Major progress for 'Edinburgh's newest boutique hotel' located in West End

A Scottish construction firm has completed work on Edinburgh’s first Voco boutique hotel – a 150-bedroom property in the city’s West End.

The 150-bedroom hotel is located on Torphichen Street. Picture: contributed.

The new eight-storey hotel is located on Torphichen Street and includes a restaurant, bar and leisure facilities – with the “unstuffy” Voco brand part of InterContinental Hotels Group, whose other brands include Holiday Inn, Kimpton, Crowne Plaza and Hotel Indigo.

Stirling-based Ogilvie Construction has finished the work for Axcel Group, and the new addition marks the latter’s second hotel in the city, joining the 110-bed Mercure Hotel in Haymarket.

Ogilvie Construction managing director Donald MacDonald said: “We are extremely proud of the new hotel and worked closely with the team at Axcel Group throughout the build to ensure that every aspect of the project has been delivered to meet the exacting standards for Voco. It will provide a refreshing new hotel experience for visitors in the heart of the city.”

Voco is part of global giant InterContinental Hotels Group. Picture: contributed.

The “international, upscale” Voco brand launched in 2018 and now has sites elsewhere in the UK as well as Australia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. Ogilvie said the name Voco was based on the Latin word meaning “to invite” or to “come together”.

Ogilvie Construction is part of the family-owned Ogilvie Group. The company is nearly 70 years old and has more than 600 staff across its various business operations in the UK.

Other hotels set to open in the Scottish capital include the 244-bedroom W Hotel with its distinctive “ribbon” exterior and the 75-room Roomzzz Aparthotel, both of which are located in the forthcoming St James Quarter.

Gleneagles is set to open a luxury townhouse in a space formerly occupied by Bank of Scotland in St Andrew Square, while also on the cards is a Virgin Hotels property, billed as a “new lifestyle hotel”, that is slated to open in 2022 in the landmark India Buildings in the Old Town.

PwC reported in October the cost of an overnight stay in Edinburgh fell by a third to £70.36, but remained the third-most expensive city in which to spend the night, behind London and Brighton – and forecast that it would begin to recover in 2021 due to increased demand for “staycations”.

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