Green thistle

Our Heritage

The Parliament House Hotel lies in the heart of a magnificent World Heritage Site. In 1995, UNESCO recognised the unique character of Edinburgh with its medieval Old Town sitting in immediate contrast above its planned eighteenth and early nineteenth century “New Town”. The site is recognised by UNESCO as having outstanding universal value.

 Parliament House Hotel History

The hotel itself reflects both Old and New Town styles. Number 15 was built in 1908 reflecting the classical style of Edinburgh’s New Town. Numbers 9-13 were built 150 years earlier in the tenement style of Old Edinburgh. Both are now buildings listed by Historic Scotland.

Numbers 9-13, at the centre of the hotel, date back to the 1760s. They appear on Ainslie’s map of Edinburgh (c.1780) and they form part of a group of ‘A’ listed buildings. Historic Scotland describes the block as:

‘Of particular interest due to its unusual external circular stair tower and as one of the last remaining buildings of the Old Calton or Caldtoun village, which formed the heart of the Barony of Calton.’