Expert reviews
“W Edinburgh has enjoyed rather a lot of publicity before it even opened. In the flesh it is sleek and international, although its location — sandwiched into a gap within the £1 billion St James Quarter shopping centre and just moments from Waverley railway station — is quintessential Georgian Edinburgh.”
“The five-star W Edinburgh opened in late 2023 in the middle of the new St. James Quarter; its central Ribbon Building — architecturally inspired by the printing history of the area — has added a distinctive spire to the Edinburgh skyline. Among its highlights are a rooftop deck offering 360-degree views of the city.”
“It’s curvy, it’s controversial, it’s a confusion of cultures – from Gaelic-themed cocktails to Japanese and South American cuisine. W Edinburgh is design-driven with arty ambitions, offering slick, stylish rooms, good food and drink and a great city centre location. But forget all that because really, it’s all about the staggering views.”
“Standing out from the crowd can be a challenge in a historic city, but W Edinburgh is up to the challenge. Occupying a striking egg-shaped structure that appears to be enveloped in a bronze ribbon, W Edinburgh certainly makes a statement. While the unique exterior has been the cause for much of the attention, the November 2023-debuted luxury hotel’s wraparound terraces with their spectacular skyline views are proving to be quite the crowd-pleasers as well.”
What guests liked
- Top location
- Friendly staff
- Comfortable beds
- Delicious breakfast
- Spa
All you need to know
W Edinburgh is a seriously cool 5-star hotel right in the heart of Edinburgh’s St James Quarter. It’s a perfect base if you want to soak up both the city’s historic charm and its festival energy.
The design itself is pretty striking: the “Ribbon Building” wraps around in bronze-coloured metal ribbons, which gives the place a very modern, celebratory vibe.
But what really makes it fun are the amenities and hangout spots. There’s a rooftop bar called the W Deck, offering 360° views over Edinburgh.
You have SUSHISAMBA, which mixes Japanese, Peruvian, and Brazilian cuisine, plus a speakeasy-style cocktail bar, Joao’s Place.
And if you want to chill, the AWAY Spa has themed rooms (fire, earth, water, air), perfect for treating yourself.
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Location
Recent guest reviews
1 January 2026
Good stay with intentions to come again.
Received plenty of good service. Staff were very nice. Location of the hotel itself was preferrable as there is not too much foot traffic in its immediate vicinity, so it was quite calm. We received a free room upgrade upon arrival, which was unexpected and greatly appreciated.
Could hear our room neighbours arguing, but that was fun in its own right.
28 December 2025
Central, convenient, immaculate room. Staff professional, knowledgeable, efficient and friendly.
I didn’t have breakfast.
Small issue, ordering tea for the room late evening, on returning from an event elsewhere, we waited at least 20 minutes for it to arrive. I appreciate it is a a big hotel and possibly busy but at almost midnight that seemed rather a long wait.
28 December 2025
It was a wonderful experience for me and my partner. We were upgraded due to it being our anniversary, and that was love
It was well presented, and comfortable.
28 December 2025
Very good
Lovely decor. Good view out the rooms window. Great restaurants in hotel.
The room was a bit small and cramped. At times room got too hot and AC Wouldnt cool.
24 December 2025
Anniversary stay.
Brilliant location, beautiful hotel. Without exception the staff were all great, helpful and friendly. We were a little early for check in, but the reception staff very happily took our bags and phoned us when the room was ready. We received a complimentary glass of Prosecco as it was our anniversary. The room was lovely, the bed was huge and comfortable the shower was really good and well powered. We enjoyed the layout of the room. The towels were excellent quality and very fluffy. The room as extremely quiet for a city hotel, with no road noise. Great check out time of 12. The rooftop bar was fantastic, the views of the city were stunning. The staff in the bar were also excellent and super friendly. We did not eat in the restaurant so couldn’t comment, but what we saw looked very good. We would definitely recommend and look forward to our next stay.
