Old Waverley Hotel, Edinburgh

43 Princes Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2BY
3 star

The Old Waverley Hotel, located in the famous Princes Street in Edinburgh, is close to everything. Most rooms offer stunning views of Edinburgh Castle. Our hot...

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Rooms from £65 (≈ $129) per night
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8/10 Overall rating

Category Average Rating
8/10 Check-in process
7/10 Your room
7/10 Working order of facilities / equipment
8/10 Order and cleanliness of the hotel
7/10 Performance of staff
8/10 Overall experience
8/10 Overall value for money
  • 10/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  June 4, 2008

    "Convenient location, hotel seemed recently refurbished so was clean and bathrooms new. " (97351253)

    Clean hotel. Great location. Beautiful views. Friendly staff. Great beds, shower. Nice restaurant.

    Some street noise with windows open, but was quiet inside. Only one small elevator--sometimes had to wait awhile because it was full. Restaurant had good food but not much variety.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 10/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  May 30, 2008

    "Excellent hotel breakfast hot and plenty of choice. Very helpful staff Bedroom and bathroom clean and warm" (97408635)

    Very central hotel good position Close to the bus station convenient to get to the airport

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  April 11, 2008

    "Ths is a very good location for visiting central Edinburgh. The staff is excellant. Airport, sightseeing and local buses are right there along with a taxi stand. The only complaint was the hotel food. Breakfast is a full Scottish, nothing else is available. There was a dinner menu but I soon found out why the place was empty every evening. Across the street was Jenner's Department Store where I had breakfast several mornings in their cafe. Also across the street was a full grocery store which helped cut my meal costs." (97542929)

    location, location, location

    meals

    2 of 2 people found this review helpful:

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  March 27, 2008

    location, location, location.

    i had no option to book a room with a view on the internet.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 8/10 Kazumi (Same sex couple) 

    from Bangor , GB on  February 25, 2008

    "The initial room we were given was at the top and on the inside (i.e. no view) and it was small. However, it was clean and pleasant and what we were expecting, considering the good price we got. However, it did smell smoky, even though it was a non-smoking room. I asked the staff politely if they could possibly change the room for us. They were understanding and helpful and though they couldn't do anything that night they did change us the next morning and gave us an excellent room which we were even more happy with." (97744999)

    It was very central and the staff were helpful

    The bathrooms were new and very nice but the sinks were oddly difficult to use. It's a small complaint. Also, the first room we were given smelled of smoke.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 7/10 Joanne (Young couple) 

    from Falkirk , GB on  February 12, 2008

    Value for money, great location

    Small room, no view but didn't expect to have either its very clear on the website you get what you payed for.

    1 of 1 people found this review helpful:

  • 9/10 Vassiliki (Group of work colleagues) 

    from Norwich , GB on  June 12, 2008

    "But for the off-putting stairs and poor views, i valued the helpful attitude of staff greatly and the rooms were adequate enough for the price to make me have a very comfortable stay." (99903345)

    1. Superbly kind and helpful staff. 2. Comfortable enough room with extra pillows! 3. good restaurant.

    1. Stairs up to reception a very poor welcoming point when one arrives tired with luggage and/or has a disability. 2. The two single rooms i booked had appalling views over the the back service stairs for a hotel with some of the best views in town (the curse of the single travellers i suppose). 3. Single rooms could do with a minibar and hair-drying etc. facilities (single travellers are human too :)

  • 8/10 Keith (Group of work colleagues) 

    from Fleet , GB on  May 28, 2008

    "A long weekend away with friend primarily for Edinburgh Marathon and the location of the hotel was perfect for getting to the start line, station and going out in town." (97335028)

    Excellent central location. Breakfast buffet is good.

    Room checkin is at 3pm but they can store backage. Room pirces are not particularly cheap

  • 6/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  May 27, 2008

    "I chose the hotel because the price was very good and the location was excellent. In these parameters, we were not disappointed. The room was barely adequate, however. There was no drawer space and barely anyplace to put our suitcase. The hotel, although clean, needs some sprucing up. Finally, the buffet breakfast was barely adequate - almost pathetic." (97523620)

    Great location. Great view. Relatively good price.

    Room too small, no place to put things (no drawer space whatsoever), hotel has seen better days

  • 8/10 Peter (Solo business traveller) 

    from Southwell , GB on  February 4, 2008

    "Saitsfactory stay and would consider using the same hotel again" (97849552)

    Central location; comfortable room; good evening meal

    Cold, draughty bathroom; receptionist interrupting dealing with me to answer the phone; grapefruit juice at breakfast had started to ferment

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  January 22, 2008

    "Good will stay again." (97093779)

    We have stayed before but this time the room looked like it had be refurbished so much nicer

    Roadworks right outside our window, but this is not a hotel fault.

