The Balmoral

At the iconic Balmoral Hotel, guests receive a traditional Gaelic ‘a hundred thousand welcomes’ from a Birmingham scoutmaster and former pastry chef in a kilt. Peter, the doorman of the iconic hotel, is just as much a landmark as the hotel’s famous railway clock tower and the Duke of Wellington statue outside. The hotel must be one of the few in the world where you are greeted in your room by a rhubarb smoothie and then watched by Sir Sean Connery while you take a shower. The Edinburgh-born actor, who is a Freeman of the city, re-opened the Rocce Forte hotel in 1981 and stills from James Bond films are everywhere. The suites look over the castle, Waverley Station, Princess Street and the 61 m-high, 287-step Victorian Gothic Sir Walter Scott Monument built in 1844. In the Number One Restaurant, sommelier Laurence Jordan guides you through executive chef Jeff Bland’s tasting menu paired with wines—smoked salmon (2013 Riesling, Dreissigacker), hand-dived scallops (Domaine Trapet Gewurztraminer), Orkmey beef (2009 Garnacha) and Crème Fraiche Parfait (Carte d’Or, Beaumard).

Originally the North British Hotel (NB), the Balmoral has its own Tartan butler. Andy Fraser will track down your Scottish roots and escort you to a kilt fitting. Afternoon tea is taken in the Palm Court and Hadrian’s Brasserie serves excellent Scottish produce. The rooms are named after Scottish rivers and castles, apart from the JK Rowling Suite, where the author finished the last Harry Potter book. The hotel also has a spa and juice bar.