BUSINESS EVENTS SCOTLAND’S FINEST VENUES
The Glenfiddich Suite’s soft
grey tones is an accomplished update to the Scotsman Hotel’s largest and most prestigious events space
A brand new story at Te Scotsman
Te iconic hotel is fast- becoming a premier meetings destination
BY KEVIN O’SULLIVAN W
ith its rich history of chronicling Scottish life, it is only fitting that the former home to the
Scotsman newspaper is now blazing a new trail – in the world of events. Te iconic building on North
Bridge in Edinburgh may not be the first place you think of when it comes to conferences and meetings, but recent upgrades have changed all that. Te hotel was recently bought
back into Scottish ownership for the first time in 10 years and the market has responded very positively to the change. Last month, the hotel won the regional Scottish Hotel awards for both City hotel of the year and Large Events hotel of the year for Edin- burgh and the Lothians and will go
through to the national finals for the two categories at the end of April. Te lavish Grand Café gives a
foretaste of a considered multi-mil- lion pound redevelopment, which is being overseen by Jim Hamilton, an award-winning designer whose work on Tigerlilly, the Blytheswood Hotel and Corinthian Club has been widely acclaimed. Tat attention to detail even goes
down to the chandelier in the café, which acts as centrepiece for the space and provides a real sense of luxury, evocative of a bygone era. Te overall aim is to project the
Scotsman Hotel not only as a leisure destination – the rooms are under- going refurbishment, but also as a destination for business meetings. To that effect, Te Glenfiddich
and Balvenie suites are now unrec- ognisable; from rather outmoded rooms they have been utterly trans- formed into modern events spaces. Te muted grey tones and retract-
able partition gives the larger Glenfid- dich room the flexibility to accom- modate meetings of 12-230 people. Every design aesthetic has been
34 | EVENTSBASE | SPRING 2019
created, crafted and executed by Hamilton and the carefully consid- ered process has been calculated to allow pause for reflection. “It’s not going to be a rushed pro-
cess,” says Caroline Martin, Head of Sales Head of Sales – Edinburgh & North East. “Tis is a historic building and we want to ensure any changes we make are sympathetic to its rich cultural heritage. So far, the transformation of the Grand Café has definitely been the cen- trepiece of the redevelopment and we’ve been inundated with inqui- ries since the reopening; but we’re now reaching a point where we’re keen to showcase more of the work that has been carried out, and we’re confident Te Glenfiddich and Te Balvenie are events spaces that will appeal to that market.” In addition to the comfort of a
well-appointed function room, Te Glenfiddich - which has a
secreted bar area built into the side panels of the room - opens out to a Garden Suite – an outdoor space illuminated by atmospheric light- ing, which is ideal for receptions. For more conventional meetings, remotely-controlled dropdown projectors interspersed around the room obviate the need to bring in expensive screens for presentations. Tere is much still to do at the
Scotsman Hotel (with 11 floors, including basement and penthouse), and clearly the future plans will ensure that all areas of the build- ing will be utilised to create a truly extraordinary meetings, events and social space. If the results of the work carried out in the Grand Café, Te Glenfiddich and Balvenie are a sign of things to come, the future for this resplendent Edinburgh venue looks to be very secure indeed. n
www.scotsmanhotel.co.uk
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