InterContinental Edinburgh the George by IHG

I was somewhat disappointed with this InterContinental being marketed as a five-star hotel. We were advised that our room had been upgraded and classified as a “suite,” however this was difficult to believe, as the room was quite small when compared to other five-star IHG properties. The exterior of the hotel and the lobby are very grand, cozy, and inviting, which initially sets high expectations. Unfortunately, the rooms themselves feel dated. While I understand that bathrooms are difficult to enlarge without major renovations, this one was very small, with limited space for amenities. I also found the shower hazardous to exit, as it was quite slippery and lacked adequate support. Noise was another issue. The windows do not appear to be double-glazed, allowing noise from the laneway to travel easily into the room, including the occasional intoxicated person shouting or singing. Additionally, the room walls are poorly soundproofed — conversations, doors slamming, hallway noise, and sounds from the floor above were all clearly audible including others using toilet/urinating dribbles ! The corridors would benefit from new carpeting, and the room lighting was insufficient. Additional downlights are needed, particularly as it was difficult to see properly when packing luggage. The location of the hotel is good, however overall it did not feel like good value for money. We stayed at an IHG property in Vienna and at the Kempinski in Dresden for a similar price, both of which offered significantly better rooms and overall hotel quality.

★★★★★ Outstanding experience at InterContinental Edinburgh The George Our stay at the InterContinental Edinburgh The George was exceptional in every respect. The hotel’s ambiance conveys a sense of quiet elegance and confidence; its architectural design beautifully blends historic character with refined, contemporary elements. The décor is impeccably maintained, creating an atmosphere that feels both welcoming and sophisticated. What truly sets this hotel apart, however, is the level of service—most notably from the concierge team under the leadership of Scott. The concierge staff were consistently available, attentive, and genuinely invested in making our stay in Edinburgh seamless and memorable. Scott and his team thoughtfully helped plan local touring schedules and itineraries and were equally adept at responding quickly to last-minute needs. Every interaction was handled with genuine warmth and careful attention to detail. Notably, Scott was even able to secure direct, nonstop train reservations for us to London and personally procure the tickets at a time when they were officially sold out. It is clear that he leads by example, and his team reflects a culture of excellence and pride in service. In an era when personal attention and true hospitality can feel increasingly rare, The George stands out as a hotel that gets it right—elegant, attentive, and deeply committed to the guest experience. We would gladly return on our next visit to Edinburgh and recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone visiting the city

Beautiful hotel, reception staff all very welcoming and helpful, doormen always helpful too. Breakfast was very good, they could keep the plates warmer as food went cold quickly. Mandy in the restaurant was always cheerful and helpful, even offered us her own umbrella when it was raining hard.|The room was very spacious and had a huge comfortable bed. There is a dining table, but only one chair, we found this very strange. There is plenty of storage. |The bathroom is fairly small and the shower does not have a lot of pressure. |In the wardrobe there is a safe, small fridge, kettle and two cups and saucers, the cups didn't fit the saucers, cups kept sliding around. |We did enjoy our stay and the hotel is in a central position.

This was the most amazing hotel we’ve ever been to. I travelled with both my daughters and we were treated like queens from the check-in time to check-out. Staff were absolutely superb. Location was great. Comfort and cleanliness was superb. Our rooms were cleaned twice a day! Morning and afternoon. Everything one would need was provided. Food was amazing … Absolutely loved this hotel.

We had a wonderful stay at this hotel for six days, and everything exceeded our expectations. The service was truly outstanding staff were always friendly, attentive, and ready to help with a smile. From check-in to check-out, we felt genuinely cared for, and every detail was handled with professionalism. The hospitality made our stay comfortable and memorable, and we would happily return and recommend this hotel to anyone looking for excellent service and a pleasant stay.

