5 nights at the Hotel Indigo Edinburgh – Princes Street

We really enjoyed this hotel! The rooms were clean and the staff was friendly. It was right on the main road, so everything was a quick walk from any direction. The tram from the airport took us to almost just across the street. They provided snacks and water in the room daily. Our room was quite large on the back of the building. We did hear quite a bit of noise from the businesses on the back, but it wasn't anything we couldn't ignore most of the time. It was mostly when bottles out back were being emptied was it a bit excessive. Overall, I'd stay here again!

We stayed for 3 days in one of the junior suites. The Ladies at the reception desk were very friendly and helpful. The room was spacious and comfortable, view was okay, good bed and good bathroom. Unfortunately the cleanness of the WC was poor and the overall cleanliness of the room was average.

Perfect little hotel right on Princes St within walking distance of many of Edinburgh's sights. The room was spacious (bigger than expected even), clean, and modern. Just a couple of small issues: We had a room near the back alley. We joked that there was a late-night chandelier recycling company below us. In reality it was a bar emptying their beer bottles as loudly as they could (sounded like they were dumping them from the 3rd story). This would happen at regular intervals through the night until 2 or 3AM. Otherwise the noise from the street wasn't too bad. The shower has no door, thus water just pours out of it. Then as you're getting out of the shower, where there's now a puddle of water on slick tile, there's a nearly scalding hot towel warmer for you to grab or slip and fall on. It seemed like a well-designed means for guests to neuter themselves. I like the idea of the warmer, but there is very little room between it and the toilet. I only went in so much detail hoping the hotel can fix the shower/warmer issue because I do feel like it's a safety thing. For this I have to dock a star. But I would 100% stay here again! The staff was friendly and the free amenities were beyond any other hotel I've stayed at. Coming back to room to cool drinking water in the fridge and free snacks was very pleasant.

You arrive at a giant staircase and no people, no bellhop or staff to bring your luggage up. There is no bustling lobby, there is a stairway or a lift to go to the reception area. You are greeted by staff sitting behind gigantic computer screens to check in, the young lady who checked us in was very friendly but no information other than a discount for the restaurant was mentioned. We arrived late and unpacked for our 4-night stay, and headed to the Royal Mile. All was well until we were back in the room, and the gurgling of the shower drain started. When you flush or anyone in surrounding rooms does, it starts. We went to the desk, and the staff said a colleague would come soon. One half hour later, I brought a recording of the noise to the desk, and the person was shocked at the noise. So the quest for a new room begins, which fails, because they involve stairs and twisty hallways. I will say the woman helping us gave it a good effort, but ultimately no solution that worked for us other than moving twice. My 83-year-old mom was not up for stairs, so we told her we would deal with it for the night and talk to someone in the morning. In the meantime, I called my son in the US, who is a plumber, and he suggested running the shower water for a while to get rid of trapped air. This does the trick, until the next day. Did I mention that when we do this there is a concerning odor that comes out of the shower drain? The following morning, the housekeeping staff arrive to clean our room as they have been told we are leaving. We got that cleared up and went about our day. Every night, we ran the shower once it started, and the noise would stop until early morning. Our room had a view of construction and a big dumpster full of debris, see photos. Around 2 am every morning, a different dumpster of bottles would get dumped. I booked our room well in advance and would have expected a view of something other than this. The room itself was nice, the bed was comfy, and the hotel is in a great location. But this is not a 4 star hotel and not up to IHG customer service expectations. I read reviews before I booked so this was a very unexpected turn of events for me. I asked a young man who was at a podium in the front hall the third day how to get to the bus station, he did not know and said I should go up to reception and ask there. I am not sure why they have someone occaisonally at this podium, maybe to check for dinner reservations. When we checked out, the two gentleman at the desk were very nice, helped my mom get a taxi, this was our first offer of any sort of assistance, having come from the Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London, where there was staff everywhere asking and checking on folks we were surprised. We were paying more for the Hotel Indigo than any of our other hotels during our various stop overs. When we were checking we asked for luggage storage for a three day tour we were going on, the young lady said yes they could do that, I said we were not coming back to stay but would stop to get the luggage, however when checking the night before we left they said oh no that was a miscommunication. There was no offer to help us figure out what to do with our luggage while on a 3 day tour, no apology for the miscommunication. We called the hotel we would be finishing our stay in, the Kimpton, also an IHG hotel and they graciously said yes. When we checked out I told the man at the desk about the plumbing issue and how to get it to stop temporarily but that someone needed to really check on this room, he was concerned and took my email and said someone would be in touch. I have waited to post this review for that email which has yet to occur. We checked out on May 27th. I really feel like some sort of compensation should have been offered, even as small as luggage storage or a dinner voucher but nothing was ever mentioned again. No one followed up the next day or any day to check on the plumbing. The hotel almost felt like there was no one in charge.

See attached photos on Google. Not sure why the hotel would think this standard of room is acceptable. Looking at other reviews I'm left to wonder what rooms they were staying in. Anyway, don't mind the open electrical, the electricity wasn't working anyway, so was unable to charge my shaver or toothbrush. After I raised the issues and went out briefly I came back to find a man in my room. I don't recall being told someone would have been sentbso was a bit shocking to walk in and hear footsteps in my bathroom and see a strange man emerge after 9pm... When I called reception the following afternoon to ask after the WiFi, which had been out for several hours, I was asked if I wanted to switch rooms. Sadly, since I'm not just sitting twiddling my thumbs, being asked last minute to pack up and move in the afternoon was a bit inconvenient, but at least they offered. If you aren't accustomed to noise, walk with decent earplugs: as you can see the window can't close, so you will hear everything from the street. The lady who checked me in was pleasant and helpful. Very central location. Was ignored in the restaurant. Will stay somewhere else when I visit again.