Plans for 300-bedroom Ruby hotel in Edinburgh’s city centre approved

Plans for a 347-bedroom hotel on Edinburgh’s Princes Street have been approved.

Ruby Hotels is set to open its first Scottish hotel, after Edinburgh City Council approved its plans yesterday (4 October).

In addition to the proposed 347 bedrooms, there are also plans to add a bar, a rooftop terrace, and a restaurant area, as well as retail units, to the 5,000 sqm space at 104-108 Princes Street. The site will be accessed via Princes Street and Rose Street South Lane. The development is set to open in 2026.

The site has been vacant since Next, Zara, and Russell & Bromley relocated to Edinburgh’s new shopping district St. James’s Quarter.

The Munich-based hotel group has partnered with Scottish real estate investment management company Hunter Reim for the development.

Andrew Moffat, managing director of Hunter REIM, said: “We are absolutely delighted to get the go ahead for the Ruby Hotel proposals. Developing in a world heritage site is always challenging, but we are confident that this will be a transformational development for Princes Street, and particularly for the western end of the street which has struggled in recent years. We look forward to continuing to work with the council, Ruby Hotels and local stakeholders to create a development of which everyone will be proud.”

Ruby Group was founded by Michael Struck in 2013 and operates 15 Ruby hotels, with a further 19 hotels under construction or in planning phase. There are currently three Ruby Hotels in London.

This is the second hotel redevelopment along Princes Street to be given the green light in recent years; next door, at 100 Princes Street, Red Carnation Hotels is expected to open its first Edinburgh hotel in November of this year.

In addition, earlier this week, Dalata Hotel Group acquired a development site at nearby St. Andrew's Square at a cost of £12.5m with the site set to receive a total investment of £48m.

Ruby Group has been contacted for comment.