More about Apex City Hotel
Great Location
by TripAdvisor Member Katiestirling20
Stayed in the Apex during late February. The hotel is in a great location, close to all the major sights and some good restaurants! We enjoyed a drink in the bar and had a good lunch. Breakfast was good value, the continental came as a buffet, and the cooked breakfast was chosen from a menu. All the staff were friendly and helpful. There was a good choice of DVD's available for rental. The room and en suite bedroom were of an average size and comfortable. Although, the view from our room overlooked a car park...not the greatest!! However it is to my knowledge that many of the rooms do overlook the castle. All in all it was an enjoyable break, we only stayed for one night, and there were a lot of people on business, this might affect you if you were planning on staying for longer that a couple of nights. I would, however, recommend this hotel.
failed to honour our booking
by TripAdvisor Member asitwasCumbria
We booked rooms several weeks in advance over the net (through Octopus) and paid in full for our accommodation. I rang the hotel the morning of the day we were due to stay to confirm that they were expecting us. Our booking was confirmed. On arrival however we were told without any apology that we had been allocated rooms in another Apex hotel down the road instead. We had researched where we wanted to stay carefully before making the booking and did not want to stay in the other hotel. They offered us free drinks vouchers, and upgraded the room in the other hotel (Apex International), and finally apologised, but they could offer no other solution, so we had to accept it. We received no explanation. The rooms we got in the Apex International smelled of smoke (we had requested non-smoking). Our room was dirty (bad stains on the cushions on the bed, dried-on brown marks on the bathroom door and bedside table). The rooms were generally rather shabby and needed maintenance. The bathroom door wouldn't shut or lock and the bathroom fans in both rooms didn't work. The only good things were the comfy beds and the great view of Edinburgh castle from the 5th floor restaurant. Overall though a bad experience. We won't be risking it again.
Great location, excellent rooms
by A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed at the Apex in November 2004. The room was elegant and modern. Great bed and shower. Lovely attention to detail (rubber duckie and good quality personal care items to name a few). The breakfast (included) was a fabulous, all you can eat Scottish buffet, which gave us enough fuel to spend hours walking the Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle on a "dreck" day! The staff were also very friendly and helpful - for example we went to the wrong hotel initially (there are two very close to each other in the same street) and one of the staff helped us carry our luggage up the street to the right hotel. The location is great: a short walk to the steps which go up to the castle and the top end of the Royal Mile. We would certainly stay there again. Very good value for money.
Definitely not a 4-star hotel
by TripAdvisor Member Zuerich
We stayed there for 3 nights at the end of January. As Edinburgh hotels in general are queit expensive (to exepensive realy for what you get) we were very pleased to find a good offer in the internet for only USD 134.-- per night for a hotel which looked very nice on the pictures posted on the internet.
When we arrived, check-in was very efficient, staff very friendly and helpful. Getting into the room, we knew why the fare was so low: At first sight, the room looked quiet like in the pictures. But it was, as a german proverb says, "mehr schein als sein", which means, it appeared to be much more than it was. The bedsheets were quiet spotty and with holes. We called the reception and one minute later two staff members came over and changed the linen, apologizing with a box of chocolats. The quality of the sheets was rather poor, e.g. thin und rigid. The worst about the bed were the bedsprings, you could feel the ends of them in your back when trying to fall asleep. Also, the whole furniture looked quiet nice at first sight from a certain distance, but a closer look showed the poor quality, for instance many surfaces are only painted and not laminated what makes them look and feel cheap and getting dirty and old in a short time. The towels as well were rather thin and would be perfectly ok in a 2-star property, but in a 4-star, one can expect more.
The same applies to the bathroom, the partial wooden panelling already showed signs of time. Also the shower looked great, but when turning it on, only a small stream run out of it and it had virtually no water pressure so that it took ages for getting a shower in the morning.
The breakfast, which was not included, was buffet style whith the possibility of ordering also a cooked breakfast. It arrived only after 2 or 3 minutes and I didn't wonder why, it apparently had been pre-cooked well in advance and simply been reheated, so that the grease accumulated at the bottom of the plate and the food was insipid. At a price of - as far as I can remember - UK£ 11.--, it definitely was not worth the money.
So the overall experience was not to good, it is not enough to furnish the hotel wiht trendy looking stuff which completely lacks in quality. It would be far better to keep it simple and authentic and care for the details.
