Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Feeling Grand at The Edinburgh Grand

The Little Magpie Guide to Edinburgh
Wrap dress from Monki (now in sale, woohoo!)

The Edinburgh Grand
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The Little Magpie Guide to Edinburgh The Little Magpie Guide to Edinburgh
All photos by yours truly apart from the white tuxedo photos which were taking by wee cutie Adele Russell 

Hey pals! 

Told you another travel post was coming your way soon, didn’t I? Last week’s was Amsterdam - which you can catch here if you missed it - and today’s is taking place a little closer to home in ye olde Edinburgh. Despite living so nearby, I still don’t feel like I know Edinburgh all too well - generally I tend to be through for the day for a shoot and then I’m straight back over to Glasgow - but last month the beautiful Edinburgh Grand invited us for a wee stay and I finally, finally got the chance to explore a bit more. Now - I will say this. THIS IS NOT AN EDINBURGH GUIDE. Boo, hiss, I know, feel free to throw tomatoes at me in revolt. My aim is to get a big guide together later on in the year when I've had the chance to try a few more places out, so for now you're getting a round up of what we did during that weekend (which, I hope, may at least bring to you a couple of ideas).

The Edinburgh Grand is relatively new so it might not be on your radar just yet but it definitely should be. It’s so, so well located;  it's a two minute walk from Waverley station, is right between George street and Princes Street and about a five minute walk from the old town. It's also right next to Multrees Walk and Harvey Nichols for those of you who like to shop till u drop and, fooodwise, is right beside the delicious Dishoom, The Dome and The Ivy. The building itself is an old converted bank so, as the name suggests, is oh so grand. Look at that decor! It's art deco heaven. There are 50 apartments altogether, the biggest of which can hold up to six people. That view across Edinburgh you see in the second last photo is from the penthouse suite (we weren't staying there, we just sneaked in like the nosy little peasants we are to take some snaps*) but my personal favourite room is the Director's Suite which you should have a wee nosy of on the website for some interiors inspo! Our own apartment was perfect for a city break. For starters it had its own - very well equipped, may I add - kitchen and living area so if you fancy just chilling in one night with some homemade food, or perhaps having breakfast in the apartment each morning to save a bit of money, then you can do just that. It also had that gorgeous big jade-tiled bathroom you see above and a big marshmallow bed. Despite being an apartment, it did have the benefit of coming stocked with a few bottles of water, teabags and instant coffee and the apartments are also serviced daily too, which was a lovely touch. If you fancy escaping your room for a bit, the hotel also has a cosy, and beautifully old-timely, bar you can visit as well as a games room - complete with table tennis and chess! 


* I jest, we were invited in to have a look - I'm not quite at the stage where I'd invade someone's hotel room to get a photo... yet.
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(last snap is by Kirsty from a previous visit, I just wanted to show you a wee snap from Circus Lane!)

And what did we get up to, you ask? On our first day we took a little wander down to Stockbridge - which is a really lovely area to walk around, especially on a sunny day. You'll probably have seen many a photo of the famous Circus Lane, actually, where that last photo there was taken! This time we had brunch at The Pantry followed by cake at Cowan & Sons (who do hands-down the best gf brownie I've ever had FYI) followed by a drink - or three, but it's a Saturday so who's counting - at Under the Stairs which is another of my favourites. That was followed by some late night pizza at Mamma's on The Grassmarket - another glorious GF find - and an extravagant, candy floss filled cocktail at Dragonfly. I often get asked about which bars to visit, something I don't know all too much about at the moment, but this is one I'd add to your list! Sunday morning was quite slow (rumours that I was hungover are grossly exaggerated and not to be believed) with a brunch at the cafe I recommend to everyone going to Edinburgh - whether they ask or not, to be honest - and that's Urban Angel! Boy oh boy is it good. A slow wander round the shops on George Street followed and next came a wee visit to The Milkman - I pretty much just visited all my favourite places in Edinburgh like the predictable soul I am - which is the lovely wee cafe you can see above in the snap where I have a tartan suit on (a photo Kirsty took on a previous visit because my camera battery had given up by this time). After that we headed to Mysa - the wee shop you see above which is SO GOOD, make sure not to miss it if you're around the Royal Mile area - and then, alas, it was time to go home. I should mention, there's one set of photos above that weren't from this stay and that's the three of a meal at The Stockbridge I had a little while back - I've mentioned it before but I just wanted to add it in here again along with my other recommendations as it's a really, really lovely place to eat and one of my top dinner spots in Edinburgh! So, although it's not my usual bursting guide I hope it gave you a few starting points as well as a recommendation for a truly wonderful place to stay!

Amy 

Our stay at hotel was complimentary but all words and opinions are my own. Even, sadly, the bit where I said I might sneak into a hotel room for photos.