The Scotsman Hotel Edinburgh opened in 2001 in the

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

(1905) building which had housed ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its par ...

'' newspaper for nearly a century. The hotel is located on North Bridge between the

Royal Mile The Royal Mile () is a succession of streets forming the main thoroughfare of the Old Town of the city of Edinburgh in Scotland. The term was first used descriptively in W. M. Gilbert's ''Edinburgh in the Nineteenth Century'' (1901), des ...

and

Princes Street Princes Street ( gd, Sràid nam Prionnsan) is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three ...

, thereby straddling Edinburgh’s

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

and

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

New Town New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Ownership

The Scotsman was previously part of

JJW Hotels & Resorts JJW Hotels & Resorts Limited is an international private company of Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber with principal business interests in acquisition, development and operation of several hotels and resorts throughout Europe and the Middle East. The co ...

and was purchased by Sheikh

Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber Mohamed bin Issa Al Jaber ( ar, محمد بن عيسى الجابر, translit=Muḥammad bin ʿĪssā al-Ǧābir, born in 1959 (in Jeddah) is an Arab businessman. Business In 1982, Al Jaber founded Jadawel International Construction & Development ...

for £63 million in 2006. In August 2007, JJW acquired

The Eton Collection The Eton Collection is a group of three luxury boutique and town house hotels, in the four and five star sector. It was founded in 1998 and has hotels in London and Edinburgh. The group was purchased by Sheikh Mohamed Bin Issa Al Jaber Mohamed b ...

. The hotel went into liquidation in June 2016 and was sold to the

G1 Group The Scotsman Group (previously G1 Group and King City Leisure) is a Scottish hospitality and leisure operator based in Glasgow, Scotland. It is run by its founder Stefan King. The company operates more than 50 venues in cities all over Scotlan ...

for an undisclosed amount in February 2017.

Building history

In the 1900s the North Bridge running between the New and Old Towns of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

was widened and as part of this expansion a 190-foot-high tower was built, into which

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

. The direct access from

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

to the building was an ideal distribution outlet for the papers to be packed directly onto the trains at

Edinburgh Waverley railway station Edinburgh Waverley railway station (also known simply as Waverley; gd, Waverley Dhùn Èideann) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. It is the north ...

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 Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

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. In 2017, the hotel once again came under Scottish ownership when it was purchased by G1 Group, one of the countries largest hospitality groups. Now the companies flagship venue, the Hotel has spent several years going through a substantial refurbishment, which has seen all bedrooms upgraded and a boutique cinema added. Additionally, The Grand Cafe now occupies the former advertising offices of the building, serving brunch, afternoon tea and dinner to a soundtrack of live piano and jazz.

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."

Awards

* Boutique Hotel Of The Year Award – 2020 Scottish Hotel Awards * Hotel Design Gold Laurel – 2020 Scottish Hotel Awards * Voted one of the top hotels in the world – ''

Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club memb ...

'', 2007 * Voted one of the top hotels in the world – '' Departures'' * Nominated Hotel of the Year –

The AA AA Limited, trading as The AA (formerly The Automobile Association), is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. Th ...

, 2002 * One of the Top UK Business Hotels – ''

'', 2007 * One of the Top 20 UK hotels –

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

, 2004 * Simon Fraser was awarded Rising Star Restaurant Manager of the Year – Scottish Hotels of the Year Awards 2008http://www.scottishhoteloftheyearawards.com/docs/2008/SHOTY%202008%20Winners.pdf * Hotel is a member of The

Preferred Hotel Group Preferred Hotels & Resorts is a hotel chain, representing more than 650 independent hotels, resorts, and residences, across 85 countries. The company's corporate headquarters is situated in Newport Beach, California. It does not own, operate, or ...

* The hotel's North Bridge Brasserie has been awarded 1 Rosette

References

External links

Scotsman Hotel website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scotsman Hotel Victorian architecture in the United Kingdom Hotels in Edinburgh Listed hotels in Scotland Category A listed buildings in Edinburgh Reportedly haunted locations in Edinburgh 1902 establishments in Scotland 2001 establishments in Scotland Hotels established in 2001 Office buildings in Scotland