Ten of Scotland’s best five-star hotels
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Beyoncé, Bill Clinton, Anna Wintour, Simon Cowell, Mick Jagger, Missy Elliott, Karl Lagerfeld, Oprah Winfrey, Bono – a group of people you could reasonably expect to be well-versed in luxury travel, and one that has stayed at Edinburgh’s Balmoral Hotel in recent years, albeit separately. Tom Hanks lived there while filming The Da Vinci Code in 2002; Zara Phillips stayed on the eve of her wedding in July 2011; JK Rowling wrote the final Harry Potter instalment in room 552 (or as it’s now known, The JK Rowling Suite) in 2007 and in the 1960s it played host to Paul and Linda McCartney, Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor. Visitors have included Laurel and Hardy, the Queen Mother (who would order plain roast lamb), Edward Heath and Harold Wilson, while Father Christmas and the Easter Bunny make annual appearances. With its iconic address (No. 1 Princes Street) and landmark clock tower looming into the city skyline, The Balmoral is an Edinburgh institution.
The hotel, known then as The North British Station Hotel and owned by the North British Railway Company, opened in October 1902. It closed for a major refurbishment in 1988 and was re-opened by Sean Connery as The Balmoral, meaning ‘majestic dwelling’ in Gaelic, in 1991. Its 188 bedrooms, including 20 suites costing up to £2275 per night, overlook Arthur’s Seat, Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town vista and benefit from marble bathrooms, blankets designed exclusively for the hotel by Johnston’s of Elgin, concierge service, ‘teddy turn-down service’ for children, valet parking and 24-hour room service, if guests tire of the Michelin-starred Number One restaurant, the Bollinger Bar or afternoon tea with piano accompaniment in the Palm Court.
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The five-star spa offers treatments using ESPA and Sundari (developed by supermodel Christy Turlington) products, swimming pool with candlelit relaxation area, a Finnish dry sauna and Turkish steam sauna, and a gym complete with personal trainers and a complimentary health check service. VIP services available include after hours access for private shopping at Harvey Nichols, Jenners and Hamilton & Inches; guaranteed tee times at golf clubs with year-long waiting lists and tickets to sold out Edinburgh Festival shows. The Balmoral has been named Condé Nast’s Traveller’s top Scottish Hotel, a Fodor’s top 100 Global Icon, the Telegraph Travel Awards’ top Scottish hotel and second favourite in Britain.