- Luxury 4-star hotel: Award-winning hotel near Edinburgh with historic connections to Mary, Queen of Scots.
- Elegant amenities: Bistro, Champagne Terrace, afternoon tea, gardens, and woodlands.
- Enter your dates & check prices here.
Carberry Tower Hotel near Edinburgh, is an award-winning, luxury 4-star establishment with a history going back to the 15th century, and connections to the infamous Mary, Queen of Scots.
There is a superb bistro restaurant here and you can enjoy a drink at the Champagne Terrace, or some aristocratic-style afternoon tea, all in beautifully elegant surroundings.
The setting is atmospheric too, with flower-filled gardens, ancient woodlands, and the famous Carberry Hill.
It was here, in 1567, after being on the wrong side of the Battle of Carberry, that Mary, Queen of Scots would announce her abdication from the throne.
The Rooms:
- Room range: Singles to Royal Suite, all with modern comforts.
- Style: Mix of late Victorian and early 20th century.
- Suites recommended: Extra space and luxury for those who can splurge.
- See all the rooms in detail here.
They have a range of accommodation from small single rooms, to a top-of-the-range suite: the 700 square feet Royal Suite.
Between those two extremes are various other classes of rooms and suites.
In some hotels, there isn’t always a huge amount of difference between superior or executive rooms and junior suites but in Carberry, if you have the budget, we’d advise paying the extra for a suite.
Though there isn’t much of the medieval to be felt in the rooms, they do all display a nice mix of old-fashioned ambience.
Think late Victorian to early 20th century, with modern comforts, and with the bathrooms, particularly, being contemporary in style.
Facilities & Things to Do:
- Bistro & drinks: The Campaign Room and Champagne Terrace.
- Afternoon tea & lounges: Elegant drawing room, library, music room.
- Gardens & grounds: Peaceful walks through gardens and woodland.
Their bistro restaurant, The Campaign Room, is very highly rated and serves up a nice range of traditional dishes, locally sourced, and seasonal, as much as possible.
They also do traditional afternoon teas, breakfast, brunch, and supper, and you can drink a cocktail or two at the elegant Champagne Terrace, originally a gift from the Queen Mother to the ex-owner of Carberry, her sister, Princess Margaret.
You can also lounge around the fireplaces in the elegant drawing room, the library, or the music room complete with its own pipe organ.
The estate grounds too are lovely to discover; beautifully tended gardens and wild woodland make for peaceful, relaxing evening strolls.
The Location:
- 35-acre estate: Near Wallyford and Edinburgh.
- Transport: 10 min train to Edinburgh, 20 min by car, helipad on site.
Carberry Tower is set in 35 acres of its own semi-wild parkland outside the village of Wallyford, near Edinburgh.
The nearest train station is Wallyford Station, a 5-10 minute taxi ride from the castle and just 10 minutes by train from Edinburgh Waverley Station.
Coming by car is straightforward too; from the center of Edinburgh should take about 20 minutes depending on traffic and about 40 minutes from Edinburgh Airport.
The journey from Glasgow, and its international airport, should take less than an hour and a half. The hotel also has a helipad.
A Little History:
- Origins: First recorded in 11th century, original tower built by Johnstones in 15th century.
- Mary, Queen of Scots: Abdication announced at Carberry Hill in 1567.
- Famous reservation requests: King James VI & Queen Anne once tried to book a room .
The first recorded mention of the lands around Carberry was in the 11th century when King David I of Scotland granted what was then known as “Caerbairin” to the monks at Dunfermline Abbey.
It would remain in the possession of the Abbey for hundreds of years and during the 15th century it was recorded as leased out to the Johnstone family who built the original tower.
It was a simple, defensive, stone structure with little in common with the ornate manor house we see today.
The Johnstones would remain there until 1541, when a regional Kings Advocate by the name of Hugh Rigg, took it over on a 44-year lease.
In some historic trivia, six years later, it was rumoured (by no less a character than John Knox) that Hugh sneakily kept Carberry away from the English by advising the Scottish forces at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh to confront them by the River Esk in Musselburgh, and not by the tower as originally planned.
Carberry was famously the site of a pivotal moment in history when, in 1567, forces loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots faced off a rebellion by a confederation of lords but came away on the losing side.
Some Guest Reviews:
“The place is beautiful. Beautifully kept and decorated. Gardens and grounds stunning and it’s wonderfully peaceful. Staff are very helpful and really nice- even to rude guests on check out which we witnessed. Classic rooms are not huge but lovely and the named rooms and suites are exquisite and sizeable….”
“The staff were absolutely amazing. The hotel was outstanding and had a lot of character. Plenty of grounds for lovely walks too. Couldn’t fault the place at all….”
