Daniel Pope

Review of Novotel Edinburgh Centre. Acco...

This was our first time staying in a Novotel Hotel...

This was our first time staying in a Novotel Hotel but it had a 4 star rating, so I figured, "how bad could it be?"
It was bad!
This is not a 4 star hotel, more like a 2 star pushing to attain 3.
One thing we are learning is; just because you paid for it, does not mean you are going to get it!

The location
This is right on the Royal mile so you can't beat that. The hotel is within walking distance of most things in Edinburgh so you just can't fault the location.

Parking
There is precious little parking so be prepared to walk a few minutes from the NCP car park. Also even if you paid for the 24 hours parking, you may need to pay for parking elsewhere if someone takes your space.

Reception
The front desk staff were friendly enough but you can tell that they have been on this rodeo for a long time and the stress shows. Our room was not ready when we arrived at 3 but they did offer us another room.

Facilities
One of the reasons we booked this hotel was the indoor pool, however, during the pandemic, the pool was off limits; which is understandable. We were also told that the advertised breakfast was being replaced by a continental breakfast and that there would be no house keeping. At this point, one would think that we are firmly in "discount" territory. This was certainly not the package we paid for.

The room
We went up to the room and this is where despair set in!
Don't let the term "superior" fool you as there is nothing superior about the rooms! They are all the same size with the bathroom configuration being the differentiator. It was not clean, the carpet was worn out and there was just about enough space to swing a cat! There is also no air-conditioning so we had to open the window to get some fresh air. That's when we realized that this also meant putting up with all of the noise from the main road just outside. The reception did bring us a fan, but come on! This is supposed to be a 4 star hotel!

Other options
It was so bad that we marched to the next door Premier Inn to book ourselves in and would have done so if we thought there was any chance of us getting our money back from our 5 nights stay.
The thing is, the Premier Inn offers a similar size room with full breakfast at half the price of the Novotel in Edinburgh city centre.

In conclusion
So, do yourself a favour; do not stay at the Novotel Edinburgh city centre.
Book yourself into the next door Premier Inn.
It may not have "superior" in the room description but I guarantee you that it would be money better spent.