Balmoral Hotel

Balmoral Hotel
The Balmoral Hotel seen from North Bridge
Former names	North British Hotel
General information
Architectural style	Victorian with elements of Scots baronial
Address	1 Princes Street Edinburgh EH2 2EQ
Construction started	1896
Opened	1902
Owner	Rocco Forte Hotels
Technical details
Material	Sandstone
Design and construction
Architect(s)	William Hamilton Beattie
Other information
Number of rooms	167
Number of suites	20
Number of restaurants	3 (Brasserie Prince; Number One; Palm Court)
Number of bars	3 (Bar Prince; The Gallery; Scotch)
Parking	Valet parking
Public transit access	St Andrew Square Edinburgh Waverley
Website
www.roccofortehotels.com/hotels-and-resorts/the-balmoral-hotel/
Listed Building – Category B
Official name	1 Princes Street and 2-18 (Even Nos) North Bridge, The Balmoral Hotel (Former North British Hotel)
Designated	14 June 1994
Reference no.	LB30315

The Balmoral Hotel is a hotel and landmark in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is located in the heart of the city at the east end of Princes Street, the main shopping street beneath the Edinburgh Castle rock, and the southern edge of the New Town.

It is accessed from Princes Street, on its north side, and flanked by North Bridge and Waverley Steps. The latter gives pedestrian access to Waverley Station to the south, to which it was formerly linked.

Resulting from a competition in 1895, the hotel was designed by William Hamilton Beattie for the North British Railway Company as a railway hotel adjacent to their newly rebuilt Waverley station.^[1] It was completed after Beattie's death by his assistant Andrew Robb Scott and opened as the North British Railway Hotel on 15 October 1902.^[2][3] The site, 52 North Bridge, was previously the location of pharmacists Duncan, Flockhart and company; William Flockhart supplied Dr. (later Sir) James Young Simpson with the first chloroform anaesthetic, which he tried on himself at his home 52 Queen Street in 1847, and became standard practice in childbirth. The International Association for the Study of Pain placed a commemorative plaque at the hotel in 1981.^[4]

The building's architecture is Victorian, influenced by the traditional Scottish baronial style. For most of the 20th century it was known as the North British Hotel or the N.B. While under railway ownership, the hotel had porters in red jackets who would take passengers and their luggage directly into the hotel via a lift.^[5] Ownership passed into the hands of the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) in 1923.

After nationalisation of the railways in 1948, the hotel became part of British Transport Hotels until it was privatised and purchased by The Gleneagles Hotel Company in 1983.^[2][6]

In 1988, the hotel closed for a major refurbishment with a final cost of £23,000,000, and the building was purchased in 1990 by Balmoral International Hotels. On 12 June 1991, Edinburgh-born actor Sean Connery officially reopened the hotel as The Balmoral, Gaelic for "majestic dwelling".^[2][6] A plaque in the hotel lobby commemorates the occasion. The Balmoral was acquired by Forte Group, becoming part of their "Forte Grand" collection of international high-end hotels.^{[citation needed]} Following a hostile takeover of Forte Group in 1996 by Granada plc, the hotel was put up for sale by its new owners. On 1 March 1997 it was acquired by Sir Rocco Forte,^[2][6][7] becoming part of Rocco Forte Hotels.

The Balmoral was the first hotel in Scotland to be awarded five stars by Forbes Travel Guide.^[8] The Number One restaurant under executive chef Jeff Bland was awarded a Michelin star in 2003,^[2] but lost its star in 2022.^[9] The main event spaces and those bedrooms with views of Edinburgh Castle were refurbished in 2017.^[7]

The hotel's clock tower, at 190 feet (58 m) high, is a prominent landmark in Edinburgh's city centre.^[2]. The clock has been maintained by the Scottish clockmakers James Ritchie & Son and its subsidiary Smith of Derby since 1902.

The clock is famously set to run three minutes fast, to give passengers more time to catch their trains.^[10] The only day that it shows the correct time is 31 December (Hogmanay), for the city's New Year celebrations.^[10][11] In 2020, the hotel decided not to set the clock right for that year's Hogmanay, citing a desire to have three minutes less of that year, although the practice resumed in subsequent years.^[12]

The clock's original mechanism was replaced by a computer-controlled system in 2014, after a fault in one of the cogs caused the clock to stop several times over a six-week period. The original mechanism, although no longer in use, is still present in the tower; it cannot be moved because of its weight.^[11]

In July 1932, American comedy duo Laurel and Hardy visited the North British Station Hotel as part of their visit to Edinburgh. Crowds gathered outside the hotel to catch a glimpse of them; the occasion was captured in one of the earliest videos of the hotel captured on film.^[13]

In early 2007, author J. K. Rowling finished the last book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, at the Balmoral Hotel. Rowling left a signed statement written on a marble bust of Hermes in her room: "JK Rowling finished writing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this room (552) on 11th Jan 2007."^[14] The room has since been renamed the "J.K. Rowling Suite", and the bust has been placed in a glass display case to protect it. The suite is a pilgrimage site for Harry Potter fans.^[15]

In October 2010, Oprah Winfrey filmed a one-hour episode of Oprah at The Balmoral. She interviewed J. K. Rowling from room 230, the Scone & Crombie Royal Suite.^[16] Rowling spoke about finishing Deathly Hallows at the hotel.^[17]

• Harbourmaster's House, Dysart
• Sabhal Mòr Ostaig
• Torloisk House

• Media related to Balmoral Hotel at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website