The InterContinental Edinburgh The George is a lovely place to stay while in Edinburgh. The rooms are spacious and intelligently laid out. For American visitors the rooms are comparable in size to the US and not like more Euro-centric hotel chains with smaller rooms. Everything was clean (even under black light). The bathroom is exceptionally spacious and has a dual shower heard setup with both a handheld and waterfall showerhead. The one issue I had is the drain stoppers significantly inhibit draining of the sink and tub. As for amenities the included breakfast is continental along with an a la carte option. The breakfast service is however hit or miss and quite rushed. Certainly not a relaxing experience as you are subtly pressured to eat as fast as possible and leave to accommodate the rush. The location is very central and a short walk from Edinburgh Waverly train station. Once in the hotel though there is quite a convoluted process to reach some rooms. You have to at one point go up a floor then walk to a new section and go back down. After staying a night or two you get used to the drill.

We arrived at The George where we were welcomed by staff who quickly walked us through our registration and helped us to our spacious room. Room was always well stocked with coffee, tea, hot chocolate and goodies. Breakfast, which we included with our stay was served in a lovely restaurant with friendly staff, excellent selection of hot and cold food items and coffee. Reservations and recommendations for supper, which are a necessity, were handled by the concierge who ensured we got a table where and when we wanted. The Concierge at The George was instrumental in helping us plan our stay even before we arrived. Kevin arranged our walking tour, a whiskey tour in Edinburgh and a voyage into the history of Scotch Whiskey with Rabbie Tours. Kevin got us supper reservation in the gorgeous Spence Dining Restaurant which is a beautifully restored Bank during an extremely busy holiday weekend. If you are planning a holiday in Edinburgh and want a Hotel with it all in the heart of the city this is the place for you.

The location is wonderful. The hotel is charming. The staff is friendly and helpful. The rooms are clean and a good size however, they surround an alleyway that can be very loud at night with people going out to smoke and again in the morning with trolleys for trash and deliveries. Overall, I would stay here again, just ask for a room elsewhere in the hotel or bring a sound machine.

The good: le petit beef bar. Amazing food, excellent selection of gins and spirits The concierge desk and doormen. So courteous and friendly yet very professional. The bad: loud noises at night from late night revelers. Do not stay in low level. I was on floor 3 and was continually woken in the morning from restaurants emptying their recycle cans and the garbage trucks and then again at night from partiers who may have imbibed a wee bit too much

Lovely rooms, courtious staff, great location. Construction the floor below made our stay less than relaxing. My back is so stiff from the hammerdrill noise, that I can't find a chair or bed I can be comfortable. If this is luxury, I'll take a "Dewdrop Inn" for a third the cost.

The noise from the bats below were horrible. From the recycle bottles being trashed to late night revelers shouting down the street/close/alley. They need double or triple paned glass windows on that side of the hotel. When I spoke of this at check out, all i got was a, oh sorry. The door to the rooms need to be sanded as they don't close well or easily so everyone ends of slamming their doors shut. On the good side, Le Petit BeefBar offers a nice selection of drinks and food. The mini bao are sublime and the Cesar Salad is the best I've ever had. Delicate baby gem salad nestles a light dressing and is drenched with finely shredded cheese that is so delicious. The Conceirge desk is very helpful and the doormen were always polite and welcoming us "back home:.

For the positives, the location is terrific. It is walking distance to the Royal Mile and has tons of good restaurants near. The service is quite good. We arrived very early and had to check our bags but wanted to exchange some things before we went out. Trevor kindly let us use the Library to shuffle things around. The Concierge was helpful and knowledgeable. The room was spacious and comfortable. For the negatives, we have stayed at several IC hotels and this one falls short in a few places. The breakfast is pretty bad. Although breakfast was included, after awhile, we stopped eating there. The sound insulation is poor. My wife warned me of the danger of the tub-shower which has an angled end that truncates the amount of flat space to get into the bath. While YMMV both of us had a backache after sleeping in the bed.

