The Omni Centre is an entertainment and leisure complex in Greenside,

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, at the top of

Leith Walk Leith Walk is one of the longest streets in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is the main road connecting the east end of the city centre to Leith. Forming most of the A900 road, it slopes downwards from Picardy Place at the south-western end of the str ...

. It attracts over 4 million visitors a year, and was acquired in April 2024 from previous owners

Nuveen Nuveen is an American asset manager and wholly owned subsidiary of financial planning firm TIAA, itself known for its legacy focus on managing money for not-for-profit institutions such as universities and their employees. As a consequence of int ...

by a group related to the

Bata Shoe The Bata Corporation (known as Bata, and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, known as Baťa, ) is a multinational footwear, apparel and fashion accessories manufacturer and retailer of Moravian (Czech) origin, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzer ...

business.

Overview

The Omni was built on a steeply sloping site at Greenside Row, part of Edinburgh's New Town, on the location of a former church that was closed in 1978. It opened in 2002 creating a modern glass curtain wall, incorporating parts of the facade of the now demolished church. It is a five-minute walk from both

Edinburgh Waverley railway station Edinburgh Waverley (also known simply as Edinburgh; ) is the principal railway station serving Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the second busiest station in Scotland, after Glasgow Central. The station serves as the northern terminus of the East C ...

and Edinburgh Bus Station. Picardy Place

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

stop is just across the road from the main entrance, with several connecting bus stops close by. The Centre is close by

St James Quarter St James Quarter is a large galleria retail shopping centre and residential development in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is situated in the east end of the New Town, Edinburgh, New Town. History The site is built on the site of the St. J ...

. The complex is anchored by a 12-screen

Vue Vue or VUE may refer to: Places * Vue, Loire-Atlantique, a commune in France * The Vue, a skyscraper in Charlotte, North Carolina Arts, entertainment and media * Vue (band), a rock and roll band from San Francisco, California * Vue International, ...

cinema, a health and fitness club, a luxury five-star hotel (

The Glasshouse Hotel The Omni Centre is an entertainment and leisure complex in Greenside, Edinburgh, Greenside, Edinburgh, at the top of Leith Walk. It attracts over 4 million visitors a year, and was acquired in April 2024 from previous owners Nuveen by a group re ...

) and has a multi-level underground car park. The complex has several bars and restaurants, including

JD Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based ...

Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South Africa, South African multinational fast casual restaurant chain that specialises in Portuguese flame-grilled, peri-peri style Chicken as food, chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outl ...

and a street food market. Outside the centre are two large scrap metal giraffe sculptures called ''Dreaming Spires'', made by artist Helen Denerley as a result of a contest held by the Centre and installed in 2005. In 2023 it was one of two main venues for the

Edinburgh International Film Festival The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF), established in 1947, is the world's oldest continually running film festival. EIFF presents both UK and international films (all titles are World, international, European or UK Premieres), in al ...

The Glasshouse Hotel

The Glasshouse Hotel is part of the Omni Centre complex, and opened in June 2003 It is located on Greenside Place, next to the

Playhouse Theatre The Playhouse Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, located in Northumberland Avenue, near Trafalgar Square, central London. The Theatre was built by F. H. Fowler and Hill with a seating capacity of 1,200. It was rebuilt in ...

, on the edge of

Edinburgh's New Town The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original Neoclassicism, neo-classical and Georgian architecture, Georgian period architecture. Its ...

. It was built on the site of Lady Glenorchy's Free Church incorporating the façade of the church as its frontage. The hotel has 77 bedrooms (of which 20 are suites, all named after a specific brand of whisky) and two acre roof garden, overlooking Calton Hill.

References

External links

The Glasshouse Hotel

Autograph Collection Hotels
{{Culture and leisure facilities in Edinburgh Buildings and structures in Edinburgh Hotels in Edinburgh Entertainment venues in Scotland New Town, Edinburgh 2002 establishments in Scotland