Opening 1861 Number of restaurants 1 | Number of rooms 240 | |
Location George Street, Edinburgh Owner Principal Hotel Company Floor count Townhouse (Old Wing) 4
Forth (New Wing) 7 | ||
The Principal Edinburgh is situated at 19–21 George Street in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland.
The buildings were constructed around 1780 as part of Edinburgh's New Town. In the 1840s they were remodelled by the architect David Bryce, and again by MacGibbon and Ross in 1880. It is now a category A listed building.
For the past 200 years The Principal Edinburgh has been a prestigious address. In Georgian times the poet Robert Burns paid many visits, as did the author Sir Walter Scott. In more modern times celebrities such as Elizabeth Taylor and Kylie Minogue have visited. The modern Principal Edinburgh includes 15-25 George Street, which were all originally built in the 1780s as individual town houses. Over time the buildings changed in use, becoming insurance offices, lodgings, and an artists studio as well as a hotel.
Owned by the Principal Hotel Company, The Principal Edinburgh was voted Best Hotel in Edinburgh at the Scottish Hotel Awards 2009. The hotel has eight individual conference and event suites, with the Kings Hall seating up to 270. Previosly when known as the The George Hotel, their in-house restaurant, the Tempus Bar & Restaurant, was voted Best Bar and Lounge at the Scottish Hotel Awards 2009.
Hotel Refurbishment
In 2015-16, London-based luxury interior design studio, Goddard Littlefair were responsible for redesigning the public areas, F&B offer and 250 guest rooms. Designed and curated to reflect its Georgian heritage, a collection of classic furniture evokes the local cityscape through a rich palette of colours and textures, whilst an undertone of edgy, industrial-inspired detailing and finishes reflect the site’s former usage as a printing press as well as the changing city all around.
Goddard Littlefair redesigned The Printing Press Bar & Kitchen and Burr & Co. café.
On 22nd October 2015 the Tempus Bar & Restaurant reopened as a fully renovated restaurant named The Printing Press Bar & Kitchen. The new restaurant is a 92-cover, 186 sq m bar, plus a 116-cover, 207 sq m restaurant, under the direction of chef-restaurateur Des McDonald, with a grill-brasserie feel, designed to offer maximum adaptability in order to attract day and night-time visitors with the full impact of a destination space. This is the first Scottish venture from Des McDonald, previously of The Ritz and The Ivy in London, which aims to give Scottish classics a modern twist and capitalise on seasonal and locally sourced produce. The design approach was to be highly respectful to the building’s original fabric, as well as to the late Victorian insertions, restoring grandeur and creating an environment that instantly feels long-established.
Burr & Co. is a standalone offer aimed at daytime office-worker, tourist and passing trade. Every single element in the design treatment for coffee shop Burr & Co – a converted and unlisted street-facing space within The Principal Edinburgh, Edinburgh – was new, with a more obviously contemporary feel than other parts of the hotel’s F&B offer, including deep blue-green ceramic tiling and a special lighting display of ceramic pendants in varying sizes.