W Hotels to make Scottish debut with Edinburgh’s controversial ‘ribbon hotel’
The controversial ‘ribbon hotel’, which received opposition from planning officials and local residents, will be operated under Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ W Hotels brand.
Set to open in 2021, the 214-bedroom hotel was approved by Edinburgh Council in August last year and will be part of TH Real Estate’s St James scheme – an £850m plan to regenerate the city’s St James shopping centre.
The hotel will become the second W hotel in the UK, joining the company’s London Leicester Square property which opened in 2011. It will feature 20 suites and one “extreme wow suite”, a restaurant, rooftop bar, outdoor terrace, gym, spa, the brand’s W lounge and 2,450 sq ft of events space.
The building has been described is the ‘ribbon hotel’ due to a steel band that will wind around the property, which planning official feared could be “too shiny and reflective”.
A petition was launched last summer to overturn the approval of the building, with one person calling the property “The Golden Turd”.
Michael Wale, president of EAME at Starwood, said: “As an established business hub with a thriving global tourism industry, we are confident that there will be a huge appetite for our innovative lifestyle brand in the Scottish capital.
“W Edinburgh’s location at the pulsing heart of the new Edinburgh St James development, combined with its innovative design, contemporary interiors and the W brand’s signature programming, will create the perfect setting for the second W hotel in the United Kingdom.”