  • 6/10 Anonymous (Young couple) 

    on  January 15, 2008

    location

    inability to serve bfast on last day and no care attitue

  • 8/10 Zui wen (Solo leisure traveller) 

    from Singapore , SG on  January 3, 2008

    "It was a very pleasant stay. Execellent view from both the bedroom and the breakfast room. Staff was very polite and friendly. Hotel location is very conveniently and easily accessible." (97813700)

    The hotel is very conveniently located and I had no problem getting around.

    There was no lift leading from ground floor to first floor reception. Quite inconvenient for travellers with heavy luggage.

  • 9/10 Shelagh (Family with older children) 

    from Newcastle upon tyne , GB on  January 2, 2008

    "Really liked this hotel,old fashioned but I prefer the older buildings in a city break. Was worth paying a little more for the superior room.Buffet breakfast great, staff very friendly.Stop for open top bus just across the road so we managed to cram a lot of sightseeing into our stay." (97774941)

    Location of hotel great,Princes St opp train station.Stayed in a superior room on the corner with superb views of street and castle.Being xmas we had the fair and market right out side, so perfect for us.

    Nothing i disliked

  • 8/10 Ann (Mature couple) 

    from Birmingham , GB on  December 17, 2007

    "It is a nice hotel perfectly situated for seeing Edinburgh and I would recommend it to others." (97393251)

    The room was very nice and the staff could not do enough for you

    As it was xmas and we were at the front of the hotel on the second floor, the noise of the fair and the main road did have an effect on us being able to sleep properly

  • 10/10 Hazel (Group of adult friends) 

    from Aberdeen , GB on  December 16, 2007

    Excellent location for shopping and sight seeing. Our room was facing Princess Street which had a small fair across from our room.The christmas music was a treat to hear also the light were lovely. Room was very spacious and clean . Guest were all very friendly. WE will be going back to THE WAVERLEY next year.

    Check out is 11.00.am to early for me!

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  December 4, 2007

    Its location

    Poor Restaurant service, breakfast too late on weekends, breakfast food lukewarm or cold, rooms very small, elevator very small.

  • 9/10 John r (Mature couple) 

    from Dalbeattie , GB on  November 29, 2007

    "good hotel very central to all amenities needs double or secondary glazing for noise only room was comfortable warm and well equiped the staff were very friendly and helpfull overall our one night stay was excellent would definately return." (97630326)

    the hotel was central to edinburgh and shops were on the doorstep everthing we did was within walking distance

    no double glazing in our room 209 quite noisy traffic

  • 9/10 Tim (Solo business traveller) 

    from North tyneside , GB on  November 16, 2007

    "Great location, friendly staff, well priced and plenty of character - will definitely book there again." (97663897)

    staff, location, character

    nothing really

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  November 15, 2007

    "the only thing we weren't happy with was breakfast in our room.......every day there was at least and a couple of times two or more things missing from the tray ie: cups and milk but not pot of tea. toast but no plates, condiments or knives to go with the toast." (97809023)

    big bed lovely soft furnishings

    where it is, accessible to many tourist things

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  November 14, 2007

    "Hotel is nice and in a good location. Building work on 1st Floor which detracted a bit from the stay. Great view of Edinburgh and Princes Street from the breakfast area." (97576726)

    Close to Waverley station

    Building work taking place in the hotel.

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Family with older children) 

    on  October 31, 2007

    location

    steps

  • 9/10 Susan (Family with older children) 

    from Sheffield , GB on  October 29, 2007

    "My son was unable to access the internet on his computer. We would like to have known how suitable the rooms were for internet access. We were told that the rooms had internet access but, on arrival, found that my son could not gain access, even the reception area proved problematic. If we had known this, we could have left his computer at home in Sheffield, rather than bringing it to Scotland. Further, because the window lock in our room was broken, my son had to take his computer with him to breakfast as he didn't feel it was safe to leave it in the room. However, we did leave the computer with reception when we went out in the evening." (97532768)

    The room and beds were very comfortable. The bathroom was very clean and modern and we like clean white towels!!!

    Our bedroom window lock was broken so felt unsafe about leaving valuables in room. The view from the window was pretty unattractive too

  • 9/10 Louise (Young couple) 

    from Co. dublin , IE on  October 25, 2007

    "The hotel was in a great location. The dining room was nicely decorated felt light and sunny and the views were great. The rooms were clean and spacious. Overall we had a very enjoyable stay" (97652992)

    view of princes street

    TV was on the floor and could not be viewed from the bed

  • 9/10 Lisa (Young couple) 

    from Orange city , US on  October 23, 2007

    "Overall this stay was pleasant, with only a few minor dislikes about the accommodation." (99834817)

    The location was the best about this facility. We were steps away from everything we wanted to do.

    I felt as if the bedding was a bit old for the price we were paying for this location. Also, the menu for dinner was very small...and then they didn't have the one thing we wanted!

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Group of adult friends) 

    on  October 7, 2007

    location is good,close to infomation centre,bus stop,station,shops

    lift worked very slow

  • 9/10 Eileen (Other) 

    from Gillingham , GB on  October 4, 2007

    "We wanted a mid price hotel with good facilities and central location from where we could explore Edinburgh. The Old Waverley fitted the bill exactly. We would happily return there if we visit Edinburgh again." (97871276)

    Central location

    It was undergoing renovation and could be noisy at times

  • 9/10 Darrin (Family with young children) 

    from Auckland , NZ on  October 3, 2007

    Clean, organised, spacious

  • 9/10 Robert (Family with older children) 

    from Hessle , GB on  October 3, 2007

    "The hotel was clean, comfortable and well equipped. It was very central for the visitor attractions in central Edinburgh. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Overall, however, for the accommodation, it was very overpriced, especially as we had to pay extra for breakfast! In summary, although the hotel was very pleasant, clean and comfortable, IT WAS NOT THE 4* ACCOMMODATION WE SHOULD HAVE GOT FOR THE PRICE WE PAID" (97710386)

    Room was recently decorated, beds very comfortable.

    Washbasin too high- wife could hardly reach it and bath side too high to step into shower. Lift VERY small

  • 4/10 Anonymous (Group of adult friends) 

    on  September 28, 2007

    Central location

    There was plastic sheeting on the floor and lots of renovation work taking place - which was not mentioned at the time of booking!

  • 4/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  September 26, 2007

    Central location

    See below

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  July 26, 2007

    convenient to station and eating places

    only one small and busy lift

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Solo leisure traveller) 

    on  July 25, 2007

    "I had a Non-Smoking Room which was very nice. Very quiet. Bathrooms were large and had all conveniences. The room was a bit stuffy as the window didn't really open into the outside but a ventilation shaft instead. I would request a room with an outside view next time. The staff was very helpful. I found the breakfast each morning to be be more than adequate. I also ate one time in the dinning room, an evening meal. Service was excellent and the food tasty." (99165407)

    The Hotel was very convenient to the Royal Mile with all it's attractions, to shopping and of course to the Waverly Train station, buses, etc.

    The steps leading up to the lobby. A lift was availible up to the rooms.

  • 9/10 Pamela (Group of adult friends) 

    from Morpeth , GB on  July 19, 2007

    "I thought that the hotel was excellent value for money and is ideally situated in the centre of Edinburgh near to the railway station. The room had fantastic views and we had an excellent window seat in the dining room at breakfast time. The staff were friendly and helpful and provided us with plenty of information with regard to what was going on in the City during our stay." (97039559)

    My friend and I stayed in a premiere twin room -314 and we loved the two windows and the view of the Castle. The room was tastefully furnished and the bathroom (although) small was very clean.

    Bathroom could have been bigger. Not the hotel's fault but Princes Street can be quite noisey, especially the bagpipes!(although they did add to the atmosphere).

  • 9/10 Steven (Young couple) 

    from Glasgow , GB on  July 18, 2007

    "It Is Advisable To Pay The Deposit For A Room With A View, I Was Stuck Looking Down A Side Street. There Wasn't Any Square Sausage Or Potato Scones In The Breakfast That Was Served. Overall The Service and Quality Of The Hotel Was good. Wouldn't Recommend It To Young Couples Or Young Groups If They Were Looking For A Cheap Weekend In Edinburgh." (97955801)

    Everything Was Very Neat And Tidy And Very Clean. Also The Porter On The Door Is A Great Help.

    Breakfast Wasnt The Best. Prices For Food And Drink Were Over The Top.

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Young couple) 

    on  July 18, 2007

    "We had a thouroughly enjoyable stay; I am sure we will return!" (99353748)

    Fantastic views, beautiful room, friendly and helpful staff.

  • 8/10 Samuel charles (Mature couple) 

    from Belfast , GB on  July 13, 2007

    "all in all very pleasant and relaxing everything is very formal the way i like it no fuss or panic i would recomend to anyone by the way the food being served was very good" (97717373)

    very cormortable do your own thing staff easy going relaxing

    should be more choice in food menu

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Young couple) 

    on  July 11, 2007

    "A well-sized room, quiet despite looking out on to Prince's Street, very comfortable and well-appointed (except that the toilet seat kept coming detached). Excellent dinner and breakfast, and exceedingly helpful staff. Once through the main entrance, the button for reception assistance is already up several steps - rather awkward for those with mobility limitations. This is counteracted by help from the staff." (99084516)

    Superb view across Edinburgh and more-than-superb food in the restaurant

    Hardly anything, but if I had been in a wheelchair I would have been at a loss as to how to attract Reception's attention

  • 7/10 B (Mature couple) 

    from Northampton , GB on  July 5, 2007

    The hotel reception, bar and dining where very clean and presentable.