Look no further - stay at this hotel!!
by TripAdvisor Member Kalougi
I would definately recommend staying at this hotel to anyone!!!
We stayed for a week at the end of January and really couldn't fault the hotel in any way. The room was very nice, spacious, modern (yet cosy) and very well equiped. The staff were extremely helpful and very friendly, even running to the hotel down the road to get us an extra rubber duckie! It is in an excellent central location, within walking distance to all of Edinburgh's main attractions and situated in the very friendly Grassmarket beneath Edinburgh castle.
Definately worth surfing around for deals on this hotel, there are loads about - we got a bargain and it (and the rubber duck) just helps make your stay that much more special!
Rubber Ducky!
by TripAdvisor Member caramela
We stayed for 2 nights in the end of February and had a great stay. The staff was nice, the hotel was clean, and the room was great. Had a view of the castle from the window.
Big stand up shower... and bath apart, with a rubber duck. The shower gel and shampoo was amazing not like the usual industrial kind you get in other hotels.
I loved it. I recommend it.
On the down side but not sure if I am just being picky. There was a fire alarm at 2-3 am. We all had to get out of bed and go downstairs.. it was a prank... only got a global apology for it... the front entrance is not directly in front of the reception desk so its easy for ANYONE to go in. This bothered me a lot and I think that is the reason why it was easy for someone to pull the fire alarm for fun. however, there is a safe in the room...
Overall a really good value and a really nice place to stay!
Great location and OK otherwise
by A TripAdvisor Member
This hotel is in a great location for the old city, the castle, the Royal Mile, and all the little shops and restaurants in the vicinity.
We stayed 2 nights March 13th and 14th 2005 and booked a so-called "over sized, executive" room. Maybe the executive would be the over sized part because the room wasn't and there was no hairdryer or bathrobes, which I would expect from a 4 star hotel. Towels are getting a bit past their sell by date.
The house keeping isn't fantastic and the carpets needed a good hoovering.
Breakfast is good and the staff were pleasant and helpful and the complimentary bottle of wine was a nice touch.
Chic boutique (just avoid the 1st floor)
by TripAdvisor Member adls
What a pleasant surprise. This is an ultra-modern, very chic hotel right in the heart of Old Edinburgh. It's situated right amongst the ancient, historical and charming buildings of the old town, and is well within walking distance of the Castle and Royal Mile. The sheer history surrounds you, yet this hotel seems like a 21st Century oasis set amidst this.
The Apex City is actually just next door to the Apex International Hotel, and I imagine they share the same feel and facilities. From the outside, the Apex City looks like a cold, but very avant garde kind of place. But the service is quite warm indeed (if a little bit slow - had to wait patiently in line at both check-in and check-out). Inside the hotel, you are met with plenty of modern decor, shiny marble floors, floor-to-ceiling glass - you get the message: "hey, I'm in a modern boutique hotel".
But it's the rooms that are the most captivating. Again, very modern and neat. White and brown colors; stark modernist decor and fruniture. The desk is very thoughtfully designed with concealable compartments at either end for your electrical gadgets and plug-ins. The toilet was a real treat. There's a wonderful shower with a great big shower-head raining water on you seemingly from the ceiling - just like showering in the spring rain - bliss. The overall design is oh-so-trendy and modern. Yes, there IS a rubber ducky for you to play with in the bath. But the attention to detail doesn't stop there. Even the bar of soap - which looks like a drab white chunk cube - appears to be made exclusively for this hotel and lathers into a wonderfully and unforgettably rich cream (you can buy one to take home with you).
I loved the modernism and the clean, brand new feel of this hotel a lot. It will certainly appeal to young couples.
Bad points?
The restuarant was pricey and the food was not especially great. But at least the menu is suitably nouvelle cuisine as would befit such a hotel.
Internet access was available but pricey.
The bed was a little too soft and left me with a slightly weary back the next morning.
Parking is available but there are only a handful of spaces !
And one important thing: you MUST AVOID rooms on the first floor. There's a lane going uphill next to the hotel. If you have a first floor room that looks towards this lane, your large windows open on this lane at pavement level !! That's right: open your window and you may be staring at someone's feet. Had to keep the windows shut and curtains drawn all day.
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