pattysuericia

Hi, I will be in Edinburgh for 3 nights(June)before joining friends. Can anyone suggest a "reasonable hotel" or B&B that is centrally located? Thanks in advance

caroline_edinburgh

You don't say what you consider 'reasonable', however...

The Ibis (French hotel chain) in Hunter Square is very centrally located and is £50-70 per room per night, depending on season. I haven't stayed in that one but I've stayed in Ibis hotels elsewhere & they've been fine. See http://www.ibishotel.com/ibis/ficheh...he_hotel.shtml.

The Castle View guesthouse (B&B) always seems to get a lot of recommendations & it too is very central, being just off Princes Street. It is in a Georgian tenement above shops & up a *lot* of stairs.

caroline_edinburgh

Forgot to say, the Ibis is right next to the Royal Mile.

mr_go

We stayed at the Castle View a few months ago. You really can't beat the location. Caroline is right about the steps up (it's like on the 4th or 5th floor), but if your knees are in good shape you'll be fine. The rooms are comfortable and quiet (not necessarily spacious), the proprietors are helpful and friendly, and breakfast is a feast.

Look up Ms_go's trip report if you'd like more details about the area.

Daisy54

I've stayed at the Hotel Ibis mentioned by caroline (above) twice and would recommend it. It is smack in the middle of the Royal Mile and the best value to be found in the city center. The rate however does not include breakfast, and we found what they offered to be overpriced, but there are other options in the area including a Starbucks two doors down, and there's tea & coffee making supplies in the room. Also the Ibis has an elevator if that is an issue. When I was planning the trip I made to Edinburgh in April of this year, the first time I contacted the Ibis they did not have availability on my dates, but I checked again a few weeks later and they had a room for us then. And I can tell you that their fire alarm works really well. We found this out at 5:00 a.m. one morning, and while we didn't enjoy having to go stand out in the square in our PJ's for half an hour while the fire dept. came and determined there was no fire, still it was comforting that if they had been a fire we would have had good warning. (Turned out an inebriated guest had been smoking right next to the smoke detector.)

seahatch

Message: Hi,
One I stayed at a couple of times and loved it was Dunstane House Hotel. A family run hotel at the Haymarket about 7min walk to Princess St. The family come from the Orkney Isles and the restaurant has some great seafood. Have a look at the web site WWW.dunstanehousehotel.co.uk
I am going there again in the middle of October!!

pattysuericia

Wow! Thank you all! I will call the Ibis & see what kind of rate I can get.
Caroline-thank you SO much for the website.
Seahatch-I will try that hotel as well.
Would anyone know the website for 2 more hotels-The Grassmarket Hotel & the Holiday Inn Express??? I would be most grateful.
Is anyone going to be there in June-perhaps a lunch or something?
Thanks again,you're all terrific.

seahatch

Hi,
For holiday inn try
www.holiday-inn.com or
www.hiex-edinburgh.com
A general Edinburgh site that may be useful is www.edinburgh.org
Have fun!

caroline_edinburgh

There is a Grassmarket Premier Lodge (another chain but more basic than the Ibis). Do you think that is what you mean by the Grassmarket Hotel ? Their nationwide website is www.premierlodge.co.uk.

However, I wouldn't really recommend staying in the Grassmarket, especially if you're on your own - it is a very, ahem, 'lively' area with lots of late night pubs & is a favourite of stag parties (bachelor parties ?), student pub crawls, etc. It's also not very good for buses.

Unless I'm on holiday, I will be here in June

JamilaZ

The Carlton Hotel on Northbridge is centrally located in Edinburgh. Very nice hotel.

caroline_edinburgh

Depends on your definition of reasonable ! Currently (i.e. October as opposed to June), single rooms at the Calton are showing as £138-198 !!

pattysuericia

Thank you again Caroline for your help. If you're around-it would be great to meet.

almcd

One of the things one must be aware of when looking for accomodation in the U.K. is that, very often, the price quoted is per person. If you are travelling alone,Patty,then there is no problem, but if you are a couple, then accomodation becomes very expensive on occasion. You might like to try searching the University of Edinburgh web site to see if there would be accomodation available in June. There are other universities in Edinburgh - the Napier and Heriot-Watt, I think. Try them also if you are of an age where university lodgings does not bother you.

Cuttle

The Ibis sounds like a pretty good deal. If you're interested in something cheaper, you might try staying at the University of Edinburgh's fairly new dormitories, Pollock Halls, which are available June through September. I've stayed there and the rooms are small, but clean and comfortable, and the central part of the city is an easy bus ride or a 20-minute walk away. You have to book through an outfit called Edinburgh First, which has other kinds of lodgings available, too; the website is http://www.edinburghfirst.com/

eiregal

I've just come back from a 3 night stay in the IBIS Hotel in Edinburgh and I can't recomment it enough. It's right in the centre of everything and it's reasonable too. The 'bar' that they mention on the website is quite small and the breakfast is quite costly but I wouldn't let that put you off. There is an abundance of coffee shops and restaurants nearby. I would have no hesitation in staying at the IBIS again.

aggiehdm

Thank you for your recommendations to stay at the IBIS. We are traveling to Ediburgh on April 30-May 3rd. I was a little hesitant since there are no pictures of the rooms on the website. T

GSteed

Try the tourist office near the main train station. Hotels close to the center are expensive..they offered us a range of prices depending on distance to center of city. Hotels all seemed to be similar! No trouble getting to city center. Our outlying hotel seldom sees Americans so we had a great time.

WillTravel

Aggiehdm, I can't speak for the Edinburgh Ibis, but I suspect most rooms in most Ibis hotels are very similar, since it is a Europe-wide chain with most, but not all, hotels fairly standardized. Many are of quite new construction, so in excellent repair.

You will probably get either a twin-bed room, or a small double bed plus a wall bank, with simple decor, and a reasonable bathroom with a shower stall. You could phone the hotel and ask. The one Ibis room I stayed at (in Sweden) was very small, but very functional.