The best five-star hotels in Edinburgh
An insider's guide to Edinburgh's top five-star hotels — from modern, design-led accommodation to rococo grande dames — including the best for Michelin-starred restaurants, luxurious rooms with four-poster beds and city views, swimming pools and spas, in locations near Edinburgh Castle, Princes Street and the Royal Mile.
The Balmoral
Edinburgh, Scotland
9Telegraph expert rating
This Neo-Renaissance building with its massive clock tower has been an Edinburgh landmark for more than a century. Built as a railway hotel, it has accommodated film stars, royalty and prime minsters, and was redesigned by Olga Polizzi. An exceptionally large spa specialises in ESPA treatments and offers a relaxation suite, swimming pool and gym. Several rooms overlook Princes Street, and some of the bathrooms come with film shots of Sean Connery. Number One, the hotel’s Michelin-starred eatery, focuses on local Scottish ingredients. Read expert review From £280 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Radisson Collection Hotel, Royal Mile Edinburgh
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
An occasional whisper of the former Missoni branding still lingers here, but this stylish hotel has developed its own uniquely Scottish identity, losing nothing in translation. The dreamy suites, individually designed by notable Scottish artists and designers (think Hatti Pattison, Judy R. Clark and the Timorous Beasties) are delights of wit and style. Bathrooms can be on the small side, but are eye-poppingly colourful, with splashy walk-in rainwater showers. A small but comprehensive spa offers a full range of treatments, using Eve Lom and Aromatherapy Associates products. Pasta is made fresh every day in La Cucina restaurant; local Italian families come for their Sunday lunch. Read expert review From £204 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Nira Caledonia
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
If a hotel can be the soul of discretion, this quietly confident hotel is it — this place is for those who want luxury that whispers, rather than shouts. All rooms have well-thought-out touches like a carefully curated selection of quality books and delightfully old-fashioned wooden shoehorns. The range of sumptuous hot tub suites are standout. In the restaurant, the grill oven is the backbone of a steak-led menu that is deceptively simple (bread comes with three kinds of butter) and big on local provenance (Shetland smoked mussels and Puddledub Farm Jacob lamb). Breakfast is pleasingly generous, with a continuing focus on high-quality Scottish ingredients. Read expert review From £112 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Glasshouse
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
Not exactly made of glass but there’s lots of it about: sweeping windows, a semi-glass staircase, and glass baubles, vases and objets dotted around. The décor is a bit Seventies with plenty of orange, tan and cherry-reds, pendant lampshades, boxy leather sofas and wood veneer furniture. Rooms have show-stopping floor-to-ceiling windows; many have balconies or terraces on the rooftop garden. Suites come with mini-decanters of malt whisky. It's a little off-piste - but in a good way. Read expert review From £200 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Prestonfield House
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
Prestonfield is hidden in lush grounds a short drive from the city centre, and it is the swankiest, most swoon-some country house hotel imaginable. With swags and columns, brocades and velvets, rich colours and intimate corners, it is wildly opulent. Drama, theatre, romance and passion hang heavily in the air. Every service imaginable is available, from complimentary shoeshine to daily newsletter with weather forecast. There are bicycles available for guests’ use, a croquet lawn and a putting green. Rooms are irrepressibly romantic in a husky-throated boudoir sort of way. Suites are even more lavishly furnished — a Gothic day bed perhaps, or a velvet-hung four-poster, silk-toile wallpaper or silver chariot bath. Read expert review From £276 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - The Caledonian
Edinburgh, Scotland
9Telegraph expert rating
A modern take on the grand hotel: doormen in top hats, afternoon teas and women in furs alongside first-class connectivity, impeccably refurbished rooms and a Guerlain spa. Beds are Siberian steppes of white linen with snow-drift deep mattresses. Bathrooms are smart, with powerful showers, heated mirrors and Ferragamo toiletries. Breakfast is a multi-cultural buffet, including quality pancakes and maple syrup, and haggis. The restaurant collaboration with London’s Galvin brothers is one of the hotel's greatest strengths. Later in the evening, head to the railway-themed Caley Bar for a malt whisky. Read expert review From £254 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Witchery by the Castle
Edinburgh, Scotland
9Telegraph expert rating
This extraordinary collection of fantasy suites near Edinburgh Castle is the ultimate romantic hideaway: sumptuous, indulgent, and slightly (delightfully) mad. The nine suites are an antique dealer’s dream: the rooms set-dressed with fascinatingly eclectic clutter; all jewel-coloured velvets, silks and brocades, carved wood, gilding and candle-light — think decadent ecclesiastical. Beds are dramatically draped or four-postered (or both); chin-deep bateau baths are perfect for sharing. A dining hall, sitting room, dressing room or study behind hidden doors will surprise and delight. Guests get chocolate and champagne on arrival. Read expert review From £345 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com