OT: luxury hotel in Edinburgh

I considered posting this in the Luxury Hotels forum, but not much about Edinburgh there, so hoping some of our Scottish friends on here can help.
Several of us are visiting Edinburgh for a wedding early next year. We were due to stay at The Balmoral, but have been very unimpressed in recent visits (decor and service): it seems to have faded in recent years. An alternative being considered is The Howard, does anyone have any views on this hotel please, or other recommendations?
Given the age range in our party, funky boutique hotels are probably out as well. Thanks!

I stayed at the Scotsman (http://www.lhw.com/property.aspx?propertyid=118) and would stay there again. It's smaller but very nicely appointed and just as well-situated as the Balmoral. It's also one of the Leading Hotels of the World.
I wouldn't call it a funky hotel, but I suppose it is a bit boutiquey, at least in comparison to the Balmoral. Having stayed at both the Balmoral and the Scotsman, I'd stay in the Scotsman again, but probably not the Balmoral.

Besides the Balmoral I would consider either The Scotsman or even The Glasshouse.

I would second the Scotsman, I go there almost daily to use the gym/pool which is nice and suits me fine. Though I have never been in a room I have eaten in both the restaurants and walked through the hotel many times and I have always found the staff friendly- it is certainly much more intimate than the Balmoral. Though it has a rather less glamorous location.

You could also try the Hilton (the old Calledonian) at the other end of Princes St- it is traditional but not really as good as the Scotsman/Balmoral IMHO.

Otherwise you could try the George (on George St.) which I think was done up last year-and is supposed to be a decent hotel- others I am sure however will know more about it.

The George and the Glasshouse are probably the best hotels in Edinburgh, IMO, having spent a lot of time working there recently. The Glasshouse on the Boutique end, but just beautiful.

Malmaison at Leith water worth considering also.
Avoid the SAS like the plague.
For out of town, I am a fan of the Norton House, especially if you get a room in the older part of the hotel (Main house)

Don't like the George = been done up yes - but still not great.

Malmaison down in Leith is worth a look.

I stayed at the Balmoral when I was in Edinburgh for a conference last year. I think it was the only hotel on my company's list so it would have been a hassle to stay anywhere else (and we had a good rate with them).

Overall I would describe it as an ok 5-star business hotel, but not a luxury hotel. It ticked most of the boxes required to get 5-star status (enough flunkies running around, 24-hour room service, decent plumbing, big traditional style bathroom) but nothing about it was at all interesting or stylish.

However, the really bad feature of the hotel I only discovered at about 1am, after finishing my presentation for the next day, when it was a bit too late to do much about it: the bed was appalling uncomortable. It was far too soft and it had nasty cheap ill-fitting unstarched bed linen which wrinkled up while you were sleeping on it. I got an extremely bad night's sleep as a result and could hardly stay awake at the conference the next day.

I would never stay there again.

We stayed in a Suite at The Glasshouse and it was great. A real breath of fresh air. Can't wait to go back some time.

More votes for both the Scotsman and the Glasshouse - both way better than the Balmoral.

Malmaison is fine but really not in the same league.

Glasshouse every time

In addition to Malmaison, the Hilton Caley and the Glasshouse, the Bonham is another very decent hotel, located in the West End.

The Glasshouse for modern and trendy that is central. Nothing comes close. A room is great and a suite is a real treat. ^

The Malmaisson is fine for the restaurants and bars in Leith but I do not think that much of the one in Edinburgh compared to others; like the one in Manchester. It was one of the earlier ones.

Moving this off to the UK & Ireland board

What's wrong with the SAS?

Hi there Irish Lad:

Have you considered the possibility of staying outside the city? How about staying at Dalhousie Castle? It is about a 20 minute drive from central Edinburgh and if your party stayed in the "Themed" rooms or suites, I don't think you would hear any complaints. It could add another dimension to the trip (if it wasn't inconvenient to be outside central Edinburgh). Who wouldn't want to stay in a castle whilst they were in Scotland?