Edinburgh Hotels

Hoteliers have invested no less than $35 million over the past four years in both new and existing properties. The results: more comfort and more rooms. Except at peak seasons, Edinburgh is (temporarily at least) glutted with beds. The list that follows is selective and, as for Other Places to Visit profiled in this book, hotels have been selected for their suitability for business travelers.

Caledonian Hotel, Princes Street. Rooms/suites: 252. A rather grand hostelry, built early this century, and recently refurbished to its original Edwardian elegance. It looks out on busy (and noisy) Princes Street, but the walls are thick. Good views of Edinburgh Castle and its gardens. Scottish fin de siecle living at its best.

Carlton Highland Hotel, North Bridge. Tel.: 556 7277. Telex: 727001. Fax: 556 2691. Rooms/suites: 220. The building is old, with conical turrets; the hotel is new, opened in 1995. Lures include a leisure center with swimming pool, Jacuzzi, squash courts, sauna and Turkish baths, snooker, and gymnasium.

Crest Hotel, Queensferry Road. Tel.: 332 2442. Telex: 72541. Fax: 3323408. Rooms/suites: 120. About twenty minutes from the city center by car or taxi, the Crest is blandly modern but does have spectacular views of the Firth of Forth and the Pentland Hills.

Edinburgh Sheraton Hotel, I Festival Square. Tel.: 229 9131. Telex: 72398. Fax: 228 4510. Rooms/suites: 279. You'll suffer little or no culture shock when you wake up at the Sheraton. The hotel's restaurants volunteer various tastes of Scotland, however. Location: handily central.

Forth Bridge's Moat House, South Queensferry. Tel.: 331 1199. Telex: 727430. Fax: 3191733. Rooms/suites: 108. A new leisure center provides swimming, Jacuzzis, squarish courts, snooker tables, and a health and beauty studio. Location: five miles from the airport and a 15 minute drive from the city center.

George Hotel, 19 25 George Street. Tel.: 225 1251. Telex: 72570. Fax: 226 5644. Rooms/suites: 203. In the heart of the New Town, the George is comfortable and quiet, and though refurbished has an Edwardian air to it which isn't surprising, given its history.

Howard Hotel, 32 36 Great King Street. Tel.: 557 3500. Telex: 727887. Fax: 727 887. Rooms/suites: 25. Staying at the Howard is rather like staying at somebody's home. Not surprising: it's actually three Georgian houses turned into a hotel. Food has a Scots accent a skirl of the pipes, so to speak.

King James Thistle Hotel, Leith Street. Tel.: 556 0111. Telex: 727200. Fax: 557 5333. Rooms/suites: 147. One of the city's newer hotels, this sets out to attract the business executive with first class telecommunications and meeting rooms fitted with state of the art audiovisual systems. Good location: bang in the city center, but in a tranquil street.

Ladbroke Dragonara Hotel, 69 Belford Road. Tel.: 332 2545. Telex: 727979. Fax: 332 3805. Rooms/suites: 146. Interesting mixture of old and new: one of the bars is in a former granary. The hotel's frontage overlooks the turbulent river known as the Water of Leith.

North British Hotel, Princes Street. Tel.: 556 2414. Telex: 72332. No Fax. Rooms/suites: 172. When Britain's railroad pioneers built, they really built. The North British is testimony to their belief that a chap couldn't have a good night's sleep unless he was in a high ceilinged, thick walled bedchamber, with a bathroom the size of a ballroom. The North British is a splendid example of what might be called the "edifice complex.