History

The Scotsman Hotel opened for business in 2001... and is based in the landmark Victorian building which housed The Scotsman newspaper for nearly a century. This grandiose hotel is a flourish of English Baroque featuring romantic turrets, ornate ceilings, stained glass windows, wood-panelled walls and a showpiece marble staircase.

Originally, the top of the building housed pigeon lofts for carrier pigeons used to carry news back and forth from the outlying parts of Scotland. The middle floors were once occupied by the bustling editorial offices... and the basement was the home to the one of the largest printing operations in the country.

The newspaper was churned out under Market Street to waiting trains for distribution. What is now The Scotsman Hotel's North Bridge Brasserie & Bar was formerly the newspaper's impressive reception room with its imposing marble pillars... it was here that members of the public would come to personally purchase advertising space in the paper.