Apex International Hotel

, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Explore Edinburgh
Nearby Airports
Review this Hotel
Popular Travel Destinations

Recently Reviewed Hotels Around Edinburgh

Apex International Hotel

, Edinburgh
4 star

Rooms: 175

31 Grassmarket - Edinburgh - Scotland - EHI 2HS - United Kingdom Hotel Website | | 131 300 3456
817 Traveller

Reviews - Apex International Hotel

4/10
Service appaling!!
Submitted by: michaela in 27/02/08
  • Age Group: 31 - 40
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Business Traveller
The hotel was lovely and so was the food, the service from the bar and breakfast waiters/waitresses was not good at all, very disappointed. The location was good, but will not return!!
Check Rates and Availability for the Apex International Hotel
6/10
Great views of the castle and service
Submitted by: Vicki in 31/01/06
  • Age Group: 26 - 30
  • From: United Kingdom
  • Traveller type: Young Couple
Just stayed in the Apex International and we were lucky enough to get free upgrade to a room with Castle view. Spectacular views and location. Staff very friendly and efficient.
Rooms nice also. Breakfast was adequate although we felt very rushed.
8/10
Great location
Submitted by: Jn Grace in 13/06/05
  • Age Group: 60 +
  • From: United States
  • Traveller type: Pleasure Seeker
We visited Edinburgh largely to see the Tatoo. The Apex could not be at a better location since it is located just below the Tatoo arena and was easily within a short walk. The hotel is very comfortble and there were adequate eating establishments in the neighborhood.
10/10
Really deserves 10/10
Submitted by: David Schade in 12/05/05
  • Age Group: 51 - 60
  • From: Canada
  • Traveller type: Business Traveller
One of the best 2-3 hotels I've ever stayed at. Very close to perfect. Good breakfast, great views from breakfast room, very good rooms, very good beds. Excellent location. This hotel really deserves 10/10.
Check Rates and Availability for the Apex International Hotel

Historical Traveller Reviews of Apex International Hotel

Great central hotel

from MagicMagic
Great central hotel, clean funky room, complete with the famous rubber ducky. I booked online and was impressed what qulaity of room we got for the price. Massive shower, huge bed, dvd, etc. Breakfast was great and service attentive.

Good Location

from A TripAdvisor Member
Nice hotel with modern contemporary style, great location if you are a tourist visiting and would like to stay close to the older part of the city for site seeing and within walking distance of shopping etc. Rooms & restaurant have good views of the castle. Staff are friendly and at breakfast some buffet items had ran out, so when queried myself and 2 guests were given breakfast complimentary, so it is obviously policy to keep the customer happy. I would happily stay at an Apex hotel again.

Good hotel but ....

from Guruswife
My 2 children and I stayed at The Apex International during the fringe festival. The room was more than adequate and clean with reasonable toiletries. Our room was at the back and so quiet and the weather was freezing (it was warmer in Australia and it was winter there!) so AC was not an issue. We went for a walk before breakfast to return to our room just after 9am only to find the housekeeping staff doing the final touches on servicing for the next occupant. The staff had removed my maps, bus tickets and all toiletries which we were in the process of using from the room, replaced all the towels and I had to sit on the already changed and made bed waiting to use the bathroom until they finished. I checked out of the hotel and went to breakfast elsewhere so cannot comment on the food.
As I was travelling with my two children one of the reasons I chose the Apex as it had "a free duck". When my son enquired he was told there were none left because the hotel had been so busy. I re enquired at checkout thinking they may be able to send us one only to be told they hadn't any for 2 months!
This could be an excellent hotel. Incidentally I found the location to be only 10mins walk from the main tourist area and station. Don't follow the road use the variety of Closes to cut across town if you're on foot.

VERY NOISY but clean.

from A TripAdvisor Member
Thsi is an excellent hotel to see the sights of Edinburgh but make sure you ask for rooms at the back of the hotel, rooms at the front may have views of the castle but the Scots who are renowned for partying will keep you up until 6am. the hotel does not have air conditioning and with the windows open then say goodbye to any chance of sleep!

Skip it

from A TripAdvisor Member
A W Hotel wanna be, down to the shampoo bottle. Falls short in execution and organization. Hot, noisy rooms, even in very cool days. Management seems to be non-existent. Good location on Grass Market, but I'll skip it in favor of better rooms and service at the many other good hotels in EDI.

Excellent hotel for single travellers

from A TripAdvisor Member
I stayed at the Apex International for three nights in April 04. My room had a great view of the castle, although I had managed to get a good deal on the internet and not paid any extra for this. The room was a good size, especially for a single traveller, with two double beds. Everything was very clean, and the bathroom had excellent toiletries. The best thing about the Apex was the attitude of the staff at breakfast time. Even though they were very busy, they were all exceptionally polite and attentive - it makes a huge difference when you are travelling alone. I would definitely go back.

s a real toss up between a view of the castle vs a good nights sleep

from londoncalling80
This hotel was o.k. We had a room with a view of the castle, which was nice except it was hard to sleep between the cars driving by all night and the pub patrons at the pubs across the street. The room had two queen size beds in it, which were comfortable, but there wasn't too much room to get around all of the furniture. The toilet didn't have good pressure, and we never got any soap for the shower/sink the whole time we were there. on the upside, the room was clean, the bed comfortable and the location was good (about a 10 minute walk to Waverly train station). Good restaurants close by, the breakfast at the Apex was fairly good too. I would probably stay here again, although I would insist on a room on the backside of the hotel away from the street.

