As part of the Keepers of the Quaich Spring Banquet, where I was a guest of Diageo, the team had invited their guests to enjoy a dinner at Johnnie Walker Princes Street followed by an overnight stay at Gleneagles Townhouse before we headed north to The Gleneagles Hotel and the spring banquet dinner at Blair Castle.
The Gleneagles Townhouse has already been a popular spot in Edinburgh for brunch, lunch, dinner as well as just drinks and is located very centrally at St Andrew’s Square. It’s a beautiful space in an old bank building and although the prices are a tad higher than some other places in the area, the atmosphere and stunning interiors are definitely worth it. The building also features hotel rooms and an exclusive rooftop bar which can only be a accessed by Gleneagles members or those staying at the hotel. The staff were absolutely excellent during our stay and you could definitely tell that it’s a five star hotel experience.
The Room
I’m already a big fan of green colours in a bedroom so when I stepped inside the room and saw that there was a green tapestry on the wall and both sage and forest green details all over the room I was in love straight away. The staff from reception assisted with showing me to the room and a couple of minutes later another member of staff brought my suitcase to the room. There’s a lift that takes you up to each floor so I could’ve obviously taken my own bag without any issues but the additional service and attention makes the whole stay feel so seamless and relaxing. Later on the reception even phoned the room to check if everything was all good and if any dry cleaning or additional services were required. After check in I also got a WhatsApp message so that I could communicate with the team easily in case there were any issues or questions.
Bathroom
The bathroom also features a lovely design of golden details meet lush green tiles. The room has options to turn on the lights in only the shower cabin, or over the mirror or the main light. The products also feel luxurious and has a lovely heather scent which brings an additional Scottish twist. There’s also plenty of towels and comfortable bathrobes of a decent size so you can cosy up in them.
The room also features a little table with two chairs, a well stocked fridge and mini-bar with lots of local and Scottish products which I always like seeing. There was both a kettle as well as Pekoe Tea teabags and Nespresso machine, which I as a tea-drinker appreciate. There were also in-house made flapjacks and little pralines waiting in the room as a welcome-treat and they were all excellent!
I couldn’t think of a single thing I was missing in the room- there were even hair straighteners as well as a hair drier.
And do I even say that the bed is super comfortable? When we got back from our dinner the hotel had performed their turn down service so the curtains had been drawn, the duvet opened up and there were slippers and water waiting by the bed.
You’ll also see a bottle of Johnnie Walker in the room, but this is not a usual feature of Gleneagles Townhouse, but a gift from Diageo who I had been invited by.
The Rooftop Bar “Lamplighters”
Gleneagles Townhouse has its main bar and restaurant The Spence which everyone can visit (which I’m telling you more about below), but they also have Lamplighters, which is hidden away on the top floor. This rooftop bar is only accessible to those who are Gleneagles members or those staying at the hotel. So I could of course not miss an opportunity to have a look around.
I was so lucky as we had a sunny springtime day when I was visiting so it was possible to sit out side. On the top of the Gleneagles Townhouse building there’s six beautiful statues, each representing a profession, and on the cocktail menu there’s a section dedicated to these statues where the team have created a cocktail for each statue. I tried The Sailor which was really refreshing and tasty. Such a lovely space and I wish it was possible to visit more often, but can definitely see the charm of it being exclusively available to those who have the access.
Breakfast in the Spence
The Spence is also a lovely space and definitely one of my favourite spots to show my friends when they’re visiting. Usually I’m stopping by for a cocktail or their white Rioja wine – which I love – but during our stay we had the pleasure of enjoying our breakfast in The Spence. The breakfast menu is available to anyone so I’ll definitely come back for this. I had the sourdough with butter, jams and gouda as well as the granola and a kombucha over ice. The toast was lovely and so were the toppings. the granola was also tasty – and it’s quite a big portion – but I have to say that the granola I had at Rusacks St Andrews recently just can’t be beat. This was definitely a less sweet granola, and the blueberries brought a nice freshness to it.
The Spence has gorgeous interior designs and I’m so glad they’ve preserved the features of the old bank – and they also have the prettiest bathrooms in Edinburgh.
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