The Dunstane Houses

About The Dunstane Houses

The Dunstane Houses is an independent hotel spread across two Victorian villas facing each other on West Coates, in Edinburgh's West End. The owners are an Orcadian couple who bought the first house in 1998 when it was a modest two-star operation and have rebuilt it steadily since. The Orkney connection runs through the place — in the artwork, the seafood on the menu and the gin behind the bar — and gives it more character than most hotels in this bracket.

Across the two buildings there are 35 bedrooms, ranging from compact classic doubles up to substantial suites with roll-top baths and bay windows. The styling is contemporary Scottish rather than chintz: Harris tweed, muted colours, brass, good beds and proper blackout blinds. Bathrooms have been refitted recently in most rooms. The two houses are a short walk apart across the road, so it is worth asking which one you are in when booking.

The Ba' Bar, in the main house, is the reason a lot of guests come back. It holds one of the wider selections of rare and vintage whisky in the city, and the staff know it properly. The all-day dining room does Scottish seafood well, with Orkney scallops and crab appearing regularly, and breakfast is cooked to order. There is no spa or pool, which keeps rates sensible.

The setting is residential and quiet, on the Haymarket side of town. Haymarket station and the tram are a ten-minute walk, Princes Street about twenty, and the Murrayfield stadium is close enough to walk on a match day. It suits people who want a personal, owner-run hotel with good food and drink rather than the anonymity of a chain, and it is noticeably better value than equivalent standards in the centre.