199 rooms across seven interconnected Robert Adam-designed Georgian townhouses on Charlotte Square — the most architecturally important address in the New Town, with the celebrated Bramble cocktail bar downstairs and Garden by Hamilton's around an interior courtyard.
"On Robert Adam's Charlotte Square — designed in 1791 as the New Town's grand western terminus and considered Adam's residential masterpiece. The hotel knits together seven of the original townhouses (the same architect designed Bute House next door, the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland). The Bramble cocktail bar in the basement has been one of Britain's most decorated cocktail rooms since 2007."
Kimpton Charlotte Square Hotel occupies seven interconnected townhouses on the north side of Charlotte Square — the residential set-piece of James Craig's New Town plan, designed by Robert Adam in 1791 and completed after his death in 1820. Charlotte Square is the western counterpart to St Andrew Square at the eastern end of George Street, and Adam's elevation here — a continuous Palladian palace-front disguising what are technically twenty separate townhouses — is regarded as the finest piece of Georgian residential architecture in Britain. Bute House (No. 6 Charlotte Square) is the official residence of the First Minister of Scotland; the Georgian House (No. 7) is owned by the National Trust for Scotland and operates as a museum.
The hotel has operated on the site under successive identities since the late 1980s — first as Roxburghe Hotel (a separate, much earlier building), then as the Roxburghe Hotel after expansion into the adjacent townhouses, then as Macdonald Roxburghe (briefly), and most recently as Roxburghe by Cinnamon Collection before InterContinental Hotels Group acquired the property and undertook a comprehensive renovation. The hotel reopened on 8 July 2019 as Kimpton Charlotte Square — Kimpton's second UK property and the brand's flagship Edinburgh address. The renovation preserved the Adam architectural envelope (every fireplace, cornice, and staircase that survived the previous changes), updated all 199 guestrooms, and reconfigured the public spaces around the central courtyard garden.
The 199 rooms are arranged across the seven townhouses' five floors, with the original Georgian internal staircases and connecting corridors knitting the buildings together. Standard categories run a generous size for an Edinburgh New Town building (mid-30s square metres for a Deluxe Double); the Junior Suites and Suites occupy the larger original drawing-room footprints on the upper floors, with the original cornice work and many of the original fireplaces intact. Some rooms look onto Charlotte Square Garden (the private central garden, accessible to hotel guests during daytime hours); others overlook the hotel's interior courtyard with its retractable roof. The named suites — the Bute, the Adam, the Charlotte — are the headline units.
The Garden by Hamilton's is the all-day brasserie under the courtyard glass roof. BABA — the cocktail bar replacing the previous Bramble in 2019 — runs an Eastern-Mediterranean menu with one of the city's most-decorated cocktail programmes. (The original Bramble Bar relocated nearby on Queen Street and continues independently — frequently named one of the top cocktail bars in the world.) The Spa at Charlotte Square is the basement-level wellness offering, with a steam, sauna, and treatment rooms. For modern boutique-luxury Edinburgh at a price point typically 30–40% below The Balmoral or Gleneagles Townhouse, Kimpton Charlotte Square is the most consistently strong value.
For Edinburgh anniversaries calibrated on architecture and value rather than name-brand-grand-hotel, Kimpton Charlotte Square is the strongest mid-tier answer. The Junior Suites and Suites occupy original Georgian drawing rooms with the Adam cornice work intact; BABA at dinner runs the city's most-talked-about cocktail programme; the spa and the courtyard restaurant handle the daytime brief. The price point is typically 30–40% below the Princes Street grand hotels for comparable square footage and architectural quality.
Charlotte Square's western position works well for business stays anchored on the Lothian Road financial corridor, the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (8 minutes), and George Street's banking offices. The function-room infrastructure (the original Charlotte Suite ballroom for 200 banquet, plus six smaller meeting rooms across the townhouses) handles board meetings and small conferences. The Garden at lunch is the most reliable working table among the New Town boutique hotels.
The hotel's scale (199 rooms) and the central New Town location make it one of the easiest Edinburgh stays to navigate alone. The Garden brasserie and BABA both function well as solo dining rooms. Charlotte Square's private garden (accessible to guests) is the city's quietest central green space; the National Galleries on Princes Street and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery on Queen Street are both ten minutes on foot. The spa and the gym handle the daytime structure that solo travellers typically value.
38 Charlotte Square
Edinburgh EH2 4HQ
Scotland, United Kingdom
Princes Street 5 minutes; George Street 2 minutes; Edinburgh International Conference Centre 8 minutes; Waverley Station 12 minutes; Edinburgh Airport 25 minutes by tram from West End stop
199 rooms (incl. 17 suites)
Deluxe Doubles from £300/night
Premier Doubles from £400/night
Junior Suites from £550/night
Signature Suites from £950/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Robert Adam townhouse architecture 1791–1820; reopened as Kimpton July 2019; IHG One Rewards
The Garden by Hamilton's brasserie
BABA cocktail bar & restaurant
The Spa at Charlotte Square
Original Robert Adam architecture
Charlotte Square Garden access
Pet-friendly (Kimpton brand standard)
Daily complimentary social hour
From £300/night. Standard rooms book two months ahead for spring and autumn weekends; the named Suites and the Bute Suite book three to four months ahead, twelve months for the August Edinburgh Festival peak and Hogmanay (December 30–January 2).
The 1902 Rocco Forte grand hotel above Princes Street with the iconic 58-metre clock tower and Number One Michelin restaurant.
33 rooms in a restored 18th-century Bank of Scotland building on St Andrew Square with rooftop bar and members club.
The Caledonian — Edinburgh's other grand railway hotel from 1903, red sandstone at the West End with the city's best castle views.