"We were staying in Edinburgh with another couple and chose the Apex Grassmarket for its location and the view of the castle. This hotel is in a marvellous area full of busy bars and eateries and is very conveniently located to get to Edinburgh Castle, St Giles Cathedral and the Royal Mile with its many attractions. Unfortunately neither room was ready on time which was disappointing but the staff were very apologetic. We were thrilled with our room that had a huge balcony and a wonderful view of the Grassmarket. Our friends were on the first floor, still a good view but no balcony, however, their room was much larger than ours with a comfortable settee. Probably a better bet since it was much too cold for us to make the most of our balcony! The bed was reasonably comfy, if a little firm, the towels were large and fluffy, a good selection of toiletries and there was a great selection of coffee and tea as well as biscuits and popcorn. It was nice that we only had to ask, and extra, fresh milk was provided when we asked. We also liked that there was a handy lip balm and hand-cream that were useful in cold, windy weather as well as a shoe shiner. Near the lifts was a Belu filtered water dispenser. This was very slow to dispense, but even so we found it very useful as we hate plastic waste. Bar prices were very reasonable for a hotel in a capital city and there was generally a nice chilled atmosphere around the hotel, best of all the Reception staff were incredibly friendly and helpful giving us some good advice on places we should visit and providing maps.
I’ve read other reviews on here, which are a mixed bag and I’m going to give my opinion on them. Regarding noise from outside, neither our friends or ourselves were particularly bothered by it, but yes you can hear people enjoying themselves in the square. Be aware you are in a vibrant area of Scotland’s capital. We thought that generally the hotel was fairly quiet although our friends were disturbed by shenanigans from the room next to them.
Regarding the condition of the hotel, I’d have to agree that furnishings in the rooms and the bar area were stained and less than clean. In our room the curtains were grubby and both my husband and myself caught our feet and almost tripped because the hem of the net curtain was coming off. The carpet was incredibly faded and stained and the radiator was thick with dust and needed a good vacuuming. I am not going to mention the windows we were there the end of a very wet and windy February. Lastly, the bathroom.. oh dear. It was very clean, we had plenty of hot water when we needed it but the design is ridiculous. I’ve no idea why you’d put sinks so low down but we had to bend right over to clean our teeth. Our friend is 6ft 5inches so you can imagine how difficult it was for him. The shower screen had a gap between the glass and the wall so water leaked all over the bathroom, (how the domestic staff must hate them!) Worse, the position of the sink meant you couldn’t move the screen outwards, but when you move it inwards it was hugely difficult to get into the shower and even worse to get out of without grabbing the towel rail. Our towel rail was coming off the wall because of this and it was the same in our friends’ room. Lastly there was no extractor fan, nor any kind of air conditioning so the bathroom was steamy and slippery and the windows in the bedroom steamed up as soon as we opened the door.
Don’t get me wrong, we had a really good time but I’m honestly not sure the Apex Grassmarket deserves its 4 stars, even if it does have a pool. I’d say it needs a lot of modernisation, cleaning and refreshing to bring it up to standard. In spite of all this. If we return to Edinburgh we’d probably give the hotel another go.
If you want a peaceful stay then I would advise you avoid times when there is any kind of festival or celebration going on. Our weekend stay was fine."
