The Hoxton, Edinburgh

It took eleven Georgian townhouses on Grosvenor Street to make The Hoxton, Edinburgh, and having knocked them into one hotel of 214 rooms, the Hoxton then built three houses back inside it, each with three bedrooms and a kitchen of its own. Everywhere else the 1850s cornicing and sash windows stay, and the colour goes in underneath: sage or teal walls below the mouldings, and red velvet headboards scalloped like a shell. Even the basins keep period manners, standing on pedestals with brass cross-head taps. The lobby has a vintage Murano chandelier and a bar open from seven in the morning until midnight.

Recommended for families and groups who would rather share a kitchen than a corridor. A House sleeps seven, plus two children, with bath toys laid on for the children and beds for the dog. Couples get the quieter end of the New Town, out west towards Haymarket, ten minutes' walk from Princes Street and fifteen from the Castle. The Water of Leith walkway and Dean Village are close, and there are Brompton bikes to borrow for anywhere that is not. Dinner is at Patatino, which takes its cue from Sorrento and cooks Scottish produce the Italian way: linguine with monkfish ragu and mussels, or a sourdough pizza with nduja and haggis, the haggis doing the Scottish part. On the ground floor is a cinema room to book for a private film. It has five seats, so a full House will have to draw lots.