    Bathroom exctract fan did not work, Several repairs to bathroom ceiling un-finished, mould on tiles, generally bathroom i would describe as tired. Room very small.

  • 8/10 Paul (Young couple) 

    from Widnes , GB on  July 3, 2007

    "Comfortable central hotel,friedndly staff and very clean and comfy rooms." (99138272)

    good clean well positioned hotel.

    on a very busy road

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  July 2, 2007

    "Ours was only an overnight stay, but everything about it was very good from the staff to the food, I don't think we could have been any better informed." (99566085)

    Central Edinburgh, very friendly and helpful staff, comfortable bed

    Small window

  • 9/10 Malcolm (Mature couple) 

    from Boston , GB on  June 27, 2007

    "it was all very good and what I expected" (99358032)

    the friendly staff and the comfortable atmospher

  • 10/10 Simon (Solo business traveller) 

    from Tetford , GB on  June 24, 2007

    Central location, good humoured breakfast manager

    No air con. Noise from busy street as had to have window open to get cool enough

  • 8/10 Anonymous (Solo business traveller) 

    on  June 23, 2007

    "This is a comfortable hotel in the centre of Edinburgh. It is very conventiently situated for the train station and for central Edinburgh. The staff in the restaruant were delightful both at dinner and at breakfast and the food was good.The room was comfortable with a beautiful view of the castle. I would certainly return there and would recommend it to other business travellers. I did not think it was cheap so would probably not opt to stay there if I were visiting Edinburgh for pleasure unless the hotel had a special offer but it represented good value for money for a business stay." (99834393)

    comfortable bed and lovely view good restaurant

    slight smell of smoke when i came into room no lift from street to reception

  • 10/10 Sharon m (Mature couple) 

    from Strathdon , GB on  June 22, 2007

    Clean and friendly and extremely central

  • 9/10 Anonymous (Other) 

    on  June 19, 2007

    The personnel were extremely pleasant. Maggie at the front desk was especially helpful. Breakfast was lovely each morning and meals at the bar and the restaurant were most enjoyable.

  • 7/10 Nick (Solo business traveller) 

    from Chatham , GB on  June 14, 2007

    "Overall a good venue for visiting Edinburgh, but there are better and if you're careful about advance booking they are cheaper as well." (99061816)

    The closeness to the main sites of Edinburgh was a big consideration in choosing this hotel - The staff were very good and obviously keen to please. Everyone including cleaning staff were very pleasant and polite.

    Small room, could do with a bit of updating.

  • 7/10 Steven (Solo business traveller) 

    from South shields , GB on  June 13, 2007

    "Hotel is in a decent state of order, well located for my needs in the centre of the city and the staff at reception and breakfast were engaging and warm. The breafast itself was uninspiring and the service was a little lackadaisical even when very few clients in the restaurant. However, overall impression was positive and I would return." (99717504)

    WHole hotel was clean and well looked after

    The bathroom extractor fan didn't work. There was also an overpowering smell of chemical air freshener throughout the building.

  • 9/10 Geoffrey (Solo business traveller) 

    from Reading , GB on  June 11, 2007

    "Excellent hotel and attentive and welcoming staff. Difficulties with my initial room were rapidly resolved by the manager and I was upgraded to a superior room. Ideal location for shops, restaurants and sights and for transportation by bus from the airport and to my northside business venue by bus." (99649156)

    Once my initially defective room had been changed. Large, airy and recently refreshed with a corner bay window with Edinburgh's best view of the Castle, The Old Parliament, Princes St Gardens and the Scott Monument 10 metres (30 feet) away from the side window. Wow!

    A little street noise on a Weds night from late revellers going home.

  • 7/10 Anonymous (Mature couple) 

    on  June 10, 2007

    "The information that I would have liked to know before booking was For travelers from afar, knowing hat there is NO automobile access to the hotel would have been helpful. The maps one looks at to find it don't tell you that the street passing in front of the Waverly is forbuses and taxis only Something on the web site that advises us that one will need to find a spot close to the hotel and carry the bags in, check in, and then move and park the auto would have been helpful. As it was the bellman went the extra mile helping us find the lot where we parked and the car....It isn't as easy going back to somewhere two days later when you were disorriented initially. Not sure if I'd book there again. There was a great breakfast included, the location was excellent, the view was fabulous. If we did book there again we'd want a room much higher up and would wear earplugs at night! Have no other hotels in Edinburgh to compare for prices and value" (99278379)

    The Size of the room - Fabulous view

    Very much street noise kept us awake for about an hour at 3 AM - we were a 2nd floor suite

The views expressed on this page are the personal opinions of guests and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of Active Hotels, Active Reservations or our distribution partners (About our hotel reviews).

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