Apex Waterloo Place Hotel, Waterloo Suite

I rarely leave negative reviews, but I feel it's important to share an honest account of our stay. Unfortunately, our experience fell well below expectations, especially considering the price we paid. The biggest issue was the bed, which was extremely uncomfortable and resulted in 3 poor nights' sleep for both of us. I reported this during our stay but never received any update or follow-up. The room was also not cleaned to an acceptable standard. There was a significant amount of dust around the curtain area, which triggered my asthma and required me to use my inhaler. While housekeeping dealt with this after I reported it, it should have been identified before guests arrived. Housekeeping also failed to replace our towels on the final day, which was disappointing. Another frustration was the lift situation. One lift was out of service, leading to long waiting times, and the remaining lift appeared to malfunction by repeatedly stopping at multiple floors before eventually reaching our destination. (Something seriously wrong with the lift) To make matters worse, after checking out I contacted the hotel because I had accidentally left my headphones in the room. I was told I would receive a call back once this had been investigated, but I never heard from anyone. There were some courteous members of staff, and the location was good, but that alone could not make up for the number of issues we experienced. Overall, I expected a far higher standard of comfort, cleanliness and customer service. Based on this experience, I would not return or recommend the hotel without significant improvements.

Poor service poor hospitality poor brand Apex Waterloo If the staff had simply treated me politely during check-out, I probably wouldn’t have written this review. But the woman at reception was incredibly rude from beginning to end. She couldn’t even find my suitcase. I had to go into the luggage room myself and point it out to her. I had already given her the luggage claim ticket with the number on it and even told her the color of my suitcase, yet she acted as if she couldn’t understand what I was saying. My room was located below the lobby level. Before my stay, I had read several reviews from other Asian / people of color guests saying they were usually assigned rooms below the lobby. I didn’t want to believe it, but after my own experience, I couldn’t help feeling the same way. I booked a city-view room, but my “city view” was mostly a view of garbage bins. The drainage was also terrible. Both the shower and the sink drained very slowly. I noticed other guests had mentioned this problem in older reviews, so it seems the hotel still hasn’t fixed it. I have traveled all over the world, and choosing this hotel for my trip to Edinburgh was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made. After reading many older reviews, it’s clear that nothing has changed. The same complaints keep appearing, and it seems they continue to treat guests the same way. For reference, I am a Korean woman, and the receptionist who checked me out also appeared to be Asian. I smiled, spoke politely, and treated her with respect throughout our interaction. Unfortunately, that respect was not returned. Considering how much I paid to stay here, I expected much better service. When I booked this hotel as an Expedia Platinum member, the benefits listed were: "Free room upgrades, early check-in, and late check-out when available." However, none of these benefits were provided. Instead, I was assigned a room on a lower floor with a view overlooking garbage bins