Caledonian Hilton - Edinburgh, United Kingdom 

Things we knew before we booked: Construction & scaffolding on the building front. Things we didn’t know: Construction everywhere nearby. Verdict: Confusing and messy but doable. Came by train from London after a 2 hour delay due to high winds—we were exhausted and ready for food and a comfy bed. The woman was nice at the desk & we took our own luggage to the room because we were desperate to get settled. The room was lovely but there was not air conditioning as advertised & it was almost windowless & worse claustrophobic. We trudged back to the lobby (the air was noticeable cooler the closer we got to the elevator) and said that the room would not work—we were pleasant but firm about it. The woman behind the desk didn’t seem savvy enough to realize we were willing to stand our ground. She found another room but forgot to mention that it was a smoking room—another long walk for no reason. I was ready to find another hotel but my husband, a Hilton honors diamond member was not ready to give up. After 15 or so minutes we were shown to a beautiful room that was huge with a sitting area and a big bathroom and a view of roof tops and sky that was quite pleasant. The 5 night stay was wonderful after that even though there were 2 fire alarms evacuations—we saw Sean Connery during the 2nd evacuation! As we waited for our return to the room during the 11pm alarm we felt comfortable enough to start up conversations with the other guests and met some interesting people--it was a hoot! The management sent out apology letters. Room service one night was tasty even though it was just sandwiches. Breakfast was wonderful and the staff couldn’t have been nicer. I did ask for extra pillows and they came promptly. The bar was very friendly and went out of their way to accommodate us when we wanted dessert after 10pm. They also let my husband bring tea trays to the room as did the breakfast manager. The extras were nice—newspaper, bottle water, etc. Taxis were easy to get out front and as other reviewers noted, there are plenty of great restaurants nearby. One favorite was suggested by a wonderful cabbie who took us to Howies Waterloo the first night—Sunday and it was getting late but we were served a gourmet meal while a large party was finishing up. I have to mention The Bombay Bicycle Club for Indian food--it was fabulous and the management was incredible. Beautiful city, friendly people, lots of walking and of course great sights to see.

Nice charming hoetl with friendly staff,. the staircase in the lobby is lovely and a real focus point of the hotel. Meet up friends one night in the hotel who were from Scotland and had heard about the great reputation the "Caley" and were very impressed. The room was nice with a view over Princes Street but was very noisy on the Saturday night. The breakfast were fab and the dining rooms were really nice. There was a extensive choices of fruit juices, cereals and hot breakfasts and danish pastries. One of the best breakfast ive had in a city hotel recently. Handy location to all the attractions of Edinburgh