A tapestry room, a state drawing room, a whisky room, a sitting room lined with gilded Cordoba leather… James Thomson’s 17th-century mansion beside Royal Holyrood Park pleases by a fine excess. It is filled with antiques, ancestral portraits, Mortlake tapestries, statuary, swags and drapes. Bathrooms are lined with Venetian glass, mosaic and marble. Suites are named after past visitors. Benjamin Franklin has a silver-leaf sleigh bed, an antique chaise longue, trompe l’oeil drapery, views over gardens and parkland. A former resident, Sir Alexander Dick, is credited with introducing rhubarb to Scotland – hence Rhubarb restaurant, where chef John McMahon’s use of local and artisan ingredients is as lavish as everything else. A typical dish: roast roe deer loin, haunch pie and haggis, salt-baked beetroot, red cabbage purée, confit purple potato, semi-dried cherries, pink peppercorn jus. At breakfast, there are freshly squeezed juices, kippers, Finnan haddie. A bar menu is available from noon to night. ‘The staff are welcoming, helpful and charming.’ In the ‘fantastic grounds with peacocks and Highland cattle’ there are woodland walks, statues, topiary. Mr Thomson also owns The Witchery by the Castle, Edinburgh (see Shortlist). (JP)