Royal British Hotel

200 yards from Waverley, right on Princes Street for £50 including breakfast, what more can you ask for. Rooms were clean but a bit dated, but the staff exceptionaly pleasant and the general tenor of the stay was excellent. For the price you wont get better. One thing, breakfast starts at 7.30 which is a little late for business travellers

Booked a 3 night stay in January 2007 through the hotels own website as the other discount hotel websites were more expensive. Got a great single room rate, incl breakfast for 45 pound, which I thought was great as New Years celebrations were still on in Edinburgh. The hotel is old, but this adds to the charm. The room I had had two single beds and was large by European standards, the bathroom was HUGE, nearly the size of the bedroom plus, so if you were normaly cramped with suitcases etc, you could have stored them easily in the bathroom.. The room was a little noisy, but hey, the celebrations were still on in Edinburgh. The room had basic facilities, not flash, but comfortable. Was great to be supplied with your own tea making facilities, which isnt always available in Europe. Nice to be supplied nice teas, coffee, drinking chocolate and Walkers Shortbread. The breakfast was nice, full Scottish breakfast, Bacon, Eggs, Sausages, Black Pudding, fruits, toasts, juice, tea and coffee.. On the whole I was very pleased with my stay and was nice to arrive at Waverley Station and be in your hotel room 5 mins later.. Any negatives are outweighed by the location, its just the best.. Would I stay again?? Without a doubt ..YES !

II booked this hotel quite sometime ago for a party of 30 women on a hen party and got a really good rate and the booking process was second to none (they even gave the deposits back from the girls that couldn’t make it). Having read some of the reviews on the day before arriving I must say I was a little worried and thought I might be lynched by everyone but it just goes to show that you really shouldn’t read too much in to reviews, everyone is entitled to their opinion. The hotel staff were outstanding (with the exception of some of the breakfast waiting staff who were sometimes a little surly). They really made us feel welcome and that nothing was too much trouble. The location was brilliant for us, right in the middle of the shops (we were 30 women after all) and although it could do with some updating in places was far better than expected. I did note the rates when booking in and think that perhaps they were a little steep but as I said before we were given a good rate so it was perfect for us. I would wholly recommend this hotel (if you get a good rate) and city – what a fantastic weekend we had.

Situated between the Disney Shop and Whittards this small entrance way leads you to a magnificant red carpeted stairway (there is a lift too through a door behind the stairs) Booking in was quick and painless. Room was ok. Beds clean and comfy. Quick check of the bathroom. Bath with overhead shower, small selection of freebies, wobbly toilet seat, loose towel rail but most importantly CLEAN. The room overlooked a back lane and we were woken every morning by the bin men rattling and talking at 7am! Breakfast was as you would expect. Fresh fruit, prunes, apricots, cereals, and a full cooked brekkie of eggs, bacon etc all served with gallons of tea or coffee and baskets of toast and butter. Ok so the hotel is showing its age but it has character which is so lacking in a modern chain build. The Royal British has location. Its on Princes Street, across the road from Waverley Station and in the middle of everything. If you want a budget hotel to rest your head everynight and be well fed & watered come here. If you want 5 star luxury go somewhere else.

Where do I begin with this review? Upon arrival, I was met with a receptionist that was obviously fed up with her job, and cared little about welcoming guests, particularly annoying given the long tiring journey that we had just faced! The room we had booked in advance was at the furthest end of the hotel, with long winding hallways and awkward steps that we had to manoeuvre with our luggage, because no service was available to carry our luggage. The room was SO small, that we had to enter single file and avoid banging into the bed and cupboard that occupied 90% of the room area. Tea making facilities were given, but the cups were dirty. The linen was not clean and we found hairs in the duvet – that were not ours! The bathroom smelled damp and the ‘mixer’ shower either scalded you or froze your private parts, because it seemed impossible to get a balanced temperature water flow. Breakfast was appalling! We were treated as an imposition on the waiting staff, rather than paying guests. We were rudely spoken to, made to get up from a table that we sat at, and very harshly told to sit at a table that had yet to be cleared from the previous guests, because the waitress ‘did not want to have to prepare another table’??? When I remonstrated that the table was still dirty, crumbs and leftovers were swept off on to the floor by her hand and then given a stern glare! Food was cleared away before guests had finished eating and told that time was over! The cleaning staff began cleaning rooms so early that if you are not an early riser, then forget about having your room cleaned! Our room wasn’t cleaned for the entire duration of our visit. Clean towels were simply dumped on the dirty floor outside the room in the hallway. The parking was an issue and given that we arrived by car, was a particular pain! The parking ‘discount’ the hotel claim to offer was an insignificant 20% off the standard NCP car parking charges. This hotel claims to be a 3star, but I would struggle to rate it above 1star. The only good thing about it is location. Situated on Princes Street, it is ideally located for those wishing to explore the city. But having now explored the city, we discovered plenty of alternative hotels that would have significantly enhanced our experience of Edinburgh! In summary – DON’T BOTHER WITH THIS HOTEL!