For years, Intercontinental has been the brand that my wife and I choose for special occasions. And this being our first visit to Edinburgh, we booked a Premium King room with confidence that it would be a really great weekend. Boy were we wrong. First the good bits: The hotel is very well located, and the building itself is beautiful, especially the exterior and the lobby. But our stay went south quickly upon arrival. After checking in, we went to our room and were surprised to see that someone was already staying in there. We went back to the desk assuming it was just a mixup with the room number, but the woman working there simply did not believe us. "That's impossible," she said, as if we had a reason to make up a story. We got the concierge to also check and verify our story (we asked him, not her), and then she says, "well that's the only room we have available." So we're supposed to share? After considerable back and forth, she gave us a much smaller room that was in a very sad state of disrepair. Once we saw the new room, we looked online, and they were advertising larger King suites available for that very weekend at a price significantly lower than what we had paid in advance. When we brought this to the manager's attention, he said he could move us the next day to a better room, and he did. While the new room was consistent with what we had booked, the air conditioner was broken. We gave up at that point and just opened the windows. (It was a warm Summer night, but not miserably hot.) To add just one more final insult, the manager said he would refund 25% of our stay -- and then never followed through even after being reminded twice. None of this is what I expect from an Intercontinental hotel, and frankly, I think we're probably done with the brand. Apparently it just doesn't mean what it used to.

It's good, but it's not worth the obscene price. The staff was very welcoming and helpful. Our room had a good but not spectacular view.

Location location location! In one of the greatest cities in the world! I love the kilts and during Christmas time, the decorations on the facade are gorgeous!

This is a very nice hotel and excellent location for exploring Edinburgh. The staff was warm and friendly. We even arrived very early in the morning and check in was no problem. The room was a nice size, fashionable, and comfortable. Breakfast was included in our stay and you had a choice to order off the menu, enjoy their full breakfast buffet, or both, whatever you like. We even enjoyed a fine dinner one night in their restaurant which was exceptional. I would highly recommend a stay here when you find yourself visiting Edinburgh.

I took my two daughters to Scotland to celebrate birthday's 21 & 18 and a graduation. I reached out to the hotel before and told they the occasions we were celebrating and they had an amazing surprise set up for us upon arrival. The breakfast was scrumptious (I need to learn how to make the potato scones) and we were full for our daily adventures. The staff was amazing and quick to meet our every need. The drinks at the end of the night were the perfect way to end the day. Such a beautiful hotel with so much history.

This is a first-rate hotel with a staff so professional it's difficult to sufficiently praise them. I would like to give special praise to Gisele and Jessica at the front desk for being total professionals. The concierges Hal and Andrew were excellent with their tourist and restaurant suggestions. Overall this is a terrific place.

Gorgeous hotel in a convenient part of town. The interiors are first class, clean, luxurious, and cozy. I would highly suggest a visit during the Christmas season, as they do a beautiful job decorating! Everyone we talked to there was knowledgeable, friendly, and quite professional. They made our stay even better, gave us advice during our stay regarding the best shops to try, helped us hail cabs daily, and are now graciously helping me retrieve a pillow I'd left behind in a rush. As you've probably seen in other reviews, the only thing not to love is the continental breakfast. Mostly lukewarm stuff without much to recommend it. Eat elsewhere, Edinburgh is full of delicious food just waiting to be explored!

