Plans for £75m Rosewood Edinburgh unveiled

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts has been appointed to manage the new Rosewood Edinburgh hotel in 2018 if plans to transform the former Royal High School are approved.

Plans for the hotel were unveiled on September 2 following details submitted in a planning application to the City of Edinburgh Council by Hoskins Architects.

The move follows a comprehensive consultation process and will see the grade A-listed property kept largely intact, with glass galleries leading guests to their rooms on the terraces.

Despite this, plans for the property, which has been empty since 1968 when the school moved to Barnton, came under the criticism of some heritage groups who lambasted plans to add two large extensions on either side of the property.

Architect Gareth Hoskins said that the two new wings containing the hotel’s bedrooms would be set away from the original building and landscaped to blend with the surrounding hill.

Hoskins said: “We’ve listened and taken on board views from a wide range of organisations and individuals through the pre-planning process to develop a fundamentally different design for the site.”

The 147-bedroom hotel, located in Edinburgh’s Calton Hill, will feature three restaurants and bars, a spa, fitness centre, indoor swimming pool, event spaces, meeting rooms and a 3,200 square-foot ballroom.

Radha Arora, president at Rosewood, said: “The former Royal High School is an Edinburgh landmark and we will be drawing on our experience with historic properties such as The Carlyle, Rosewood Castiglion del Bosco and Hôtel de Crillon to ensure the heritage and history of this building is preserved and celebrated.”

If the plans get the go-ahead, work will start on the hotel in early 2016 with doors expected to open in March 2018. It will be Rosewood’s fourth property in Europe and its second in the UK – it already runs the Rosewood London.