Three bay-fronted Victorian terrace town houses come together as one ‘civilised, very satisfactory’ hotel within walking distance of Princes Street and the National Gallery. Public spaces are sleekly brooding and masculine, with chequerboard flooring, carved fireplaces, and modern art on wood-panelled walls. ‘Comfortable bedrooms’, some with ‘splendid views’ over the city’s rooftops, have contemporary decor and furnishings. Rooms vary in size; the best, a spacious suite, has bay windows overlooking Drumsheugh Gardens. Order cocktails and cream teas in the Consulting Room bar; in the dining room (where an imposing chandelier strikes a feminine note), chef Marco Nobrega cooks a short menu of modern Scottish dishes ‘with a European twist’. Typical choices: Scrabster hake, fennel croquettes, shellfish sauce; 35-day dry-aged sirloin steak from the Borders. Breakfast, served till 10.30 am at the weekend, has plenty of choice: porridge, Orkney kippers, Linlithgow-smoked salmon, the full Scottish with tattie scones. (CE)