My mom and I are going to Edinburgh in October for a concert and decided we might as well stay for a whole week instead of a few days, so now we're searching for a place to stay. We're not looking for anything fancy, the only requirements are that we don't want to share the room with anyone (which seems to rule out a lot of hostels) and that it should be cheap.

So far, we're looking at Number Five Self-catering Apartments in Portobello and this http://www.edinburgh-flats.com/vacat...st?expand=6250 place. As far as I understand, the Number Five apartments are a forty-minute bus ride outside of town, which is a bit much but the price seems reasonable. Anyone know anything about these or have any other recommendation?

As you say Portobello is out of town - it's OK but it's not Edinburgh. You'd spend a lot of time going backwards & forwards on the bus, there's not anywhere nice to go at night and I wouldn't recommend it.

Gayfield Square is nice and very central. Not sure if the flat seems suspiciously cheap, though ?

If so and you want cheap, the fairly new Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel has rooms from singles to 8 bedders, all en suite.

If you want any more suggestions, will you tell us your maximum price ?

Sorry it's Gayfield Street not Square - not quite as good as being on the square but still perfectly nice.

The Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel really is worth considering: See http://www.edinburghcentral.org/

Another option would be one of the guest houses. These are quite cheap and central:
www.deneguesthouse.com/
www.balmoralguesthouse.co.uk/
www.averon.co.uk/index.htm
www.menzies-guesthouse.co.uk/

Thanks for the help! I think I'll try to convince mom to settle for a shorter stay - combined with the expense of flying in from Sweden it seems that seven days is too expensive for my taste. We'll probably stay at http://www.smartcityhostels.com as they seem to have good reviews and is well within our budget. If no one has a horror story about the place of course?

I haven't heard anything about it either way whereas I have heard good things about the one I suggested. The SCH is in a good location, though, right in the Old Town. Be aware though that it's in a particularly hilly bit and not on a bus route - but fine if neither of you has mobility problems.

I just noticed that Budget Backpackers seems to have even better ratings than Smartcityhostels even if they aren't ensuite while keeping within our budget (Yeah, I'm still poking around. I really want a good place to stay in Edinburgh as it seems to be an interesting city.). Heard about them?

Also, is it possible to find wifi access to my laptop, or could I just as well leave it at home? These two hostels don't seem to have it.

Oh yeah, and I'm checking all hostels/recommendations with the reviews at hostelworld.com and laterooms.com, if you want to know what I go by. I'm a bit nervous about this whole traveling abroad thing.

Do you have any reason for not fancying the Central YHA which both I and Londonres recommended ? No, I haven't heard of Budget Backpackers but when I looked at the website I recognised it. It is on the Cowgate which is features a lot of young people's pubs/clubs (it's closed to traffic from 1pm at night as too many drunk kids were getting run over) plus homeless people's hostels. I used to live nearby myself and while I felt perfectly safe there, I wouldn't recommend it to a vistor especially one who is already nervous. This particular hostel usually has young people hanging about outside, I imagine only young people stay there & it's pretty rowdy.

Have you checked Tripadvisor ? I'd be more inclined to go by the reviews there.

Caroline has given good advice.
The Budget Backpackers is located at the junction of the Cowgate and Candlemaker Row. It is a reasonably new hostel but in an exceptionally busy area - both day and night. During the day it is on a busy roundabout for traffic going to and from the Grassmarket and at night the Cowgate is closed to traffic as there are numerous late night bars and clubs located there. Many of the patrons suffer from the affects of alcohol and because of that, that area is very noisy at night - I think lively is the new term. As you are already concerned about visiting then I would stay away from that hostel.
As you wish to stay somewhere cheap the Edinburgh Central YHA is a far better option for both yourself and your mother.

Thanks for your support, meks ! That '1pm' should of course read '10pm'.

Actually, I'm having huge problems with all the booking systems. laterooms.com can give me a *really* great quote on smartcityhostels that's significantly better than than Edinburgh Central's, whose booking system gives me different quotes everytime I try to use it. I can't really afford to put out that difference, and I can't find Edinburgh Central in one of those discount systems. Or maybe I'm understanding laterooms.com wrong? As of now, it stands between smartcityhostels and Edinburgh Central, but when the quotes I can find differs with over 20 pounds...

On Smart City Hostels' own website a twin room for what I think are your dates is £62 per night, which doesn't seem very cheap. Whe I look at laterooms it only has availability for 2 nights that week & that's at £108 per night. What price did you find & are you sure it's for a twin room & not sharing a larger room with others ?

The location of Smart City Hostels is not quite as bad as that of Budget Backpackers but I think it will still be full of young people & possibly noisy.

I'm starting to think your best bet is to go back to the flat on Gayfield Street.

P.S. Edinburgh Central YHA currently showing £54 per night for a twin.

Nah, I'm going to have a talk with mom and settle her backpacker tendencies (she's the type who usually doesn't even bother to pre-book if she can get away with it and takes the hostel that happens to have a room when she arrives. It's been an interesting process to keep us from ending up in a cheap hostel on the outskirts of town...) and take the Edinburgh Central one, I think. I just found out that my student card thing gives me a discount there, and considering you recommend it I'll just take the slightly higher cost and readjust the other costs to compensate. Thanks for the help, even if it turned out to be a rather troublesome process.