Edinburgh · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels downtown in Edinburgh
Katarina Novak Britain and Ireland
These are my five favourites in Edinburgh, out of the 76 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, all five scoring 4.7.
The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte hotel is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte hotel
★★★★★4.7 from 3,289 reviews
The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte hotel comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.7 from 3,289 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 5 star property, found under downtown and around $697 a night on the dates we checked.
76 hotels in Edinburgh qualified for this list and five made it. Abbey Strand Apartments, at Holyrood is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
- Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Bara drink without going back out
All five, ranked
-
1
The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte hotel
★★★★★4.7 from 3,289 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Pet friendly
-
2 -
3 -
4The Resident Edinburgh
★★★★★4.7 from 386 reviews
- Kitchen
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
5
How this list was put together
76 Edinburgh hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Katarina Novak Britain and Ireland
Works long ward rotations, then blocks four days off and disappears. Specialises in short trips done well, mostly cities within three hours' flight. Twenty-two logged so far.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.