Carlton Hotel

Routinely stay here with work so no issues either way!however it has to be said the standard is inconsistent , sure very swish entrance and reception but it certainly is not a 4star hotel more like a 2star in my opinion. The rooms are tired and dated (that includes the bathrooms)some small and some noisy,cheap uncomfortable beds, no air conditioning and in some instances dirty, The good points- obviously excellent position for the coach loads of american/japanese tourists who want to see Edinburgh (proximity to Princess st and the Royal mile. If you arrive at breakfast at 7.am the standard is very good and you will be served by pleasant east europeans/spanish no problems there then.Its expensive to eat in the hotel so just go outside and explore ,loads of restaurants offering early bird menus-try the greek/turkish bistro opposite in the arcade. Nothing basically wrong with the leisure centre other than some refurbishment needed ,so folks dont pay a fortune, and if you have to complain remember you are the paying customer.

Not impressed, we stayed for Valentines for 5 nights, it was quite expensive but we assumed the price and the name Carlton would guarantee a fabulous holiday. We were very disapointed.
Upon checkin we were offered a £20 "upgrade" which was a complete waste of money. The receipion is modern and impressive but thats the only appealing aspect of this out of date hotel.
The room was of a good size but the decor was very disapointing & old fashioned, nothing seemed to match, the corners of the carpets against the wall were not clean & the heat in the room was very uncomfortable. There was a slight stain on the bedclothes, the kettle & haiir dryer ware so powerless! The shower failed to get hot enough, & the heated towel rack in the bathroom was not earthed which I assume could get dangerous.
The swimming pool & leisure centre were horible. Huge patches of mould growing on the ceiling of the pool room, not a nice experience. The ladies changing rooms were filthy,& were not a appealing in the slightest. 2 of the 3 showers failed to work.
The overall decor of the hotel is old fashioned & we noticed that the brass handles on doors near the lifts were not polished onece in our 5night stay. The lifts were very old fashioned & really slow.
On one occasion the cleaners left the door of our room locked open ajar & we were very worried when we saw this. We had been sightseeing for hours & it was not acceptable that this had happened, we complained to reception & received a call of apology from housekeeping but a small gesture would have been appreciated.
Upon checkout the receiptionist tried to charge us for breakfast in bed which we had one morning but we had to remind him this was included in out £20 "upgrade". Would not recommend this hotel at all, perhaps if paid a lower rate we would not have minded the below par conditions but as it was expensive we were very let down.
We stayed in the Crowne Plaza hotel in Blanchardstown in Dublin Ireland last weekend & paid half the price for a really impressive relaxing hotel.

1 reader found this review helpful

I stayed here with work, and so don’t feel I can comment on value for money.
There are a number of good things to say about this hotel -firstly the location. For the tourist/holiday visitor it is in an excellent position, ideal for the sights and the Royal Mile.
Secondly the room was good, it wasn’t fantastic, but it was very nice. A good size and clean. Also it had a lovely bed. It was at the back of the hotel, and so was not noisy. Not sure what the experience would be like at the front of the hotel.
As far as food is concerned, it is a mixed experience. Breakfast was excellent, with lots of choice, and a very good porridge - which I like to have when visiting Scotland. The evening meal on the other hand, was a different situation. Our night stay coincided with a Murder Mystery evening. This in itself was fine - it was very entertaining, but because I think an actor was late the meal was delayed. The food when it arrived was not hot and the plates had not been warmed, and so the food got even colder very quickly. No-one on our table finished their meals. I think they had employed a number of casual waiting staff, as complaints were not dealt with well.
Overall I would say I may stay there again, but only Bed and Breakfast!

I stayed in the Carlton when I was attending a Conference. The rooms were very comfortable and the food very good. The Hotel has a leisure club and although I did not try it out it seemed to be of a very high standard.
The hotel is very central and although this means that everything is within very easy reach there can be the occasional problem with traffic noise. I say occasional because it does tend to vary. The conference rooms we used for example seemed to be adequately soundproofed as the one we were using was on the corner overlooking North Bridge and the railway station.
Edinburgh is my favourite city, there is just so much to see and do and the Carlton is in an ideal location for visiting Carlton Hill, Princes Street, the Royal Mile, the Castle and most of the other famous Edinburgh landmarks.