard was replaced. It was impossible to get any hot water from the taps on the bathroom sink, however hot water was plentiful from the rainfall shower, and the toiletries provided were good. I was also very aware that the bottom of the bath was EXTREMELY slippery when wet, and the height of the bath made it quite tricky to step over and out of the shower to the floor , so being on my own , I was quite worried about slipping or falling. So please be aware if you are older or "wobbly on your pins"! I don't think I have ever had this problem with other PI rooms. Compared to the standard PI rooms that I have previously stayed in, I don't think this Premier Plus room offered anything outstanding on top, other than the fridge, so in that respect, I don't think it was worth the extra cost. Would I stay here again? If I was younger or with no health issues, I probably would, as it would work as a decent base to explore Edinburgh. Although as someone older and with mobility issues , it isn't for me. I would personally prefer somewhere a bit more central.

We have stayed in a fair number of Hubs in London and Edinburgh and this does not meet same expectations. Rooms are a lot smaller and they have added a very weird fan in rooms (over the doors as you enter the room) which switches on when you open the bathroom door! So in the middle of the night the trips to the loo are accompanied by the noise of a jet airplane for 5 mins until is switches off. Not conducive for a good nights sleep. Also kept everyone waiting until exactly 3pm for people to get their rooms. Don’t tell me the cleaner all finished cleaning the rooms at the same time. Never experienced this before either

Positives:- Good location, 5 min walk from Waverley train station and the Royal Mile. Clean rooms. Super comfy beds. Fabulous shower. Friendly and helpful staff. Early check-in, worth paying extra for. Negatives:- Breakfast items not being stocked up regularly and having to wait for things to be cooked. Fried eggs so rubbery they could bounce off the floor. Mushrooms so overcooked and shrivelled they didn't resemble Mushrooms. No scrambled eggs at all on offer. Hair dryer in the room rubbish, unless you have 3 hours to spare to dry your hair. Take your own. Basic WiFi isn't great. We paid extra for the ultimate - £5 for 24 hours for 3 devices.

Bed headboard and chair flaking off, toilet seat loose, cupboard door loose, paintwork tired, for a premier plus room it felt like a basic room. The aircon only went to 19° so it was colder outside.

Ideally located for the Royal Mile. Friendly staff who can’t do enough for you. The room has everything you need. You just need to know to ask if you want fresh towels, tea, coffee etc as they don’t come in during your stay. The hotel was really quiet on a night which was good. No banging or shouting. The breakfast was good value for money with a good variety on offer. They don’t offer parking but I used the just park at Radison Blu which isn’t too far away. All in all a nice stay.