6 of the best hotels for a city break in Edinburgh

The charm of Edinburgh, if you unrecorded successful London, is that it has each the acquainted trappings of a superior – the shops! The National Gallery! – lone it is blessedly compact, with a spectacular topography. Plus there’s the lure of its literate history, cobbled streets and beauteous architecture.

If you are readying to flight the superior for a Scottish weekend, you tin get determination successful 4 and a fractional hours by train, taking successful immoderate of the finest views successful Britain from Durham northwards on the sea.

Here are 3 of the champion hotels successful the city, housed successful historical buildings and a little – little than 15 minutes - locomotion from the city’s main Waverley Station.

Located close connected iconic Princes Street, this is the Scottish capital’s smartest caller luxury hotel. The gathering was primitively the office of the Royal Overseas League members’ club, and the boutique edifice inactive has a distinctly clubby vibe, with artfully discrete signage extracurricular and a barroom and edifice conscionable for edifice guests.

The archetypal Scottish spot from British hospitality radical Red Carnation Hotels, the stylish metropolis centre spot has conscionable 30 rooms ranging from compact singles to spacious suites – the champion travel with views of Edinburgh Castle, which looks peculiarly magical erstwhile lit up astatine night.

The interiors are affluent and inviting, with bespoke tartans by Scottish decorator Araminta Campbell connected the walls and a striking hand-painted mural successful the stairwell. For an elegant play getaway wrong walking region of each of Edinburgh’s large sights, 100 Princes Street is hard to beat.

For 200 years, until 2006, Gleneagles was a functioning bank. In which lawsuit we’re envious of the fortunate clerks who worked successful specified a splendid building. The good architectural details person been retained since it became a hotel, from the the ornate cornicing and chromatic columns to beauteous level tiles and stained glass. The rooms are characterful arsenic good arsenic luxurious. Who doesn’t similar a roll-top bath with aromatic bath salts? And you’ll commencement your enactment successful bully humour due to the fact that there’s a small solid thorax of tiny pastries erstwhile you arrive.

The restaurant, The Spence, is successful the aged banking hallway with its good ceiling plasterwork, and it is precise bully indeed, celebrating section and Scottish ingredients with terrific flair. I got determination connected Sunday successful clip for the sirloin roast, with balloons of Yorkshire pudding, followed by the astir sybaritic crystal cream. There’s a large and absorbing vino selection. While meal is substantial, with bully achromatic pudding and murphy scone. 

It's a members’ nine arsenic good arsenic a hotel, with a rooftop barroom boasting good views implicit the quadrate – beauteous for a summertime evening – and a spa and fittingness centre downstairs successful the aged vaults. I tried the Cyrotherapy country wherever you tin basal and frost for 3 minutes, perchance aft a sauna. It truly does sharpen you up for the day. 

This is simply a amusive hybrid: a historic, mid-nineteenth-century gathering successful Scottish baronial benignant which houses a Virgin edifice with neon signs, crimson décor and precocious campy vibe. Think of bubbly Sir Richard Branson twinned with a stately aged Victorian gentleman, and you get the gist. It boasts a fantastic determination connected a lively, gracefully curved cobbled street. Its proportions are startling – 1 broadside drops steeply down to Cowgate – but it's navigable.

The archetypal neon motion says “You’re welcome”, and truthful you’re made to consciousness by the affable and adjuvant staff. There are humorous touches; the books for browsing are kept successful the Funny Library, the downstairs edifice Eve is signalled by different neon sign: “Are you tempted?” and your room’s small Smeg fridge is successful the trademark red. 

The furniture is tremendous and comfortable, and the country is unfastened program with the descend and mirrors astatine the entrance. The lone drawback is that each the rooms, but Sir Richard’s, travel with a ablution alternatively than bath (boo!).

The restaurant, the Commons, sources Scottish ingredients and makes the astir of them, from section scallops to fantabulous meat; excavation was a delicious and succulent Tamworth pork chop. Later successful the week, there’s besides a shared table, wherever a cook presides implicit a specializer tasting menu. The play beverage is served aboriginal (noon - 3pm) nether the good cupola and is an eclectic premix of wraps and focaccia by mode of sandwiches, scones, a savoury and immoderate precise bully desserts, served connected beauteous china by unit who look retired of nowhere. It’s astir arsenic overmuch a luncheon arsenic a tea, but, by examination with ridiculous London prices, it’s a bargain astatine £35. My 1 quibble is with breakfast: porridge with toasted conifer nuts? No! But it tasted conscionable fine. 

This is the Intercontinental arsenic you’ve astir apt ne'er seen it, successful a gathering made up of 5 Georgian townhouses with an aboriginal Victorian façade, which has been a edifice since the 1880s. In information the George whitethorn beryllium the lone Intercontinental wherever immoderate of the floorboards creak reassuringly. Positioned connected George Street, disconnected St Andrew’s Square, which is simply a 10 infinitesimal locomotion from the station, it couldn’t beryllium much central.

A erstwhile security house, the entranceway is distinguished, imposing, and sensitively restored. The consciousness isn’t aged fashioned, however; the pictures and décor are a substance of modern and traditional. The men astatine the entranceway are successful tartan trousers oregon kilts; you tin spot the American visitors perk up astatine the sight. And each the unit are affable and helpful. 

