Landmark Edinburgh hotel the Caledonian is to have a makeover, with plans including a major refurbishment, rebranding and an extension to provide more bedrooms.
The plans have been announced by the hotel’s owner and in-house operator, Henderson Park and Klarent Hospitality. They will amount to an investment of more than GBP35m in the asset, bringing its infrastructure up to date to meet modern requirements, as well as enhancing customer-facing parts of the property with bedroom refurbishments and upgrades to the public areas.
One major change will be a rebranding of the hotel, currently listed by Hilton as one of their Waldorf Astoria luxury brand properties. Instead, the Caledonian will switch to Hilton’s Curio Collection, a more appropriate brand for the distinctive, individual historic landmark, with its more flexible approach to brand standards. Currently, Curio has around 160 hotels globally, which Hilton says are “hand-picked to immerse guests in one-of-a-kind moments in some of the world’s most sought-after destinations”.
An extension will grow the hotel’s capacity to more than 300 bedrooms from the current 231, and this work is expected to be completed by early 2026. New and refurbished rooms are to be decorated with designs inspired by crests of the historic Scottish cities of Edinburgh, Stirling and Inverness.
The hotel dates from 1903, and is a historic listed landmark in the city with its iconic sandstone facade. Originally it was owned by the Caledonian Railway Company, and over the years it has welcomed royalty, presidents and Hollywood legends through its doors.
Henderson Park acquired the hotel in mid 2023, paying around GBP85m for the asset, when it became the third Edinburgh hotel in the company’s ownership, joining the Carlton and the DoubleTree Edinburgh airport, The investor has recently completed a 33 room expansion at the DoubleTree, to accommodate growing guest demand there. The Caledonian was acquired from Abu Dhabi investor Twenty14 Holdings, which had purchased it in 2018, only to face the disruption of enforced closures and lost business during the pandemic.
