The Roseate Edinburgh

Just ten minutes to the west of Edinburgh’s city center is a hotel that’s hardly a hotel at all. The Roseate Edinburgh is a pair of Victorian-era neoclassical houses, one across the street from the other, divided into a total of 35 rooms. We’ve seen smaller, to be sure, but it’s rare that a city hotel room so perfectly captures the atmosphere of a bedroom in a classic country house. The proprietors are from Orkney, and they’ve brought as much of the charm of the Northern Isles with them as they could — the only thing missing is an ocean view.

While the houses are certainly well-preserved, the hoteliers haven’t been fussy about the interiors. A thorough renovation has left these houses looking as stylish as anything in Europe, in their own decidedly Scottish way. The look is contemporary-luxe rather than strictly period-correct, and that’s all to the good — and the comforts are first-rate, from handmade Vispring beds and Noble Isle bath products to smart TVs and Nespresso machines. Book a “luxury wee double” if all you need is a plush-but-cozy place to hang your hat, or upgrade to a suite if you’d like a freestanding roll-top tub in your capacious bedroom.

A hotel on this scale could get by with little more than an honesty bar, but the Ba’Bar is a proper all-day lounge, with a voluminous whisky cabinet and a long list of artisan gins, as well as a kitchen serving modern Scottish cuisine, from Orkney scallops to Cullen Skink.