The Witchery

About

The Witchery by the Castle is the sort of hotel that would look suspicious in daylight if Edinburgh did not make this kind of thing feel entirely reasonable. It stands in Boswell’s Court on Castlehill, at the top of the Royal Mile, so close to Edinburgh Castle that you half expect the porter to ask whether you have come for check in or siege work. The building dates to 1595, when the merchant Thomas Lowthian built his house here. His initials still survive above the old doorway, together with the motto “O Lord in thee is all my traist”. A fine phrase for a hotel that now asks its guests to trust red velvet, candlelight and a considerable amount of carved oak. The name is not gothic branding dreamed up in a meeting room. Castlehill was one of the places where women and men accused of witchcraft were executed in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Witchery carries that shadow carefully enough: theatrical, yes, but not silly. Inside, the 21st century is admitted only where useful. There are nine suites, each one a private cabinet of heavy fabrics, gilded ceilings, antique furniture, painted panels, deep baths and four poster beds with a sense of occasion. It is not quiet luxury. It is luxury with a raised eyebrow, a fireplace and possibly a secret. James Thomson opened The Witchery in 1979, rescuing Boswell’s Court and turning it into one of Edinburgh’s most recognisable addresses. Dinner remains central to the experience. The Original Dining Room is all oak panelling, leather, white linen and low flame, while the menu leans into Scotland’s richer instincts: shellfish, venison, haggis, beef Wellington, proper sauces, proper puddings. The Secret Garden, added later in a former schoolyard, offers a softer counterpoint of greenery, stone and hidden terrace. Come here for atmosphere rather than restraint, for history rather than hotel neutrality, and for the rare pleasure of sleeping somewhere that could only really exist in Edinburgh. Minimalists may recover at breakfast.