Council recommended to knock back Royal High hotel plans

City planners have recommended councillors knock back a controversial application to turn the old Royal High School into a luxury hotel

Councillors have been urged to knock back the hotel proposals. Picture: Contributed

Planning chiefs said the scaled-back plans for the £75 million hotel would have an adverse impact on the special character of the listed building.

The report, published today a week before councillors will debate the proposal, stated: “The quantum of development is excessive and the design does not achieve the world class architectural response required of this site.

• READ MORE - Royal High hotel ‘impossible to deliver’ without extensions

Artist's impression of the proposed hotel on the site of the former Royal High School, in Edinburgh. Picture: Contributed

“The resulting harm caused by the proposed extensions significantly outweighs the economic benefit and benefit of bringing the building back into long-term use.”

The idea of turning it into a hotel won a council-run design contest in 2010, but the final plans sparked anger when it emerged they involved multi-storey extensions.

Councillors rejected the initial plans in 2015 but the number of hotel rooms has been lowered from 147 to 127 and the extensions lowered.

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