The best honeymoon hotels in Edinburgh
An insider's guide to the top honeymoon hotels in Edinburgh, including the best for comfy beds, baths for sharing, decadent interiors, romantic restaurants and fabulous views, in central locations near Edinburgh Castle.
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. Taking in two pretty-as-paint Georgian townhouses the aim is sustained, serious-minded luxury. Rooms feature plenty of toned-down tweed, some attractive and unusual furnishings (Art Deco Chinoiserie, anyone?) and an occasional, eye-popping splash of colour. Because of restrictions on listed buildings there are no lifts and room sizes vary wildly, from the perfectly adequate ‘petite doubles’ to over-the-top ‘Jacuzzi suites’, with stops at ‘executive rooms’ and ‘suites’ on the way. Soft throws to snuggle under, a carefully curated selection of quality books and delightfully old-fashioned wooden shoehorns are nice touches. Read expert review From £94per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Glasshouse
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
The Glasshouse sits just off the east end of Princes Street, heading towards Leith, with views to Calton Hill. It's not exactly made of glass but there’s lots of it about: sweeping windows, semi-glass staircase, and glass baubles, vases and objets dotted around. The décor is fabulously 1970s with plenty of orange, tan and cherry-reds, pendant lampshades, boxy leather sofas and wood veneer furniture. Rooms are big and airy with show-stopping floor-to-ceiling windows, many with balconies or terraces on the rooftop garden; all are sleekly minimalist in style with polished wood floors, sharp-edged furnishings, pendant lamps and lots of mustards and browns. Blissfully comfortable beds are huge while the suites are bigger in every way and come with mini-decanters of malt whisky. Read expert review From £98per 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. If Pugin designed gothic revival love nests they would look like this: an outrageous riposte to modern minimalism. A restaurant with rooms, so no residents' lounge or bar - these suites are intimate, secret dens of high-flown delight. 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. Read expert review From £235per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Prestonfield House
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
Hidden in lush grounds a short drive from the city centre this is the swankiest, most swoon-some country house hotel imaginable. Although a quiet, country-house setting, this Baroque/Georgian mansion is shamelessly seductive. 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. Minimalism be damned; more is definitely more. Rooms are irrepressibly romantic in a husky-throated boudoir sort of way. Dark and richly coloured with lashings of velvet and silk, antiques mix with hi-tech playthings while surfaces are scattered with flowers, fruit and candles. Read expert review From £190per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Dakota Edinburgh Hotel
Edinburgh, Scotland
9Telegraph expert rating
This is a luxurious take on bare-brick hipster chic, impressively well-executed. Stylishly, moodily masculine throughout, its a design-led, classy cocoon of comfort in a perpetual twilight of low light and flickering candles. Named after the 1930s Dakota airplane, the glamorous golden age of aviation is a quiet theme: leather-lined lifts (complete with rivets) feature a vintage airplane-style window with a whimsical view of passing clouds. Big, comfortable beds have sky-high thread count bedlinen and the plumpest pillows in Scotland. Settle in an overstuffed armchair in the clubby, fire-lit lobby for a drink before dinner, then move on to the reasonably priced grill restaurant - all dark wood, long banquettes and creamy leather. Read expert review From £80per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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G&V Royal Mile Hotel
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
The only five-star hotel on the Royal Mile, located between the George IV Bridge and the photogenic charms of Victoria Street. For a hotel with 136 rooms it feels surprisingly personal, with nods to its Italian designer Missoni origins gracefully incorporated among Edinburgh-centric references. Nine striking suites, individually designed by notable Scottish artists and designers (Hatti Pattison, Judy R. Clark and the Timorous Beasties) are delights of colour, wit and style. Try the quirky teas with gin and negroni jelly, and liquorice panna cotta. In the bar, coktails use their own hydroponically-grown flowers and herbs. No pool, but you will find a gym and a small but comprehensive spa with a good range of treatments. Read expert review From £123per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Dunstane House
Edinburgh, Scotland
8Telegraph expert rating
There's nothing stuffy about this Victorian villa, its comely original features tenderly preserved in a design-led transformation to sleek boutique. With stylish bedrooms and a classy bar serving modest food all day, all just a 10-minute bus ride from the city centre, it's a handsome dark horse. 'Wee doubles' are just that (ask about sloping ceilings if you're tall), but no less carefully designed and decorated than the larger, pricier rooms with their Instagrammable feature baths, lush, oversized sofas and four-poster beds. The Ba' Bar (named after a traditional Orkney game), with it's comfortable chairs, Chesterfield sofas and big bay window is a cosy place to linger. Read expert review From £119per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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23 Mayfield
Edinburgh, Scotland
9Telegraph expert rating
In this beautifully kept, unassuming Victorian villa you will find candle-light, acres of mahogany panelling, stained glass and bespoke period furniture, with the occasional well-judged modern touch. This house is all about sustained drama and complete commitment - richness of colour and texture in polished and carved wood, elaborate plasterwork and sumptuous textiles. Particularly atmospheric in winter, when you can breakfast by candlelight. Bedrooms, like the rest of the house, are like stage sets - all Tudor mahogany panelling, rich furnishings and jewel-like colours. Every room has a writing desk, chairs or a small sofa and carefully chosen artwork (there’s a great collection of old Punch cartoons). Read expert review From £115per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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21212
Edinburgh, Scotland
9Telegraph expert rating
The four bedrooms above this Michelin-starred restaurant are no afterthought; there is a confident hand at work in rooms that are as striking as the food, displaying a sometimes surprising but always sensual contemporary/baroque style and unexpectedly leafy views. Big rooms and big spaces - four floors with two private dining rooms and a gorgeously indulgent drawing room - that have been dressed with panache and confidence: a mix of baroque swirls, classical patterns - including a blown-up Caravaggio on one wall - and kookie retro touches, with the building’s elegant high ceilings and sweeping windows used to full effect. Rooms are big, plump and swanky without a frill or flounce in sight. Read expert review From £146per night Check availability Rates provided by Mr & Mrs Smith
