The Scotsman Hotel

The Scotsman Hotel Edinburgh opened in 2001 in the Edwardian (1905) building which had housed The Scotsman newspaper for nearly a century. The hotel is located on North Bridge between the Royal Mile and Princes Street, thereby straddling Edinburgh’s Medieval Old Town and Georgian New Town.

For other uses, see Scotsman (disambiguation).

The Scotsman Hotel
Location within Edinburgh
General information
LocationEdinburgh, Scotland
Coordinates55°57′4″N 3°11′17″W
Opening2001
OwnerG1 Group
ManagementG1 Group
Technical details
Floor count10
Other information
Number of rooms56
Number of suites13
Number of restaurants1
ParkingAvailable offsite at Edinburgh Waverley railway station
Website
Scotsman Hotel

Ownership

The Scotsman was previously part of JJW Hotels & Resorts and was purchased by Sheikh M.B.I Al Jaber for £63 million in 2006.[1] In August 2007, JJW acquired The Eton Collection.[2]

The hotel went into liquidation in June 2016 and was sold to the G1 Group for an undisclosed amount in February 2017.[3]

Building history

In the 1900s the North Bridge running between the New and Old Towns of Edinburgh was widened and as part of this expansion a 190 foot high tower was built, into which The Scotsman newspaper moved their offices. The building cost around £500,000 and after the rest of the North Bridge extension was completed teamed with the Carlton directly opposite, it formed an imposing entrance to the Old Town.

The direct access from Market Street to the building was an ideal distribution outlet for the papers to be packed directly onto the trains at Edinburgh Waverley railway station straight from the printing house that took up the entire basement. The middle floors of the building were originally used for the editorial offices. The current penthouse used to be the Pigeon lofts. The site now occupied by the North Bridge Brasserie originally held the reception and trading rooms where bartering over advertising took place.

In 2001 the Newspaper moved to their own purpose built offices in Holyrood and the building was renovated into The Scotsman Hotel

Ghosts

In a link to its time as former offices of the Edinburgh Evening News, the building is reported to be "haunted by a host of ghosts, including a phantom printer and a phantom forger."[4]

Awards
  • Voted one of the top hotels in the world - Condé Nast Traveler, 2007
  • Voted one of the top hotels in the world - Departures Magazine
  • Nominated Hotel of the Year - The AA, 2002[5]
  • One of the Top UK Business Hotels - Condé Nast Traveler, 2007
  • One of the Top 20 UK hotels - Tatler, 2004
  • Simon Fraser was awarded Rising Star Restaurant Manager of the Year - Scottish Hotels of the Year Awards 2008[6]
  • Hotel is a member of The Preferred Hotel Group
  • The hotel's North Bridge Brasserie has been awarded 1 Rosette
  • Entrance to The Scotsman Hotel
  • Originally the reception to The Scotsman newspaper, the new hotel retains many of the original features
  • Image of one of the old Editor offices, now a luxury bedroom at The Scotsman Hotel
  • Originally the reception to the old The Scotsman newspaper, the new North Bridge Brasserie retains many of the original features, such as marble pillars

References
  1. Colin Donald (1 February 2006). "Scotsman hotel sold to Saudi for GBP 63m". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  2. Michael Blackley (16 August 2007). "City's Scotsman Hotel booked in for a six-figure makeover Revamp ahead after group buys Eton Collection for GBP 70m". The Scotsman. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  3. BBC (22 February 2017). "Five-star Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh bought by entrepreneur Stefan King". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
  4. The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 8 November 2004 http://news.scotsman.com/features/Why-youve-more-than-a.2578441.jp. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. Frank ODonnell (28 September 2002). "Scotsman Hotel wins AA Hotel of the Year award". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2009.
  6. http://www.scottishhoteloftheyearawards.com/docs/2008/SHOTY%202008%20Winners.pdf
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