Lovely location just near St. Andrews Square in Edinburgh. I had a lovely double room which had a queen size bed. Upon check in I was greeted with a welcome note, fruit and sweet treats. In addition the room had a little 'tuck box' filled with snacks that would be replenished daily if necessary. The Room had a decent closet, safe, refrigerator, tea kettle, iron and ironing board, hairdryer, soap, shampoo, conditioner and hand lotion, heated towel rack and windows that opened for fresh air. The staff was lovely and attentive. The lobby was often bustling but the bellmen were always available to help! Breakfast buffet or a le carte menu were both plentiful but specialty coffees were an extra charge, as they were made in the adjacent coffee house - worth the charge. We also had dinner in the restaurant one night. We had three different fish options and the lamb burger. Everyone raved about their fish and vegetables. Burger was cooked well done per house policy. It was good just not my favorite way to be prepared. The hotel has a small gym but it had everything I needed from free weights to various machines. There were some minor issues with noise from a wedding and one of our rooms was clearly situated near a dumpster as we could hear bottles being dumped from time to time. But neither of these were terrible distractions. One odd thing about the hotel is that you must use the elevator they tell you to get to your room as they are all in seemingly different buildings. I would definitely stay at this Principal again! I have colleagues who have stayed in both this location and the Charlotte Square location as well and have been happy with both. I may try the Charlotte Square location next time!

Our stay in Edinburgh at the InterContinental George was a comedy of errors. Our complaints have yet to be satisfactorily resolved by InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). When I spoke to a manager on-site about everything that had gone wrong, he bought me a soda and said, "It's the least I can do." You bet it was. I traveled with my sister and a friend. Here are but A FEW of the problems we encountered: *Upon arrival, we were told that our rooms had not been prepaid and were charged accordingly -- $1,066 on each of our credit cards. We had paid for the hotel before we left New York. *I went to my room and discovered there was a tub/shower combination in the bathroom, and the entry was three steps down. This was a surprise, as I had requested a stall shower because I have mobility issues and cannot safely climb into a tub enclosure to bathe. I called the front desk and told them my accommodations were unacceptable. They could come up with no satisfactory solution. Finally, I just switched rooms with my sister, who I found out DID have a stall shower. *Because one of the people I was traveling with was slightly under the weather, she had dinner earlier than my sister and me. When she tried to sign for the bill with her room number, the staff did not recognize her name, as all the rooms were registered under mine. This was in spite of the fact that we had each checked in with our individual personal credit cards only a few hours before. She had to pay cash. This problem has followed us home. Over the past few weeks, IHG has mentioned several times in their emails that no rooms were registered in my traveling companions' names - only in mine, so IHG could not possibly issue a refund to them. *We were all less than delighted to discover that our rooms either looked directly into walls or dilapidated rooftops. They were cave-like and extremely dark, even at high noon. And I had an added bonus in my room -- 111. It was permeated with cooking smells from very early in the morning (about 1 am) until well past 10 am. Plus, Room 118 was up an additional flight of narrow steps. I will happily provide you with photos if you need them. *Apparently because we switched rooms (and yes, the front desk was promptly informed when we did so), I got my sister's wake-up call at 6 am the next morning. It was my intention to sleep in. *The last night at the hotel, we asked that the concierge print our boarding passes. Two of them posed no problem, but mine proved to be quite frustrating. We had to wait for some time to speak to the only concierge on duty (he was ether helping other guests or had disappeared entirely). Then my friend, who had volunteered to help me get my documents because of my mobility issues, was obliged to go downstairs to the computer to print it out. The computer malfunctioned, so she had to come back upstairs again to try to print it on the concierge's computer. Except that he was still among the missing and the printer was out of paper. And around and around we went, until, fully 30-45 minutes later, I finally got my boarding pass, thanks to a person at the front desk whom I had asked for help. The upshot of the whole thing was that some issues were resolved while others were not. After prompting from our travel agency, the charges for the rooms were removed from our cards; the room-switch situation was resolved by me, and I got my boarding pass after a protracted battle with the computer. The staff at The George could not have been more agreeable or welcoming, but they appeared to be almost totally incapable of resolving the issues that arose during our stay. The hotel is lovely, and the décor is understated but luxurious. That said, it's the little things that leave a bad taste in your mouth. It was a really unpleasant visit. Since I contacted IHG on October 17, 2019, I and my traveling companions have been emailed by no less than six people in "guest relations." They offered me a less-than-adequate refund but refused to reimburse my two traveling companions. One "guest relations" person, Danica, even went so far as to say that one of my friends would get nothing, as IHG had already settled with me, and my friend and I had stayed in the same room together. This is completely false (and insulting, as it implies that our goal was to cheat them). We each stayed in separate rooms. My sister has been told that she will receive no compensation whatsoever. I will NEVER book The George Hotel in Edinburgh again. IHG customer service is astonishingly bad. After weeks of repetitive emails between myself and IHG, I am beginning to suspect that I am dealing with an automated system at IHG "guest relations" (is that a thing now? Robots?). Either that, or I am in touch with actual people who have had the humanity successfully trained out of them.