The Good, the Bad and the smelly

from jthompson52
The Apex was clean, modern and very nice. The staff was very accommodating for the most part. They did have one new person @ the concierge desk who was not as knowledgeable as I would have liked. We requested a cab one morning and it was not there. Fortunately, another one was available for a trip to the airport.

Our chicken dish @ the hotel restaurant was good but the burger was disgusting. They removed the charge and gave us another entree for nothing.

Being across the street from bars is not ideal as the noise level @ night was bad when we needed to open the windows. No AC. Also there is some kind of odor that is not pleasant when you open the windows. We could never figure out what it was.

The castle view from our room was worth the noise and nice as was the view from the breakfast area.

Despite the negatives it really was a very pleasant place to stay, clean, nice rooms, right within walking distance of everything.

I would stay there again, I just think I would not be on the front with the noise and the odor.

Nothing extraordinary, style a little formulaic

from Anya08
I was so looking forward to staying at this hotel having read some of the other reviews. I travel on a very tight budget, and was pleased to find a hotel that seemed to understand that not every 3 star hotel need come complete with floral beadspreads, matching curtins and a mobile-home style bathroom.

I can see what this hotel is trying to achieve, but it' close, but unfortunatly, no cigar as far as I'm concerned. On the plus side, the rooms are nicely kitted out with thought and comfort. The room-service dinner was tasty (but the bill was incorrect). On the negative side, the rooms are tiny - I was glad that I was travelling solo because two adults and 2 suitcases woudl really fill these rooms up. The location is not good. I do not mind being off the beaten track a little, but the Apex is just that bit too far out of the city. The service was unwelcoming at check in - the girl at reception made no effort to assist me by directing me to a pharmacy or offering some toiletries when I realised I had forgotton my wash-bag. The service on check-out was controlled panic. To be fair, they were busy, but isn't every hotel at 8.30 am? The two guys behind the counter were very stressed out. As for the breakfast in the Metro, it was very, very average. The coffee was awful - although I was hanging out for a caffeine hit, I could not bring myself to drink it.

It's a pity, becaue the industry is just crying out for a boutique chain to fill this gap in the market, but the Apex is not quite it.

Average, at best.

from A TripAdvisor Member
We visited Edinburgh in May and expected a great hotel based on the reviews. We were VERY DISAPPOINTED. While the view of the castle was great, the hotel was not four-star, as rated. Our bathroom was musty, and the shower curtain had mold on it. Our room was never vacuumed, and it was very dusty and dirty. The bathroom was especially dirty. The toilet looked like it hadn't been cleaned with a brush in months. If you are expecting "W" quality modernity, do not stay at the Apex International. The rooms are small, cheaply furnished, and very loud if you are on the castle side. The staff was friendly, but very unorganized. Aer Lingus lost our luggage. We checked at the desk every day to see if it had arrived. When they finally delivered it, the hotel sent it back! We couldn't believe it! It wasn't until we called to check for the hundredth time that they mentioned that a bag had even arrived earlier. They tried to get it back quickly, but we were so frustrated that it didn't matter. As for the hotel restaurants, Metro Bar was a major disappointment, but the other restaurant is very good. For the money, you can find a better hotel in Edinburgh than the Apex International.

Top Local Tips for Edinburgh

Tours Mercat Tours do a great ghost tour incl underground 'caverns'. Beware if you have an over active imagination!!!

Great seafood Try Creelers. Family owned, central location. Good fresh fish. Friendly staff and 3 curse dinner with wine about £ 80 for 2.

Arthur's Seat & the People's Story Two fun, free things to do in Edinburgh: 1) take a nice stroll to the eastern edge of town (about 15 minutes from Apex Int'l) to Arthur's Seat, a giant rock/mountain at the edge of town. Its a gorgeous one-hour hike that gives you amazing panoramic views of the city and greenery, 2) The People's Story is a fun museum that tells you about the history of how people lived in Edinburgh through the ages (told a bit from a labor/workers perspective but informative nevertheless).

(hotels)loading

Other names for Apex International Hotel

  • hotel apex international
  • apex international edinburgh
  • Address: 31 Grassmarket - Edinburgh - Scotland - EHI 2HS - United Kingdom
Travel Library Traveller Rating?
8.0/10

See All 817 reviews

Review this Hotel
Candid Traveller Photos
  •  Loading Image...
  •  Loading Image...
  •  Loading Image...
  •  Loading Image...
(hotels)loading

Hotels Near Apex International Hotel