The Witchery

Staying at The Witchery is an experience in itself. Walking into our room felt as though we had stepped backwards in time. The richness, drama and extraordinary attention to detail made us feel, just for a moment, as though we were yesterday’s royals rather than hotel guests. It is wonderfully theatrical and completely unlike an ordinary luxury hotel room. Our room was beautifully tended throughout our stay. We particularly loved the dedicated area for breakfast in the room — a small detail that made breakfast feel private and special. Even things such as our ice bucket being quietly replenished with fresh ice were noticed and appreciated. Dinner was excellent and the restaurant staff looked after us very well.

The one element we felt was missing was a more personal connection with the hotel itself. Reception shares a small desk at the entrance to the restaurant, and because of The Witchery’s unusual, detached layout, there isn’t really a central hotel environment where relationships naturally develop between guests and staff. Service was perfectly pleasant, but we missed that additional personal interest and warmth. That said, perhaps The Witchery’s strength lies somewhere else entirely. It transports you. For anyone wanting to experience the romance, history and slightly decadent atmosphere of old Edinburgh, staying here is something very special indeed.

Great experience. Brilliant staff, restaurant and food was wonderful.

It is very expensive and didn’t feel it was a 10 out of 10 for the cost. I was a little annoyed that I paid over the odds to stay, but I wasn’t gifted with a free bottle on arrival, (understanding that if you book direct you get a free bottle of champagne). I thought they might provide us with something simply due to the price we paid, but only received water.

Hard tondislike anything. The room was exceptionally well-decorated. Felt like living in a medieval suite with modern amenities. The hidden TV was a great touch. Also, having amazon echo in the room was quite convenient for me.

No common lobby area to hang around. Lots of decorative artifacts in the room, but not really much to interact with - would have been nice to have some interactive elements like a board game may be. There were booksnon the city and "catwalk" - could have been much more interesting choices - some medieval story/history book could go along with the theme much better. Was also expecting a witch figure somewhere to align with the hotels name. Restaurant is one of the finest and of course priced at a higher end - but I did not expect that it would charge around 2 pounds to provide the bun and butter for each person. Normally these comes for free at such high-end eating venues.

Myself and my partner stayed in the Armory and we wanted to leave some feedback before we post any reviews online regarding our stay. I'll start by stating that we enjoyed many things about our stay. The breakfast hamper was fantastic, the staff were extremely friendly, and the general vibe and theme of the room was great and more than exceeded our next expectations.

There was, unfortunately, some severe issues which had a negative impact on our stay: Bath facilities. We were unable to run a hot bath on our first night - the temperature of the water was mild at best. Additionally, we noticed that the shower head drips continuously, even when other guests are using their showers / baths. Since it drips directly on to your head, this obviously ruins any possibility of enjoying a bath, which was one of the things we most looked forward to. When we returned from the town on Friday evening, a member of staff had turned the thermostat to it's maximum setting, leading to sweltering heat on our return. This made the room extremely uncomfortable for over an hour, and induced a migraine for my partner, which essentially ruined the rest of our plans for the night. Not to mention the waste of energy, this is unacceptable. The mattress is extremely uncomfortable and dips in the middle.