Carlton Hotel

I know Edinburgh well and The Carlton is one of the city's flagship hotels. I booked late during August 2003 for the Festival. It's almost impossible to get a room in the City at this time of year and so I was pleased to get a room at all. It was about £200 per night. The room was large and well appointed - everything seemed set for a great weekend. I decided to get an early night and went to bed at 10.30pm and that's when the problem started. There was a constant intrusive humming noise coming from outside. The room faced into a central area and when I looked out I could see the brand-new looking aluminium air-conditioning units on the roof-top below. The hotel had recently had a multi-million pound upgrade but they had forgotten to put in any secondary glazing to protect from the noise! I found it impossible to sleep. The hotel was fully booked and so I could not change room. The reception staff offered to turn off the air-conditioning - although I thought that turning off the air-conditioning for the whole hotel for my comfort was a bit excessive! I checked out early and was refunded for my remaining two nights.

The lobby looks impressive but the rooms are less so. They are ok but not up to the standard of a Sheraton or Holiday Inn for example and lack attention to detail. Mine was fairly roomy and had fairly good facilities hairdryer, minibar etc, but there was no air conditioning and the room became too warm at night and opening a window made it noisy. One of the two windows had only half a curtain for some reason, and noise insulation is poor considering the location, above the train station and with late night revellers outside. I had two single beds which were located side by side without a gap, which seemed to contradict the whole point of having single beds. Bathroom was fine. Did not sample the catering.

Stayed for 2 nites, drapes were falling down, shower curtain rod was loose, called desk to report problems, nothing was ever done. Don't accept the offer of a newspaper, unless you want to pay for it!Breakfast was not covered although they tell you what time it is, you will be billed at checkout!!! Also they tried to charge for phone calls never made, and were not at all polite about it! The NOISE level is terrible! Would not recommend this hotel!!!

I always read the reviews on tripadvisor before booking a hotel so in fairness I should write mine. When we arrived at 2.45pm none of the rooms were ready and only guests who kicked up a fuss seemed to be given rooms. I opted for a non smoking room when I booked but without asking the receptionist gave me a room overloooking the train station that was dirty and stunk of smoke. The bath water was a yellowy colour and the tiles were black in places. I would have complained but my teenage daughter begged me not to as she was upset about the fuss some of the other guests had caused. The staff are friendly,the breakfast was brilliant, the position is fantastic but if I was to stay in Edinburgh again I wouldn't stay here.

Upon entering the Carlton Hotel our first impressions were that it was new clean and modern with a lovely stairway and foyer. We were quite impressed. Six of us had travelled to Edinburgh, from Ireland and Spain, for our sisters fortieth birthday. We approached reception to check in and were rudely told to stand back by the receptionist. Now, bearing in mind the rooms were booked back in late February and certain requests were made via the internet and again confirmed on the telephone three weeks before we travelled what happened next was very poor. The receptionist didn't think our requests actually existed. Thankfully I had made printouts of our requirements. Even with things in print the hotel receptionist insisted the mistake was ours. Eventually rooms were sorted out but not the way they were originally booked. We had taken our sister for her birthday and didnt want to spoil things. We waited three hours from check in time (14:00) until (17.00), to get keys for our rooms to discover they double booked one of the rooms (it was already occupied). The hotel then tried to move us to lower graded rooms, by the time this was sorted out another hour had passed. (it was now 18:00). We were on a Saturday to Monday trip and we had already lost an afternoon/evening. On talking to the manager on the phone (who could not make the time to actually come to the room to talk) she offered to send a bottle of champagne to each room and also offered a complimentary meal to all of us on the Sunday night, which we reluctantly agreed to. After going to the meal on the Sunday we then had to pay for any supplements that came along with our orders, plus potatoes and vegetables. It was therefore hardly what you could call a complimentary meal??? Had we known that particular fact we would have much rather have gone into the town centre and found a much better eating place. After checking out of the Carlton Hotel the overall opinion was that it was beautiful looking hotel but the finer points and especially the customer service need a serious review. We have travelled extensively throughout the UK, Ireland and other parts of Europe and have never experienced such poor customer relations and service. Very dissapointing overall !!!

