The Inn on the Mile

About The Inn on the Mile

The Inn on the Mile occupies the former British Linen Bank on the High Street, halfway down the Royal Mile between the Castle and Holyrood. The building went up in 1923 and the banking-hall proportions have been kept: enormous windows, high ceilings and heavy stonework outside. It is a small operation — nine bedrooms above a busy ground-floor bar and kitchen — and works more like a well-run inn than a hotel.

The bedrooms run from Cosy Doubles, which are compact and priced accordingly, up to the Royal Mile rooms at the front, which are large, bright and have baths as well as separate rainfall showers. Original cornicing and tall sash windows survive throughout. Rooms come with premium bedding, robes, free wi-fi and safes. There is no lift and the rooms are over three floors, so anyone with mobility issues should ring ahead. Front-facing rooms get Old Town noise at weekends; the back is quieter.

The bar and kitchen downstairs is open to the public and does a proper job — a daily-changing menu, cocktails, draught and bottled beers and a decent whisky range — so there is somewhere to eat and drink without stepping outside. Breakfast is served there too. Staff are used to guiding people around the city and are good at it.

The location is the point. St Giles' Cathedral, the Scottish Storytelling Centre, the closes and wynds of the Old Town and the walk up to the Castle esplanade are all on the doorstep, and Waverley station is five minutes downhill. It suits couples and small groups who want to be in the thick of things, particularly during the Fringe when the High Street is the busiest spot in Scotland.