Now that the NCP at St James is out of action, this is the car park that we tend to use when we are in Edinburgh. With the entrance located in an alleyway down the side of an office block, it is not the easiest car park to navigate. There are no signs pointing you toward it and you will have to do a lot of circling round.
It is never really that busy, but all the spaces on the upper levels (closer to the street) seem to be taken every time we come in, forcing us to go down deeper into the bowels of this dungeon to find a space. On the very bottom level (-4) you will always find a space since not many people seem to use this car park. Try and get near the lifts if you can as the car park goes on for miles and you could easily get lost. The lifts in the top left hand corner take you to the footbridge that leads to John Lewis, the middle lifts bring you out at Leith Street and the furthest away lifts take you to the back of the Omni Centre.
Once you get to the surface, you will need to hold your token against the sensor for 5 seconds in order to unlock the door to get out. Sometimes the sensor is broken and the door will be left open but it honestly feels safer with the door locked, as no dodgy people can get in.
The car park is really creepy though because of how deserted it always is and I always feel quite spooked out every time we have to walk through it.
The layout is better than the NCP across the street and is more logical to navigate, whereas in St James, you will be stuck on a floor if there are no spaces and a car comes up because of the badly designed two way system and narrow roads.
But apart from the spookiness, the confusing lift arrangement and the prices, it is a safe place to park and you won't have to worry about your car while you are shopping. read more