Edinburgh hotel boost: Two iconic capital hotels to benefit from £50 million of upgrades and additions including more rooms

Landmark Caley hotel to see enhancements in infrastructure, bedroom refurbishment and upgrading of public areas.

More than £50 million is being spent to overhaul two Edinburgh hotels including one of the city’s landmark five-star establishments.

Henderson Park, the property investment fund manager, alongside its in-house hospitality operator Klarent Hospitality, is pumping the substantial sum into the transformation of the Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh - better known as The Caley Hotel - at the west end of Princes Street and the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton, on North Bridge. The Waldorf Astoria, which was built in 1903 and took its name from the Caledonian Railway Company, the original owner of the building, was acquired by Henderson Park and Klarent Hospitality last July in a bumper £85m deal.

The new owners said they have ambitious investment plans for The Caley that will see enhancements in the infrastructure, refurbishment work on its 231 bedrooms as well as upgrading and restoring the public areas. Henderson Park is also advanced in an expansion project at the Hilton Edinburgh Carlton. The ground floor will be extended and fully refurbished to include a new “state-of-the-art” bar and lounge to cater for hotel guests and visitors, with bedrooms being added that will take the room count from 211 to 297.

Having acquired Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh, affectionally known as The Caley, in July 2023. Henderson Park and Klarent Hospitality are now transforming the iconic hotel.

Henderson Park and Klarent Hospitality recently completed a project to extend DoubleTree Edinburgh Airport Hotel, adding 33 bedrooms and taking the room count to 185. The additional bedroom capacity will give opportunity for income growth with the increased flights coming into Edinburgh Airport, the owners added.

Christophe Kuhbier, managing director at Henderson Park, said: “As owners of iconic hotels across the world, including several in Edinburgh, we have established a strong track record of investing in and improving these unique and historic assets to safeguard their longevity and unlock their full value potential on behalf of our investors. In Klarent, our specialist hospitality operator and asset manager, we have a seamlessly integrated team of experts that will deliver improvements that enhance guest experience for years to come.”

Peter Stack, chief executive of Klarent Hospitality, added: “We are proud to be the custodians of these two iconic hotels in Edinburgh city centre and have committed to significant investment plans to ensure that they continue to be market leading hotels for generations to come.”

Klarent Hospitality, led by Stack, employs more than 60 people at its head office in Glasgow and manages a portfolio of Henderson Park owned hotels across the UK and Europe, including five Hilton hotels across the Central Belt.

News of the major upgrades came as it emerged that Scotland’s luxury hotel market was bucking the wider UK trend as profits head north. The latest RSM Hotels Tracker showed that the hotel sector north of the Border ended 2023 on a high, driven by the luxury end of the market with a spike in room rates and earnings.

Average room rates of Scotland’s luxury hotels jumped from £222.07 in November to £292.36 in December. There were also increases in the middle market and budget hotels, from £99.31 to £111.53 and from £86.48 to £97.31, respectively.

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