The Balmoral Hotel: View north over the roof of Waverley station towards the Balmoral (formerly North British) Hotel on 27 September 2011. The narrow passageway to the left of the hotel links Princes Street and the station via (the currently closed) Waverley Steps. Princes Mall shopping centre, through which temporary access has been made available see image 35912 stands to the left of the steps.
John Furnevel 27/09/2011

The Balmoral Hotel

Location type


Names and dates

North British Station Hotel (1902-1991)
The Balmoral Hotel (1991-)

Description

This hotel is on the north side of Edinburgh Waverley station. Long known as the North British or NB, for the North British Railway Company which owned the station, it was renamed The Balmoral in 1991. (This has led to the side wall of the station being referred to as the 'Balmoral' side, the south side is the 'Klondyke'.)

The hotel, viewed from Princes Street, is six storeys high (the top is the attic). From the station it is ten storeys high. It is built around a central courtyard. The building is dominated by its clock tower on the north side of 190 ft, the clock famously set slightly fast (3 minutes) to hurry passengers to their trains. (It is usually set to the correct time once a year, for Hogmanay.)

The architect was William Hamilton Beattie, known for his design of 'Jenners', the Jenners Department Store on the north side of Princes Street.

The hotel was sold by the British Transport Hotels in 1981. It is now the The Balmoral Hotel .

The hotel has long enjoyed a healthy competition with The Caledonian Hotel, formerly at the Edinburgh Princes Street terminus of the Caledonian Railway, at the west end of Princes Street.

Prior to opening this block had a number of small hotels and taverns and the goods yard at the east end of Edinburgh Canal Street.

Tags

Hotel



Chronology Dates

  /  /1991North British Railway
North British Station Hotel, by Edinburgh Waverley, becomes the The Balmoral Hotel.

News items

29/12/2020The iconic clock at the Balmoral Hotel on Princes Street will not correct the time on Hogmanay for the first time in 118 years [Edinburgh Evening News]
08/11/2020The Balmoral Hotel ticks all the boxes for a luxurious 5-star stay in Edinburgh [The Scotsman]