Best Luxury Hotels in Edinburgh

The best luxury hotels in Edinburgh, the 5-star accommodation with good restaurants and some with spas, include top places to stay like The Balmoral, The Bonham, Channings, The Scotsman, and The Witchery.

A list of all the best luxury hotels in Edinburgh would be a long one. The city is one of Scotland’s – and the UK’s – top tourist attractions, and there is plenty of 5-star, deluxe and luxury Edinburgh accommodation available. There are also excellent 4-star hotels to choose from too.

Whether you’re visiting Edinburgh for Hogmanay, during the Edinburgh Festival, or to see the city’s best visitor attractions such as the Royal Palace of Holyroodhouse, or Edinburgh Castle, there are lots of top quality hotels to stay in.

Some of the Best Luxury Hotels in Edinburgh

Apex Grassmarket Hotel

31-35 Grassmarket
One of four Apex hotels in Edinburgh, the Grassmarket address offers guests great views of Edinburgh Castle, especially from the award-winning Metro restaurant. There’s also a sauna, gym, a stainless steel ozone pool and all the other services expected of a 4-star hotel.

Balmoral Hotel

1 Princes Street
The best of Edinburgh’s traditional grand hotels, the Balmoral is very convenient for the main Waverley train station, a five-minute walk away. This luxury 5-star hotel is right on Princes Street, it has superb business and conference facilities, and for gourmets it has the bonus of the Michelin-starred number one restaurant. The Balmoral Hotel was the choice of the royal guests who attended the wedding in Edinburgh of Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Phillips to England rugby star Mike Tindall.

The Bonham

35 Drumsheugh Gardens
A unique feature of the Bonham is the collection of about 30 art works by contemporary Scottish artists. There are 41 individually-styled rooms occupying five Edwardian town houses in Edinburgh’s West End.

Channings

12/16 South Learmonth Gardens
The 4-star boutique Channings is in Edinburgh’s West End, slightly out of the city centre but still only about one mile from Edinburgh Castle and the Royal Mile. The hotel restaurant is well-rated by the food guides, and there is also a more casual bar for drinking or dining. Each of the 42 rooms has a sofa and a writing table.

The Edinburgh Residence

7 Rothesay Terrace
Less than a mile from Edinburgh Castle, the Edinburgh Residence is a collection of 29 luxury 5-star suites in several Georgian town houses. Suites are equipped with such things as microwaves, fridges, and food preparation areas, making them ideal for visitors who want deluxe comfort but a degree of independence too. There is also a 24-hour room service menu, and children’s menu, if you don’t want to cook, and the restaurant at the sister hotel, the Bonham, is a two-minute walk away.

The Scotsman Hotel

North Bridge
This 5-star boutique hotel is in the former offices of The Scotsman newspaper, and really neat are the privacy hatches, which allow room service without intruding into the room itself. There’s a health club and spa, a stainless steel pool, stained glass windows, a marble staircase, and other features that have led this to be voted one of the world’s best hotels by Condé Nast Traveller magazine. Edinburgh Castle is less than a ten-minute walk away.

Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa

1 Festival Square
The Scotland rugby team have been known to use the 5-star Sheraton’s health club and spa, which helps confirm its reputation as the best spa in Edinburgh. From here you could walk to Murrayfield Stadium in thirty minutes (or a five-minute taxi ride), as well as to Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile and Princes Street. Some rooms have views of Edinburgh Castle. Excellent location, superb hotel.

The Witchery by the Castle

Castlehill
Near the entrance to Edinburgh Castle, the Witchery is best known as one of the city’s top restaurants. However, the Witchery also has nine very private suites which have catered to celebrities including Jack Nicholson, Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Dannii Minogue called them ‘the perfect lust-den’. It’s hardly surprising they’re often booked months ahead. They have roll-top baths big enough for two, and Cosmopolitan magazine called  the suites one of the seven wonders of the hotel world.