The rose petals on the bed weren't necessary, but our rider clearly states 'indefinable sense of magic'.

April 12, 2007 1:43 AM

I'm getting married in June - what's the best balance of luxury and value in hotels, for one night, in Edinburgh?

I'm getting married to my sweetheart on June 2nd in Edinburgh, where I'm from. However, I haven't lived in Edinburgh for nearly 3 years, and I've never stayed in a hotel there (plenty of family and friends to stay with usually).

However, for our wedding night, we're hoping to find a nice hotel to stay at, in central Edinburgh. We're only staying one night, then off on honeymoon, so I want to get somewhere pretty nice, but without spending the earth. Bonus for unusual or historic hotels.

I spent a lot of time over the last few years staying in Hiltons and Holiday Inns for work, so I'd rather avoid any of the major chains if I can.

Looking to spend between £150 and £250 for the night. I'd imagine some of the guests at the wedding might want to stay there too, so obviously the lower end of that scale would be good, given they're Americans coming over on a weak dollar. But we'll push the boat out for the right place.

posted by Happy Dave to grab bag (8 comments total)

Do you know that The Witchery has accommodation? That would seem to fit the bill, at the upper end of the scale. The Glasshouse and the Royal Scots Club look interesting, too. All links are to Tripadvisor pages.

Have a great day, and best wishes for your married life
posted by Jakey at 2:04 AM on April 12, 2007

My Top Three:

1. Tigerlily. Beautiful boutique hotel in original Georgian building. £250 will get you a small Georgian suite, huge room, high ceilings, the most comfortable kingsized bed on the planet, egyptian cotton sheets, wonderful bathroom, fire, plasma tv, great staff etc etc...

2. Prestonfield. Wonderfully OTT, 5 minute cab ride from Waverley Train Station, set in it's own grounds, gothic, glorious, great staff and so on...

3. The Howard. Quite simply a great hotel!
posted by brautigan at 2:54 AM on April 12, 2007

Oh, and for unusual have a look at Le Monde!
posted by brautigan at 2:55 AM on April 12, 2007

good luck getting the witchery at this short notice , 2nd the glasshouse , decent , modernity ,

if i was choosing , The Prestonfield would get my vote , but i havent sampled tiger lily. The only other consideration is that neither of them have a spa, which others do ,

avoid the usual suspects , unless your are getting suite ( balmoral / caledonian etc )

Best wishes and enjoy your stay.
posted by burr1545 at 3:53 AM on April 12, 2007

afterthought: if your running a tighter budget seeing as it could be group booked , which would be very expensive at the Prestonfield , , the Apex (International not City ) in the grassmarket. It has been refurbed and its central, but request a top floor castle view room , i dont think they all are

ok , im done , any questions my email is in my profile.
posted by burr1545 at 3:57 AM on April 12, 2007

Yeah, the Witchery is a favourite of the lassie, but they're fully booked, just checked. Tigerlily is looking like a winner...

Thanks for the responses thus far! Any more are appreciated.
posted by Happy Dave at 4:06 AM on April 12, 2007

Re: Tigerlily

Here is the Mini-Georgian Suite we stayed in. And if you can stretch to the full Georgian Suite at £295 it may be worth the extra wow factor.

I would say that on June 2nd, a Saturday night, the bars and basement (which holds a nightclub called Lulu) will be very busy and so the suites could be a little noisy. See Trip Advisor for opinions on this but maybe you're not planning to do much sleeping...

It's a wonderful hotel though and the staff are utterly superb.
posted by brautigan at 4:42 AM on April 12, 2007

Yay, we just booked Tigerlily!

Thanks for the thoughts troops!
posted by Happy Dave at 6:08 AM on April 12, 2007