Very nice adaptive reuse of a historic office building on a great street in central Edinburgh. Handsome lobby. Pleasant and competent front desk staff. Small but modern and very clean room. Neal's Yard toiletries. Breakfast buffet was quite good and included in my corporate rate (which was VERY reasonable). Highly recommend The Principal (which was the George when I stayed there in October 2016).

My husband and I stayed here for our honeymoon and it's possibly the best hotel I've ever stayed in. Staff is attentive and so friendly, especially Mark! He was so helpful and just plain NICE. My husband and I talked about how nice he was the whole way up to the room hahah! Breakfast was also a hilight. The location is phenomenal as well. Overall such a great stay, couldn't imagine staying anywhere else if ever we return to Edinburgh!

Great hotel.Very stylish, clean and higher end hotel. The room which I had was amazing. Room 109 looked over George St. The separate living are was well decorated, the bed comfy and an awesome bathroom. I heard a little bit of noise from 12-2am coming from the night club over the road but It was very minimal. Looking at the rooms at the back of the property they were much smaller but more modern. Check-in was quick and they were very friendly. The elevator up button did not work so we had to hit the down button. The hotel has a great coffee shop, and 2 bar down the hallway to the left. Both bars have a large selection of cocktails and beers. One weird thing is to reach rooms down the back of the property if you're on floor zero, you need to take the first lift up to 1 and then walk down to another lift and take it back to zero. One negative thing is that it was near impossible to pull up out front to just drop our bags off. People were double parked and triple parked and for a while. It took probably 20 minutes of driving back and forth to finally find somewhere to park for 2 mins. Despite that it's a Nice place.I would stay here again and would recommend it to others.

I haven't written a review for several years, but I just had to tell this story. My husband and I checked into The Principal on our last night in Scotland after a 12 day holiday. Given that it is regarded as somewhat of an Edinburgh institution, I was shocked at the small, dark room in all grey tones which vaguely resembled a chic prison cell (or spacious closet). No even bottled water or coffee in the room. No turn down service. We left for the evening and the front desk staff promised to deliver some water to our room, but never did so. The front desk attendant told us that we were on our own to find parking. Overall highly disappointing and definitely the low point of an otherwise glorious trip with excellent hospitality. I would caution anyone against this establishment.

We have been on a holiday in Ireland and Scotland. This was our last stay and by far the best! Staff was so friendly - I felt like I was with a very welcoming family. Our first room was beautiful but we are very warm nature and got hot the first night. They very graciously offered to move us to an air conditioned room. I could go on and on but you will love this place.

We loved the Principal, better known as the George. We had a lovely suite that was comfortable and private. The coffee shop was excellent with a great location and a very short walk from Waverly train station and all of the sites in city. Peter, the concierge was extremely helpful in helping us plan a day trip to St Andrews and for whiskey tasting at the Deanston distillery. We had a wonderful time in Edinburgh and hope to return soon.

This hotel is simply amazing, their service is great and their restaurants are equally so, our stay here was easily the best we have had in Scotland, one thing I would like to see them fix is their air conditioning as only some rooms have em, and others have an unnecessary heater, with no way to effectively cool the room down, other than that, this is a MUST for a hotel

Outstanding hotel. Great location, very warm, pleasant and knowledgable staff. The rooms and common areas are decorated with top notch appointments. We had a very comfortable and enjoyable stay at the Principal - George Street.