Hotel Review: The Witchery, Edinburgh

Located on the Lawnmarket section of the Royal Mile leading up to the castle gates in the heart of the city. Yet somehow the suites, hidden up winding stairs or down a medieval close, feel mercifully remote from the stream of tourists heading up and down to the Castle. Every major attraction is within walking distance, whether St Giles Cathedral, Holyrood Palace, the national museums and galleries or Greyfriars Bobby.

By car: Glasgow is around 1 hour, Newcastle around 2 hours 40 minutes and from Manchester just over 4 hours. Parking can be pre-arranged at their sister hotel.

By train: Glasgow Queens Street is around 50 minutes, Manchester Picadilly around 3 hours and from London Kings Cross around 4 hours 45 minutes. The hotel is nine-minutes' walk from Edinburgh Waverley station. Book trains to Edinburgh.

By plane: Edinburgh Airport (30-minute drive).

A triumph of imagination and fevered dedication to detail, you may find yourself mesmerised by mannequins in military uniforms, Victorian pressed flowers, Pugin-style Gothic wallpaper, Elizabethan Knole sofas… If you're a minimalist, best avoid it.

Don't expect a bar or lounge to linger in; you'll have to check in at the restaurant. But the service manages to be virtually invisible yet effective, from producing warm cookies for your arrival to turndown and delivering your breakfast in the morning (the cooked version is available in the restaurant).

• Restaurant
• 24-hour front desk
• Bar
• Terrace
• Free Wi-Fi

Think candlelight and firelight on extravagantly draped four-poster beds, antiques, velvets, tapestries and brocades in deep, dark colours, and discover a richly decorated bathroom. You'll scarcely notice the Alexa, Nespresso machine, hidden television or Dyson hairdryer.

Room types: The Vestry, The Sempill, The Old Rectory, The Library, The Inner Sanctum, The Heriot, The Guardroom, The Armoury, The Turret

Key amenities: ensuite bathroom, TV, adjustable mood lighting, hairdryer, hair straightener, coffee-making facilities, fridge

Like the suites, the restaurant is all about the atmosphere. The menu is determinedly Scottish, with Isle of Mull scallops and Cairngorm venison. The food may not be the finest in the city, but you're unlikely to notice given your surroundings.

The Restaurant: gothic, theatrical décor, traditional Scottish food, seasonal produce. Open 12-11.30pm every day. Three course set menu £38.50.

Breakfast: a continental breakfast can be delivered to your room. Cooked breakfasts are served in the restaurant.