Nothing it was all good.
23 December 2025
Fabulous
Excellent Hotel. Great facilities, rooms, bar and breakfast. Staff extremely helpful.
22 December 2025
Myself and my partner really enjoyed our stay. The staff were friendly, helpful and welcoming. Location was excellent, a
Excellent central location, spacious room and friendly helpful staff.
You can hear street noise at times, could do with an additional barrier to noise at the windows, but this didn’t detract much from having an enjoyable stay. The shower and toilet are next to each other in separate frosted glass enclosures, doesn’t offer a lot of privacy from the rest of the room, would be better with a more private bathroom solution.
21 December 2025
Pleasant/ comfortable and luxurious stay😁 would recommend
Friendly staff Luxury experience Everything 😁
No ice cold water available in the suite No Netflix/ smart tv
19 December 2025
Exceptional!
Gorgeous room, gorgeous hotel, incredible stay. The staff are all so polite and friendly. It was my birthday yesterday and they really went above and beyond to make it memorable. Will definitely be back. Cannot recommend this hotel enough!
Nothing!
19 December 2025
Great stay
N/a
N/a
18 December 2025
Delightful one nights stay
Amazing views
17 December 2025
Amazing place for our engagement day!
Amazing stay. Celebrating a birthday and our engagement
16 December 2025
great location to explore the city
lovely room in a great central location
15 December 2025
Perfect !!
The staff were excellent, always a smile and can we help you. Just perfect. I would recommend this hotel. Great location for all shops and restaurants. I would come back again, and I would recommend it to anyone looking to have a break in Scotland's Capital City.
I thought it was a tad expensive. Other than that I could not fault this excellent hotel and it's staff, who showed a willingness to please. Overall a very pleasant experience.
15 December 2025
A delightful stay in a luxury resort
Impressive building. Comfortable room. Good gym facilities. Offered a refreshment at the time of check in.
Check in was delayed due to not being able to allocate me a room. Wasn't given instructions on how to find my room or how to operate the lifts. The room had a "seaside" odour which was slightly overpowering when you first enter the room
14 December 2025
Excellent hotel loved everything about it staff were exemplary and a credit to the hotel we will be
The breakfast choice was incredible had something to suit everyone.
Couldn't fault it
12 December 2025
Would definitely book W Edinburgh whenever im in Edinburgh
Neat, location is perfect!
11 December 2025
Very good
Rooms were beautiful and very well insulated. Staff couldn’t do enough. Check in was busy and they served prosecco/drinks while we waited - nice touch.
Weird not having toilet facilities on the ground floor.
10 December 2025
Very good
The location
It takes very long time to checkin The room was not as clean as it was before And the did not put their signature perfume even after i asked for
9 December 2025
Fabulous
Situation good. Staff friendly and informative
N/A
8 December 2025
Lovely weekend stay
Beautiful hotel
8 December 2025
Exceptional
Location
7 December 2025
Fantastic location but very small rooms.
Location is fantastic.
The rooms were very small for the price paid. There were also too many mirrors in the room to distract from the room size.
4 December 2025
Ideal spot for a little Christmas shopping break.
Location is perfect
Nothing
3 December 2025
Exceptional
Friendly professional service at reception and restruants.
Nothing.
3 December 2025
All about the location
Location wonderful, especially the convenience of the car park. Breakfast v good
Rooms small.
2 December 2025
Amazing
Everything
Nothing
30 November 2025
Great location for all things Edinburgh
Location
Check in always a bit slow and disorganised
28 November 2025
I would definitely return. Beautiful hotel with great views of the city.