This hotel is smack bang in the middle of Edinburgh, a short walk from all the attractions. If you are planning to be out and about all day and all night and only need somewhere to rest your head then this will be fine... as long as you don't mind a bit of grime and noise and sub-zero temperatures. If, however, you expect your carpets to be vacuumed and your new towels to go straight from the maid's trolley to the rail (rather than inexplicably resting on the floor outside your door all morning), or if you would quite like a good nigh's sleep, then find somewhere else to stay. We stayed in two rooms over a weekend. On both Friday and Saturday night a function room had been hired out for karaoke parties. The sound of the terrible singing carried throughout the hotel. The street outside is also very noisy, and the windows aren't double-glazed, so expect to be woken up by shouting and sirens. That's if you aren't already awake because the heating has been turned off at night. Our rooms were freezing and we all woke up with sore throats. The staff are quite personable, but don't expect them to go out of their way to be helpful. Don't be surprised by the brown water in the bathrooms - at first we assumed this was just part of the hotel's general dirtiness, but apparently this is the colour of the normal water supply in some parts of Scotland.

Other travellers weren't kidding when they described the rooms as being a bit worn down. On the flipside, however, the rooms were clean and the bathrooms were pretty modern for a small hotel and had fresh towels replaced daily. I stayed on the 3rd floor (top) of the hotel in Nov 2006 and despite the noise from the traffic and pedestrians at night, it was bearable and really, the loudest night was Saturday night which is not unexpected. The location of the hotel was perfect- especially given the rainy weather during the month of November. The castle was within 15 minutes of walking, the National Gallery was even closer; the AirLink bus was withing 5 minutes walk, the City Centre bus had a stop just outside the hotel, and if you get really tired of exploring, there's a mall right across the street. What was even nicer was that given Princes St. is a main thoroughfare, the stores seemed to stay open later and were conveniently located (there's a drug store just a few doors down and McDonalds is around the corner if you get the late night munchies when all the other stores are closed). The staff were all very friendly and I'll never be able to repay the kind clerk who was able to find and lend me a battery adapter b/c I brought the wrong one from home. For the location, the price was totally a bargain and I would recommend staying there if you're ok with worn, but clean rooms with basic amenities.

We stayed in this hotel for a weekend break in July. The reception staff were very friendly and extremely helpful. The rooms were clean and comfortably but on the small size. The one downside of this hotel was our room was on the 3rd floor at the back of the hotel which was very noisey at night and first thing in the morning. The breakfast was nice a choice of full scotish or conteninal but the staff on were very miserable looking. The location was excellent across the street from Waverly train station, a few mins walk from all bus stops including the stop that services the airport and a few mins walk from all the main shops and Princess Street gardens. From the bar at night the view of the castle was spectular. I will definetly stay here again when I com back to Edinburgh.

We chose this hotel simply on its location and were not disappointed. Situated in the heart of Edinburgh, close to Waverley railway station, it's just a short walk to shops, bars, restuarants and the castle. Friendly greeting and help from the young lady on reception on our arrival (makes all the difference after a long journey). Our room was small but clean and comfortable. The overall decor in the hotel is somewhat dated and some minor maintenance would help - the window would not close properly. Breakfast was served quickly by smiling staff although the food quality has to be described as good, but not the best.