Novotel Edinburgh Centre Hotel 4 stars

First time staying with this hotel chain, no complaints, room was spacious, clean and very peceful. Facilities were clean and well maintained and the staff were professional and helped with all requests.

We enjoyed the central location which is very close to the Castle and Grassmarket. The offer of a voucher for a free glass of house wine was a nice touch. Our room was a standard double with no "view" but spacious, large TV and contempary style. The w/c was in a separate room - very small and dim. Also, the carpet was stained with bleach or some such liquid and the room was rather tired although it was OK for us. The food available in the Bar was very limited in choice. There were no spaces for parking available (hotel has only 15) that meant we had to park in Castle Gate municipal cp but we were given a voucher by Reception which cut the cost to £30 for 2 nights - still quite expensive. Our decision to travel to Edinburgh by car was a mistake - finding the hotel was a nightmare owing to numerous diversions and roads closed. Be warned! The city has much to see and do and it is well worth a visit even though the retail outlets on high streets have been hit by the recession and there are many empty shop fronts..

Was led to believe that there is secure parking available here but on arrival the 15 spaces were taken, the website doesn’t make this clear won the front page, but is present if you dig deeply enough. Had to park on-street and leave by 08.30. Hotel itself is comfortable and clean, didn’t use the restaurant so can’t comment.

When entering the room there were stains on carpets and mould evident on mastic in bathroom

The hotel is well positioned, attractive and clean. Overall we liked the bar and the rooms, but both had issues. With regard to the room, the separation of the main bathroom from the WC is inconvenient, due to the lack of a washbasin in the WC. Having to move to a different space in the room to wash isn't pleasant. As regards to the bar, we returned to the hotel at 11pm after the show we'd come to Edinburgh to see, hoping to relax with a couple of drinks in the hotel bar, but it was closed. We couldn't even sit in the bar area. We were reduced to ordering bottled beers on room service, which we were initially expected to do via WhatsApp, rather than direct with the staff on the desk. Fortunately they saw the ridiculousness of that arrangement and did take the order and deliver to the room of one of our group, but it's an odd arrangement. In the morning, breakfast was good from a quality perspective, but the arrangements seemed shambolic - items spread around apparently randomly, and in this time of COVID, the whole space felt very crowded. I'd like to stress that the staff we engaged with were helpful and friendly, but it seems like approaches (e.g. WhatsApp) which are applicable perhaps to the Ibis/styles properties, but not so much for Novotel/Mercure, are being applied across the board. The overall impression is of cost-saving/standardisation over service.