Brilliant! I paid £185 for a double room for 2 nights including breakfast. I wouldn’t pay the full asking price (£190 per night) the room was slightly on the small time but tastefully done. The bathroom was lovely! The only two fault about the room was the widows and curtains need a wash and the second was we were quiet far away from the lifts. The pool was lovely and you had to drag me out of the spa and sauna! The hotel staffs were very friendly and helpful. The breakfast was ok – nothing out of this world but nice. I would stay at this hotel every time when staying in Edinburgh it has got such a fantastic location! This hotel is a must!

Really needed a romantic break to spend time with my husband. Arrived and hotel and found staff very helpful and pleasant. Nothing was a bother. Rooms were beautifully decorated and very comfortable - a bit noisy from traffic below but we were so tired from sightseeing in the beautiful city that we hardly noticed this. Would recommend the hotel and will definitely be back - breakfast was fantastic and even though staff were rushed of their feet they were are still smiling! Thanks for a lovely stay.

We recently (April 08-10) stayed with the Carlton in Edinburgh. The staff were very friendly and helpful and our stay was very pleasant. The location of the hotel is amazing (wedged in between the Royal Mile and Princes St.). Recommended.

We stayed at the Carlton for one night 3/25/04 and that was plenty! Although the staff was helpful and friendly, the hotel itself needs improvement. Our room was at the back of the hotel overlooking the train station. With our window closed and heat on we could clearly hear all the train station announcement until 11PM at night. When I called the front desk, they said there were no other rooms to be moved to and that we were actually in one of the quieter rooms. The bed was comfortable, but for the price you could find a better hotel.

I had read all the glowing reviews on this site and was really looking forward to a romantic stay in the Carlton for our anniversary. After a very early flight from London (had to get up at 4) we had to walk around Edinburgh for 4 hours until the check in time of 2pm. Hoping to catch up on some sleep and chill out in the hotel in the afternoon, this didn't happen as the fire alarm went off. Wondering whether it was a test after a few minutes the alarm stopped. We waited for a bit then went downstairs to check if it really was a fire, to be confronted by a deserted lobby and a host of fireman. We were sent outside and weren't allowed back in for 4 hours. No fire marshalls had checked or knocked on doors to ensure guests not in their rooms, and the alarm had stopped. The staff all got themselves out pretty sharpish I noticed. So we were stuck outside with no coats and no money until into the evening. Eventually they put free tea and coffee on in the Raddison hotel nearby, it was like a refugee centre in there, people silently sitting around, some dressed in no more than a towel (they'd obviously been in the pool when the alarm went off). By the time we got back in we were so tired and fed up from earlier I didn't really enjoy the evening out, falling into bed exhausted. The maid then woke us up (even though we were checking out that day at 12.30 and had already said to reception) at 8am. Complimentary cocktails in the bar from 7.45 - 9pm turned out to be one vodka and orange/cranberry each (one overworked barman and long queues). Breakfast was unbelievable, had to wait in the bar area for 30 minutes along with lots of other disgruntled guests. We finally sat down and were surrounded by other tables overflowing with dirty plates, leftovers and glasses. The breakfast was quite cold and despite asking for toast, none was forthcoming. Service was terrible, the staff barely spoke English and didn't seem to know what they were doing, busying themselves with pointless tasks and speaking on the telephone. In the morning reception told us the concierge could tell us the bus times to the Scottish border town we were going to and we waited for 20 mins and there was no sign of him. The other receptionists didn't offer any information as to his whereabouts, and in the end we just left and decided to walk down to the bus station with our luggage and find out ourselves. I was really disappointed with the Carlton, we spoke to a lot of other guests on our floor and I know they were too. Next time staying in a B&B!