Gleneagles Townhouse – New Town grandeur behind a banker's façade

On the east side of St Andrew Square, where Edinburgh's New Town turns from shopfronts to Georgian gravitas, Gleneagles Townhouse occupies a mansion raised in 1781 for George Ramsay, 8th Earl of Dalhousie, which later passed to the British Linen Company and then to the Bank of Scotland. Gleneagles, the Perthshire resort that has spent almost a century on its 850-acre estate, spent five years converting the Category A-listed building into its first city address, opening the doors on 6 June 2022 as a 33-room hotel, all-day restaurant and private members' club. The MICHELIN Guide gives it Two MICHELIN Keys. Behind the pedimented stone façade, little of the old bank has been erased: granite columns, marble fireplaces and a glass-domed hall remain, repurposed rather than disguised. It is a hotel built, quite literally, from the fabric of Edinburgh finance, turned into something determinedly sociable.

01The house

The building's story runs deeper than most hotel histories. Built as a private mansion, the site at 39 St Andrew Square was raised in 1781 for George Ramsay, the 8th Earl of Dalhousie, before the British Linen Company, one of Scotland's oldest banking houses, acquired it in the early nineteenth century. Gleneagles took on the former Bank of Scotland headquarters at 37–39 St Andrew Square and spent five years restoring it with architects 3DReid, working alongside interior designers Simpson & Brown and AIME Studios, before opening in June 2022 as the brand's first venture beyond Auchterarder in nearly a century.

The transformation kept faith with the building rather than overwriting it. The grand glass-domed hall, which dates from 1846, still anchors the ground floor, and the facade is topped by six statues looking down over four flags above the entrance. Inside, high corniced ceilings, polished granite columns, marble fireplaces, wood panelling and ornate tiled flooring survive intact, while new artwork by contemporary Scottish artists, predominantly women, was added throughout as a quiet nod to the era when female bank employees had to resign on marriage.

02Rooms and suites

The 33 bedrooms are arranged across four categories, each shaped by the Georgian bones of the building. Nook rooms are the smallest, rear-facing without a view and sized around 29 to 32 square metres; House rooms, 26 to 32 square metres, open onto various outlooks; Town rooms climb to 30 to 36 square metres with city views; and Master rooms, the largest at 39 to 40 square metres, face directly onto St Andrew Square and come with a free-standing bath. Across all categories, rooms embrace the building's noble heritage with high ceilings, antique rugs, and free-standing tubs, paired with characterful wooden floors and comfortable king-size beds.

Insider tip

Lamplighters rooftop bar is for guests and members only; book The Spence ahead for dinner.

Guests staying at the Townhouse are given a house guest's preferential access to The Spence for meals and to the members' spaces, including the rooftop bar, gym and wellness rooms usually reserved for club members.

03Where to eat

The social centre of the building is The Spence, the all-day 120-seat restaurant situated in the bank's former glass-domed main hall, serving a menu rooted in classics with a modern twist from breakfast through to late dinner. It opened under head chef Jonny Wright, who returned to his native Scotland with years of experience in the UK and Europe and named the restaurant after the old Scots word for a larder, reflecting his own enthusiasm for Scotland's natural ingredients. The room itself carries dusty pink granite columns, velvet sofas and an Art Deco bar, a lighter, more feminine counterpoint to the dark green livery familiar from the Perthshire original.

04The bar

Up on the fifth floor, Lamplighters is the roof terrace bar exclusive to members and hotel guests, with sweeping views over Edinburgh's storied skyline and historic Old Town. The terrace stretches out across town and, on a clear evening, as far as the Firth of Forth, while the drinks list rotates seasonally through locally inspired cocktails, whiskies, beers, spirits and wine. It has become known as the space hotel guests head to last, after dinner at The Spence, for a nightcap with a view few other Edinburgh rooftops can match.

05Spa and wellbeing

Down in the bank's former vault, protected by its original strong-room doors, The Strong Rooms deliver a wellness offer built around more than 60 complimentary classes, from yoga and Pilates to spinning, across two dedicated studios. The gym is equipped with the latest machines from Technogym, and the space adds a cryotherapy chamber and infrared sauna for guests looking for recovery rather than just exercise. Beyond fitness, treatment rooms offer Gleneagles' own signature therapies alongside Dr. Barbara Sturm facials and Tata Harper body and face treatments, all set within what was once the bank's most secure room.

06The neighbourhood

St Andrew Square sits at the heart of Edinburgh's New Town, a short walk from Waverley Station and George Street's shopping, and close enough to the Old Town and Royal Mile to reach on foot. The hotel's own guide to the city favours smaller addresses over the chains that ring the square itself: Tipo for pasta, the Palmerston for French-leaning cooking built on named suppliers, and Mirin for dishes such as smoked haddock in laksa broth. Further afield, the Townhouse points guests toward Stockbridge's Lannan Bakery, the orange-fronted Little Capo, speakeasy cocktail bar Panda and Sons on Queen Street, and a slow walk along the Water of Leith through Dean Village.

07Making the most of a stay

Membership is central to how the Townhouse operates, and becoming a member unlocks priority restaurant reservations, discounted rates, and access to the hotel's reciprocal clubs in London, San Francisco, and Reykjavik, as well as the private Counting Rooms and Telling Rooms for gatherings of up to ten. For visitors who want the full Gleneagles story, the hotel itself suggests treating a city stay as half of a round trip, pairing a night on St Andrew Square with time at the 850-acre Perthshire estate that started it all.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.