Rooms are elegant, comfy and good appointed, with large beds and a welcoming vessel of fizz erstwhile you arrive. There are thoughtful touches specified arsenic an robust successful the wardrobe, and the country comes with crushed java with a due filter, not conscionable a Nespresso machine, and the near-obligatory Tunnock’s wafer. And let’s not hide the toiletries: Byredo, if you please, and, arsenic is the norm nowadays, it comes successful large refillable bottles which you jolly good permission there. If you bash privation a bath successful your room, you request to petition one.

There’s a edifice successful the hotel, Le Petit Beefbar, which majors connected beef, obviously, and is situated successful the aged printing room. I archer you this spot has tons of history. Like I say, it doesn’t consciousness similar an impersonal edifice concatenation but a spot with history. 

Think of each the things you privation from the cleanable Scottish edifice and Prestonfield House whitethorn person them all. It’s little than 10 minutes by taxi from Waverley station, which you’ll chug into from London, and yet someway successful the country, successful 20 acres of its own, and adjacent to 650 acres of royal Holyrood Park. The location dates from 1687 but its foundations are overmuch older, going backmost to a Cistercian monastery connected the aforesaid site. It’s the archetypal spot wherever rhubarb was grown successful Scotland from seeds brought from China, meaning its descendants are inactive successful the garden. The rhubarb taxable is evident indoors successful the stripey carpets and wallpaper and the rhubarb pinkish ceiling successful the edifice (aptly called Rhubarb).

If you similar archetypal household portraits determination are immoderate fig present — and, travel to that, sixteenth period tapestries from Mortlake — but determination are besides clever plan elements to lighten the mood. Think trompe l’oeil silk swag wallpaper close adjacent to the luxuriously draped curtains, and leopard people carpet and footstools to assistance you ascent into your large, comfy bed.

Historic houses tin beryllium staid; not this one. Each of the 18 bedrooms has its ain pieces, its ain flair. And if that weren’t enough, the toiletries are Penhaligon’s Blenheim Bouquet. James Thomson, the owner, has a sensation for signifier plan and it shows everyplace you turn. There’s a Roberts vigor playing erstwhile you travel into your room, and the scent of delicious fragrance sticks; you consciousness spoiled from the off.

The edifice is precise bully indeed. At meal you tin person the afloat Scottish, truthful pudding (white and black) arsenic good arsenic bacon, sausage and the lot. And if you precede this with porridge, you’re acceptable up for the day. There’s a simple, little costly paper disposable astatine lunchtime (bring connected the food pie) and astatine meal the afloat works; I had a memorable dressed crab nether a sweetened crust, a good Chateaubriand and an fantabulous tarte tatin. Yum. There’s an fantabulous vino list, including superb Beaune. Tea is simply a thoughtful operation of the accepted and dainty, truthful determination are savoury tartlets and beetroot blini followed by sandwiches and rolls (there was a precise bully Coronation egg), scones with flavoursome jam and a dainty dessert layer. At £60, it’s cheaper than the London equivalent. Staff are affable and attentive.

Edinburgh grandees travel here, positive occasional royals (the Queen Mother was a instrumentality of the house), and I tin spot why. Indeed, the aged eating country present utilized for backstage parties, with its painted panels showing the sights of the Grand Tour, erstwhile hosted the bigwigs of the Scottish Enlightenment; it’s a beauteous space. Add to each this that you’re a pleasant 20-minute locomotion from Arthur’s Seat, and truly you can’t inquire for more.

This is different James Thomson creation, and it’s arsenic theatrical and flamboyant arsenic you could privation for, arsenic good arsenic being unbelievably conveniently situated. The sanction derives from the execution of a fig of suspected witches rather adjacent to the building. Its Gothic phantasy interiors day backmost to it being a schoolhouse building. They see small devils connected the bath windows and painted Tarot motifs connected the ceiling of the restaurant. There is simply a playful imaginativeness astatine enactment passim and an tremendous trove of striking and absorbing pieces. I mean, however galore hotels bash you cognize wherever determination mightiness beryllium a guardsman’s azygous successful the corner, oregon prints of the kings of Scotland oregon a immense crown suspended from the ceiling? I stayed successful the suite which you scope via an existent turret and determination was an imposing bust of Queen Victoria, who ensured that visitors were connected their champion behaviour.

There was, of course, an imposing 4 poster furniture with a small acceptable of steps up to it, but besides each the mod-cons: Alexa adjacent to the bed, a Dyson drier. In different room, a immense level surface TV emerged from the Ottoman astatine the extremity of the bed. And you volition privation to cognize astir the bath: a Victorian roll-top matter with antique taps; you person to beryllium instructed however to fto the plug out. The embossed, ox-blood walls are precise handsome, with Victorian pictures connected them.

Did I notation that you get champagne each nighttime of your stay, successful a large crystal bucket? And precise bully chocolates. I passed connected meal successful the edifice successful favour of a continental meal successful a hamper (so overmuch much amusive than a tray) connected the dais by the model which overlooks the Royal Mile. The edifice is atmospheric, each candlelight and acheronian by nighttime with a immense clump of silk flowers suspended from the ceiling. Dinner is precise good; Scottish ingredients, including crippled and fish. My venison cutlets were cleanable and truthful was the mashed murphy (always a bully test). Ditto my Tarte Tatin — I can’t person capable of it, similar this, aureate and caramel, served with custard and crystal cream.

What a quirky, comfortable, pleasurable edifice this is. I was bewitched.

Getting to Edinburgh by bid takes astir 4 and a fractional to 5 hours with LNER, with fares from £30. iner.co.uk