Gleneagles Townhouse

Style

Bird of play

Setting

Storied St Andrew Square

Gleneagles hotel in Perthshire is spoken of in reverent tones as a grand Highland dame. But, for urbanites, they’ve deposited a vast amount of aristocratic swagger and utmost-luxury living into Gleneagles Townhouse, their centrally placed counterpart in Edinburgh’s New Town. Expenses have not been spared on this former earl’s residence and Bank of Scotland building, with rich decoration throughout, a rooftop bar that’s a credit to the city, card-holding members’ spaces, and a spa in the former vaults. By all accounts, one for the memory bank.

Facilities

Rooms

33.

Checkout

11am. Earliest check-in, 3pm, but both are flexible, on request and subject to availability.

More Details

Rates include breakfast (perhaps a ‘nduja scramble, almond brioche or smoothie bowl).

Also

Common areas, one Town Room and one House Room are wheelchair-accessible, where bathrooms have roll-in showers with fold-down seats, and there are vibrating alarms on request for guests with a hearing impairment. There's a lift to all floors too.

Fitness Center

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pet Friendly

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

Spa

At the Hotel

Wellness studio and gym, lounges, charged laundry and dry-cleaning and free WiFi throughout. In rooms: TV with streaming services, free-to-download newspapers and magazines, minibar, house-blend coffee and Pekoe tea from Leith, free snacks and bottled water, air-conditioning, bathrobes and slippers, hair-straighteners and bespoke bath products.

Our Favourite Rooms

Rooms come in different colourways, with various antiques on display, but each is glamorously Georgian, with rich velvets, parquet and marbles. You can go even further up in the world by booking a Town or Master room, which have a bath tub and more captivating city views.

Spa

If health is wealth, then Gleneagles is taking care of it very well — the former bank vaults here have been transformed into the Strong Rooms, a spa and gym space. It’s minted with an infrared sauna, cryotherapy chamber and treatments by the likes of Dr Barbara Sturm and Tata Harper; and guests have access to dozens of free classes (barre, Pilates, breathwork, strength and conditioning, spinning…). The equipment mirrors that at Gleneagles in Perthshire, so you can keep up your regime on a twinned stay.

Packing Tips

Yes, the hotel has sturdy umbrellas to borrow, so you can leave space for the finer, artisanal objets: cashmeres, wool and tweed tailoring, bespoke perfumes and bags, teas, something bottle-shaped, and — go on then — the odd sporran.

Also

The elegant Note Burning Room (formerly the board room) is only open to members — but, on occasion, longer-staying guests may be ushered in at the staff’s discretion.

Children

The hotel is more for those of whisky-sipping age, but interconnecting rooms, cots and babysitting (via external company Little Royals) can be requested.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

We like the bouncy mint-green banquettes tucked into nooks around the side of the dining room.

Dress Code

High-end dress over Highland dress — more Vivienne Westwood’s take on tartans and tweeds.

Hotel Restaurant

The Spence restaurant means ‘larder’ in Scottish, but this is no unvarnished-wood and crumpled-linen spot; it was once a manor house and lets you know it in no unsubtle style. Marble columns and gilded edges abound, a huge glass cupola floods light in on the dreichest days, and intricate cornicing frames bas reliefs and busts. Dining is an event, with show-off plates of fine Scottish produce (Tweed Valley Chateaubriand with burnt-butter hollandaise, herb gnocchi with black-olive caramel); Bloody Mary-sloshed breakfasts; a piano tinkling away; chocolate fountains at brunch club (the last weekend of each month); trolleys for champagne and desserts; and some tableside flambéeing. Be sure to add their afternoon tea to your social calendar, for gossip over rhubarb and custard choux buns or wild-mushroom cappuccinos with cheese straws.

Hotel Bar

Alfresco drinks – they do happen in Edinburgh, although it can be rare, so make them extra special on the Lamplighters Bar’s terrace, with sweeping city views and guarded by Georgian statuary; designed by Alexander Handyside Ritchie in 1848, they represented the six dominant industries of the time: navigation, commerce, manufacture, architecture, science and agriculture. Normally members-only, the bar welcomes hotel guests for indulgent drinks — a coconutty midori; an appletini turbocharged with absinthe; rum, coffee and white chocolate with shortbread; and mini, party-starting margs. Plus fine wines and a long whisky list more authentic than most ‘family tartans’ round these parts.

Last Orders

Breakfast is from 7.30am to 10am (from 8am on weekends); afternoon tea from 2.30pm to 4.30pm; and lunch and dinner from noon to 9.30pm, Sunday to Wednesday (10pm, Thursday to Saturday).

Room Service

Dine amid the splendour of your room round the clock (there’s a reduced menu from 10pm to 7am).

Planes

Edinburgh Airport has direct connections across the world, and it’s just a 30-minute taxi ride from the Townhouse. From London airports, flights take around an hour. Hotel staff can help with transfers, as long as you book 48 hours in advance.

Trains

The city’s main rail hub Waverley is a five-minute walk from the hotel. Trains arrive here direct from London King’s Cross or Euston in around four hours, with stops at York and Newcastle along the way.

Automobiles

Unless you’re trying to jog up the Mound or the steep staircases linking the Old and New Towns with a few whiskies in you, Edinburgh is pleasantly walkable. Only hire a car if the Highlands are calling; there are a limited number of guest spaces in the St James Quarter, which have to be requested 48 hours in advance.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

With Princes Street maybe 10, 15 steps from your door – depending on your gait – nothing’s really that far away. Edinburgh Castle, the Royal Mile, the National Galleries, Scott Monument, George Street shops, rainbow-hued Victoria Street and the preserved Georgian House are all within a 10-minute walk — Harvey Nichols is basically a neighbour.

Seek out the curious places — Armchair and Golden Hare books could keep bibliophiles for days. Dean Village and Circus Lane will fill your Insta grid, Underground Solution and Slow Progress Records fill niche vinyl needs (the latter has a coffee shop too), and Armstrongs vintage is a near-bottomless trove with still reasonable prices. If the sun shines, hit the Meadows for a picnic, or head out of the city to the Royal Botanic Gardens and Jupiter Artland sculpture park, and to see what’s on at the Biscuit Factory arts hub or in street-art-clad Quality Yard. After dark, try Bannermans or Whistle Binkies for live music; the Monkey Barrel for comedy; or descend into the old city’s vaults and closes on a ghost tour.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .