Melville Castle Hotel

Surrounded by a 50-acre wooded estate just 6 miles from the centre of Edinburgh, Melville Castle has 30 impressive baronial-style rooms beneath its turreted roof and a brasserie downstairs. Mary Queen of Scots used the castle as a hunting lodge, but it is just as good a base for guests hunting down culture, shopping or sightseeing in the city. You can get back to nature with a spot of falconry, but be back in by evening to enjoy a bottle of vintage wine in the cellar bar before slipping into your four-poster bed for a good night’s kip.