Edinburgh Hotels - Apex?

[Bumblebee112]

Looking for a hotel for a couple of nights stay (with a toddler too). Midweek if that makes a difference.

Ideally with pool and parking. And preferably walking distance to city centre attractions. Likely to book with breakfast just for ease with a young child but will have other meals outwith the hotel.

Apex keeps coming up and have decent reviews but there seems to be 3? Is there a huge difference between the 3?

Or anywhere else I should be considering? We’ve stayed at the Village a few times but would prefer something more central for this. Have also done Radisson Blu on the mile but it’s showing much more expensive for our dates.

ds and I have stayed at both Apex City of Edinburgh and Grassmarket recently. They're both on the same street very close together, but completely separate buildings. Grassmarket has a pool (which we didn't use) and parking (which we also didn't use). City of Edinburgh doesn't have its own pool but you can use the Grassmarket one.

Neither of them were anything special, but they were comfortable, clean and quiet and the location is great. Walking distance from everywhere and if you want to get on one of those city bus tours they stop just outside. Amazing castle views from both. There wasn't any real difference between the two. If I had to be super critical I'd say the staff were slightly grumpy at Grassmarket - possibly because they'd just been through the festival when we visited - but it didn't affect our stay.

We haven't tried the other one. Maybe next time. You get a different rubber duck in each one and I need to add to my collection.

OMG we had the best room ever at the apex grassmarket! It was a 69 pound itison deal but we must have been upgraded. Felt like royalty!

From memory the pool in the Grassmarket one is tiny.

But that view!!

We've stayed at the Waterloo place one twice and we love it. It felt like a nicer hotel than we would normally expect for the price we paid both times, great location, nice decor and rooms and really lovely staff (we got 2 free bottles of Prosecco on one visit when they noticed my DOB on the booking when we checked in and it was my birthday whilst we were there).

This was the view from my room in the Grassmarket one

We stayed in the Apex hotel for three nights in the Grassmarket (not the one with the pool).

I was very disappointed. They didn't turn up to clean our room until about 5pm on the first two days, just as we were returning from activities. On the last day, they showed up at 8am.

DD put a greasy handprint on the wall on day one, and it was still there at the end.

We got one set of supplies for the fancy coffee machine, then just instant from reception afterwards.

Honestly, just go for Premier Inn. I was in the Rose Street one a few weeks ago and my room overlooked the National Gallery and the Castle. Waverley is good too.

Amazed that a city location like that even has a pool

I have had similar amazing experiences at the Waterloo Place one and I agree that it feels far more upmarket than the price you’ve paid!

Waterloo place also has a pool, not huge but a reasonable size.

Thank you all for your reviews!! 😊 Does anyone have any other suggestions? We’re staying as part of a celebration so would like something nicer than Premier Inn etc but not running with a massive budget. Hoping for max £450-500 for 2 nights for a family style room

I'd thoroughly recommend the grass market apex. Walking distance to everything and very child friendly

@lilybloom2 Thank you! Did you eat at the hotel at all? How was it? Still wondering whether to book there or somewhere else!

I did eat at the hotel. It was so relaxed and child friendly with a decent menu.

We stayed at the apex Waterloo and loved it; we had the pool to ourselves every morning! Well located.

@lilybloom2 Thank you 😊

@showmethegin Thank you! The Waterloo place one looks lovely but is showing about £150 more than Grassmarket for our nights. Wondering if it’s worth this difference!

Do those hotels actually have parking? I have a feeling it might at a nearby NCP car park. I wouldn’t pay £150 more to stay at Waterloo place compared to grassmarket.
what are your travel dates?

We were really happy with apex grass market. Location is amazing, we had a view of the castle from our room and pool was definitely big enough for a dip with the kids. Room size was fine. Breakfast nice but they had this hidden menu where you could order a la carte options (but they only told you about it if you asked). We only discovered on our last day which was a bit annoying. We stayed 4 nights and got the last one for free which was a bit of a bargain

@NotFastButFurious I’m actually not sure but nearby NCP is fine. More ideal having actual parking but the Radisson Blu on the mile that we’ve used before that does have parking is considerably more expensive when we want to go (and than what we’ve ever paid for there in the past!).

Travelling either 19-21 or 20-22 nov. 3 in a family room.

@NotFastButFurious I have just checked today and it’s now showing £70 difference (including breakfast).

@Verite1 Thank you! 😊

There’s parking round the back of the apex on grassmarket. And there’s a huge ncp on kings stables road so wherever it is it’ll be close.

What about the Novotel on Lauriston place? That has a pool and is much cheaper.

@Maryqueenofstots Thank you 😊

@NotFastButFurious I did see that one but it looks slightly further from Princes St etc if I remember rightly? and I think the Apex rooms were a bit larger? Had also seen a few reviews about noisy larger groups etc but that would probably be more of an issue at weekends I’d assume