Edinburgh dresses up

With Gothic daybeds, velvets, swags and baronial turrets, the city’s hotels blend heritage and luxury, says

relaxation suite, swimming pool and gym. Several rooms overlook Princes Street, and some bathrooms come with film stills of Sean Connery. Number One, the hotel’s Michelinstarred restaurant, focuses on Scottish ingredients. wooden shoehorns. The range of sumptuous hot-tub suites is standout. In the restaurant, the grill oven is the backbone of a steak-led menu that is deceptively simple (bread comes with three kinds of butter) and big on local provenance (Shetland smoked mussels and Puddledub Farm lamb). Breakfast is pleasingly generous, with a continuing focus on high-quality Scottish ingredients. This used to be the offices of The Scotsman newspaper, and has been carefully converted to retain its Edwardian grandeur – oak panelling, marble staircase, and baronial turrets. There’s a vast gym and a slinky, stainless-steel pool, plus an Aveda spa. Or curl up with popcorn and ice cream for Sunday afternoon classic films in the private screening room. The bedrooms boast big marble bathrooms, well-chosen Scottish watercolours and great city panoramas. Expect treats like haggis with single malt whisky jelly in the brasseriestyle restaurant. The Howard is like a dowager duchess – it may be showing its age, but it has never lost its essential elegance. It has a countryhouse hotel feel, with none of the pretensions. The mood is easeful, informal indulgence, with public rooms tricked out in brocades and swags, Knole sofas, and deep armchairs next to a cosy fire. A personal butler will park your car, unpack your bag, iron your shirt, pick up your shopping, run a bath, make your tea, shake your martini and read your children a bedtime story, if required. generous suites, across three linked West End town houses. Classically decorated, it is all soothingly splendid. Fireplaces, enormous windows and cherrywood or walnut furniture all add to the elegant decor. Pretty well every service you could want is available here, delivered with discreet and charming efficiency: free on-site valet parking, airport pickup, same day laundry and dry-cleaning services and 24-hour concierge assistance.