Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian

The Hotel

The Caledonian opened on 21 December 1903 as the Caledonian Railway Hotel, commissioned by the Caledonian Railway Company as the western counterpart to the slightly earlier (1902) North British Hotel — now The Balmoral — at the eastern end of Princes Street. Architect James Miller delivered a Locharbriggs red sandstone palace whose colour deliberately distinguished it from the grey-sandstone Edinburgh standard. Princes Street Caledonian Station occupied the ground floor and west wing; the railway closed in 1965 and the station tracks now lie beneath the Sheraton Grand on Lothian Road, but the hotel itself has continued without interruption since 1903.

Hilton Worldwide acquired the hotel and undertook a comprehensive £24 million restoration between 2010 and 2012, reopening as Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh – The Caledonian on 25 September 2012. The restoration restored the original Peacock Alley (the long Edwardian arrival corridor with its Carrara marble floor), the Caley Bar, and the original façade detailing, while modernising every guestroom, adding the spa, and inserting the rooftop Castle Suite that did not exist in the 1903 building. The 241 rooms (including 70 suites) are arranged across the seven floors of the original Miller building, with the most desirable category — the Castle View rooms on the south side, floors 4–7 — looking directly across Princes Street Gardens to Edinburgh Castle on its volcanic crag.

The Pompadour was the hotel's flagship Michelin-starred restaurant under Daniel Galmiche from 2012 until 2016 (one Michelin star); the room subsequently passed through changes and now operates as the Pompadour, an evening-only fine-dining room with the original Louis XV-period interiors restored. Grazing by Mark Greenaway is the all-day brasserie. The Caley Bar is the evening room and one of the city's deepest single-malt whisky inventories — over 250 expressions on the open shelves. Peacock Alley is the afternoon-tea venue, run under the Waldorf Astoria global Peacock Alley brand. The Guerlain Spa on the lower-ground level is the city's most complete hotel spa, with a 19-metre indoor pool, sauna, steam, and a full menu of Guerlain treatments.

Position is the second proposition. The West End (Lothian Road and Princes Street Gardens west) is the quieter, more residential half of central Edinburgh — closer to Edinburgh Castle (eight minutes on foot via the gardens) and the Lyceum Theatre, a touch further from Waverley Station and the Royal Mile (twelve minutes). For travellers prioritising the Castle view and a quieter address, the Caledonian is the choice; The Balmoral at the other end of Princes Street is the choice for travellers prioritising the train station and the busier eastern half of the New Town.

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