Very new. High standards. Friendly helpful staff
Restaurant choices. No a la carte menu. One sushi restaurant over priced
27 November 2025
Fantastic
Fantastic
Nothing
24 November 2025
perfect
The hotel was ideal. extremely quiet at night. its location was perfect to access shops, cafes, markets and places of interest
couldn't think of anything
23 November 2025
We’ve not stayed at the Balmoral or the Scotsman but every other 5star Hotel at Christmas for the Market and this is in
This is how 5 star should be delivered Proximity to Waverley Station The complimentary toe warmers! The room with a view
We had a really nice break for a couple of days for the Christmas Market and W enhanced our experience of I was being picky there was a food smell down one of the corridors before our room 867 and would have been nice to have something complimentary to nibble on from the minibar such as some chocolate, biscuit or snack
18 November 2025
Lovely hotel great staff
Good choices.
Lighting in rooms was poor.
18 November 2025
Great hotel and location
Great hotel , great location
The house keeping should have better training
17 November 2025
Fabulous 3night stay. Lovely breakfast choices with amazing views of the city,
Fantastic location. Amazing views from upper floors
Nothing
16 November 2025
Exceptional
Best hotel in Edinburgh. W never disappoints
16 November 2025
Highly recommend
The whole ambience.
Minor issue with coffee machine.
14 November 2025
Beautiful but staffs are not straight up
The location was fantastic the room upgrade was brilliant it’s a very beautiful hotel very fancy
The fact that I had to pay for the snacks and drinks displayed in my room I thought they were complimentary I did not know I had to pay for them it’s horrible
13 November 2025
From check in to check out everything about this property made our stay in this city even more magical.
Convenient location with beautiful views!
The views at this property were unmatched!
10 November 2025
Exceptional
Perfect location, very comfortable room, nice touches of luxury
No separate bathroom - toilet with frosted glass door directly into room which I know is the modern way!
10 November 2025
Very good
Very new/ stylish/ stand out
To be very picky - couldn argue that rooms are small for the cost. But design and facilities makes up for it.
10 November 2025
Superb, clean and confortable stay
Superb location, modern and spotlessly clean
N/A
10 November 2025
Will be back.
Beautiful, modern, clean. Great situation next to St James’s, use of underground car park with direct lift to hotel. Very helpful, knowledgeable staff and the breakfast is superb.
Nothing
9 November 2025
Excellent
It’s excellent
Nothing
8 November 2025
No. Stay in Edinburgh
Every single aspect! Especially the staff. They were polite, helpful and friendly. Never seen such amazing staff!
None
8 November 2025
Perfect place I stay in Edinburgh
Everything
Nothing
8 November 2025
Amazing, will return
Convenient to city centre
2 November 2025
Hotel was amazing will be back
Service was excellent and room was lovely
NA
2 November 2025
Romantic trip with my husband to celebrate a special occasion. The staff were attentive and helpful and nothing was too
Excellent location close to station shopping and restaurants
Hotel facilities
Food & Drink
- - Restaurant
- - Bar
- - Wine/champagne (additional charge)
General
- - Room service
- - Non-smoking rooms
- - Facilities for disabled guests
- - Lift
- - Safety deposit box
- - Heating
- - Air conditioning
Business facilities
- - Meeting/banquet facilities (additional charge)
Reception services
- - 24-hour front desk
- - Express check-in/check-out
- - Concierge service
- - Private check-in/check-out
- - Invoice provided
Outdoors
- - Terrace
- - Sun terrace
- - Outdoor furniture
- - Outdoor fireplace
Cleaning services
- - Laundry (additional charge)
- - Dry cleaning (additional charge)
- - Daily housekeeping
Activities
- - Spa and wellness centre (additional charge)
Parking
- - Parking garage
Accessibility
- - Wheelchair accessible
- - Toilet with grab rails
- - Raised toilet
- - Lower bathroom sink
- - Emergency cord in bathroom
Miscellaneous
- - 24-hour security
- - Security alarm
- - Smoke alarms
- - CCTV in common areas
- - CCTV outside property
- - Fire extinguishers
- - Delivered food is securely covered

More photos

1 January 2026
pleasant, i would stay again