With the ash cloud hanging over everyone’s head, it’s never been a better time to travel local. It is always surprising how many wonderful travel options there are right in our backyards! Edinburgh is one of those fantastic cities that always makes for a nice city break, even if you’ve been there a dozen times before (or even live there!).
Edinburgh is home to a great collection of boutique and design hotels, so if you’re stuck for a weekend getaway, consider these five fantastic boutique hotels on offer in Scotland’s capital city.
Hotel Missoni
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Hotel Missoni is the type of uber-chic boutique hotel that makes you feel like you could wear leopard print and get away with it. The hotel makes use of a stark black and white colour scheme with splashes of jewel tones in the tiling and furniture that give it a great design aesthetic. The entire lobby looks and feels like the Jetsons gone on safari. The rooms are luxurious but simple, touting a traditional hotel feel with stylish design elements, and all are equipped with iPod hook-ups, minibars, Nespresso coffee machines and free high speed wifi.
Doubles start at £120.
The Rutland Hotel
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The Rutland Hotel is a small, delicately designed boutique inn with only 12 rooms, each of which is individually designed and decorated. The decor emphasises “elegant glamour”, with richly coloured bedding and lush toiletries, and the furnishings here are opulently carved and stained, sometimes bordering on Goth. Standard rooms here include digital channels on HD plasma TVs, mp3 players that attach to a surround sound system and a rainfall shower with Korres bath products.
Doubles start at £125.
Rick’s
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Rick’s is the epitome of cool. Its 10 boutique rooms are styled with classic, modern decor – clean and simple. It is the detailed flourishes that make the rooms at Rick’s that much better – lamb’s wool blankets, walnut headboards, DVD players, fresh flowers on the nightstand. The rooms are centred on a covered courtyard across from Rick’s Bar, one of the chicest cocktail lounges in Edinburgh.
Doubles start at £95.
The Glasshouse
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Sun and fresh light are the main event at The Glasshouse, where rooms are breezed with floor-to-ceiling windows and guests can lavish in a rooftop lavender garden. This 5-star boutique hotel has won all sorts of accolades from the likes of Conde Nast Traveller and the Hotel Review Scotland (who named it the ‘Sexiest Hotel in Scotland’). Rooms here are brightened with natural light and warmed with earth tones inside, while forgiving the usual hotel feel by breaking up the room design so that beds overlook the windows. Among The Glasshouse’s more unique offerings are personalised business cards for guests, Highland Aromatics toiletries, a music library and a bathroom scale.
Doubles start at £130.
Le Monde
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The entire feel of Le Monde (Bistro pictured above) is that of cosy comfort designed to welcome weary travellers. Upscale bedding is combined with plush pillows, exposed brick walls, large windows and unique artwork to convey the feeling that you’ve just arrived home to your penthouse apartment bedroom. The six standard rooms here are styled after world cities: Miami, Beijing, Barcelona, Rio, St. Petersburg and Havana, each with its own decor that reflects that city’s atmosphere. Three downstairs bars have similar themes: Paris, Shanghai and Vienna, with opulent pinks and oranges that really take you on a journey around the world.
Doubles start from £135.
Photo by SqueezyBoy.
Tags: boutique hotels, design, Edinburgh, Hotel Missoni, Le Monde Hotel, Rick's, Scotland, The Glasshouse, The Rutland Hotel
