Adam Simpson visits the inspiring G&V Royal Mile Hotel:

@GandVHotel:
Adam Simpson visits the inspiring G&V Royal Mile Hotel:

Team @YOURgb event coordinator, Adam Simpson was provided with the treat of being able to see the beginning of the transformation of one of Edinburgh’s best hotels, The Hotel Missoni, into the G&V Hotel Edinburgh. The new name, G&V Royal Mile Hotel, is an abbreviation of George & Victoria and gives a honorable recognition to the area’s royal heritage and the hotel’s desirable location in the heart of Edinburgh on the corner of George IV Bridge, Victoria Street and The Royal Mile. Katy Evans, G&V Sales Manager, has worked at the Hotel for over 5 years and experienced the transition from Hotel Missoni to G&V and kindly showed Adam around.

Formerly The Hotel Missoni, The G&V is removing the Italian look of the Missoni days, in replacement of a more Scottish redesign. Katy has seen the transformation take place and explained that the redesign was going down a modern, Scottish theme, celebrating up and coming Scottish talent. For example local designer Judy R Clark designed a bespoke G&V tartan for the staff.

Firstly, the 136 hotel rooms are all a unique mixture of quirky, and luxurious – all containing their own stylish and bold décor. With the situation of the hotel, the views are second to none, overlooking both the North and South of Edinburgh. With the bright colourings, these rooms have an incredible modern feel for a definite unique overnight experience. The modern theming does not stop at the bedrooms it is also very evident throughout the meeting spaces.

The G&V Royal Mile Hotel has 3 meeting/event spaces, incredibly designed with the upmost precision to ensure exceptional functionality is as efficient as possible. The Tartan room is the largest of the meeting spaces, holding 60-theatre style and 75-reception. It can be divided into two adjoining spaces and has a wide range of technology installed in the room – as well as a @YOURgb favourite, of having large windows to allow natural daylight in the room for those enduring conferences and meetings, a unique offering for many meeting spaces these days. The VIP boardroom; seating 12 is an exceedingly innovative space, with inspiring design offering a brilliant space to be used for breakout sessions or small group events. The Breakout area, a large space of 100m squared, joins these two spaces. Named accordingly, The Breakout area is of course, best suited for break out sessions and with its stylish and confortable décor, it is perfect for either a smart drinks reception or simply teas and coffees throughout daily meetings.

Lastly, as a stand out feature, the G&V is immensely proud of their Spa, a hub of relaxation in the hustling and bustling city center of Edinburgh. This feature simply tops off the hotel redesign, showing it truly is the full package for a wide range of events. Although it doesn’t have the largest event spaces, it more than makes up for this in the quality it offers and its location in Edinburgh. @YOURgb would love to hold an event at the G&V and we are very excited to see the redesign unfold.

WITCHery is the best restaurant in Edinburgh?

@TheWitcheryEdin:

 Adam Simpson visits the Witchery Edinburgh:

@YOURgb had read and heard of The Witchery’s outstanding reputation, so it was Adam’s time to see it for his own eyes. The Witchery, one of Edinburgh’s most well known restaurants is renowned for its brilliant setting, décor, menu and history. Owned by one of Scotland’s best-known restaurateurs, and hotelier, James Thomson, who has added the national accolade of “Restaurateur of the Year” to his many other awards.

The Witchery, by the Castle was established by James Thomson in 1979 in the near-derelict basement of an Old Town building, Boswell's Court. Since then he has acquired and restored further parts of the building, plus an adjacent one, which are now home to The Witchery, the Secret Garden and a collection of nine unique suites, which are said to be haunted to this day -  Adam could feel the chill as he was shown around.

Adam met Aitor Boix Arenas, the duty manager at The Witchery who was evidently very passionate about this establishment and the great reputation it has to be one of Edinburgh’s best restaurants. The Witchery pride themselves on customer service and this was clear from Adam’s experience where no task was too big or small to ensure he enjoyed his experience.

The Secret Garden is simply beautiful, with large windows at the back of the room, looking over the South of Edinburgh and providing a great deal of natural light. It has the capacity for 60 dining guests with the potential to use the upper restaurant for a larger party; or to hold a drinks reception. Both restaurants follow a similar theme, using gothic, dark red colouring and fabrics, the mood is incredibly romantic and holds a brilliant atmosphere. The venue facilities are super versatile and offers clients a wide range of different effects and moods, you can simply add some subtle lighting to enhance the already stunning restaurant backdrop.

If you like the theatre then the bedroom suites will be right up your street, as The Witchery hosts 9 stunning bedroom suites with theatrical style of their own unique decorative quirks and charm. With grand four-poster beds and large scale uniquely designed bathrooms, all together offer the most distinct overnight experience. The original winding turret stair remains and the venue is perfect for a luxurious weekend stay with in a prime location on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile offering 5 star services. Guests can enjoy a traditional Edinburgh setting whilst experiencing a real life piece of Edinburgh history and culture – and if you’re lucky enough, a ghost!

As far as event spaces go, this is certainly one of the most unique and luxurious places to visit in Edinburgh and offers guests and clients a memorable experience with the opportunity to hire the entire building. Exceptional staff, an award winning restaurant and bedroom suites steeped in history and class – this is one @YOURgb will definitely encourage clients to use in the future.

@YOURgb went Dino daft at Dynamic Earth last month!

@ourdynamicearth:

Adam Simpson and Sarah Robins attend Dynamic Earth:

Last month the @YOURgb team visited one of Edinburgh’s most exciting and unique venues, Dynamic Earth. Suzanne James, Events Sales Manager, warmly welcomed the team and was really enthusiastic and passionate about the venue.

Dynamic Earth host different activations at selected times throughout the year, and last month the YOURgb team were welcomed by dinosaurs as they entered the building – not something you see everyday in Edinburgh! Opening in 1999, it was a major project supported by the Millennium Commission regenerating former industrial land at the lower end of the Royal Mile. It is now one of Edinburgh’s biggest attractions, set beside the beautiful backdrop of Arthur Seat. The setting alone for this venue is incredible and supplies the ‘wow factor’ we, and clients, are so often looking for.

Dynamic Earth is a brilliantly designed space and built to host large numbers, with the entrance allowing for buses and large vehicles to stop for long periods of time without causing any problems as your guests alight and make their way up the stone steps to entre the ‘Stratosphere’. This is the largest, and possibly most well known space in the venue. It has the capabilities to hold 1200 guests in a reception style, or 550 as a dinner dance. The event space holds no limits either so whatever creative event design concepts you imagine, the space is flexible. The space also hosts strong rigging work and audiovisual equipment; even hanging acrobats can perform here.  They convert this space into a winter wonderland during the Christmas period for parties and it truly transforms into an unrecognizable space. And with the great support team and suppliers at Dynamic Earth, they are able to perform these stunning transformations in just a TWO HOURS!

During the day, this space is used for catering and the YOURgb team caught a quick Velocr-SNAP-tor selfie! Just off the Stratosphere lies the Ozone room, perfect for formal drink receptions, holding up to 120 people, with access on to the bricked terrace overlooking Arthur Seat.

One of the team’s favourite spots within Dynamic Earth was the ‘Earthscapes’, an opportunity to have a real Dynamic Earth experience, in which you can have a banquet or reception in the rainforest setting or next to the famous iceberg, truly an extraordinary experience.

With more flexible event space in the Biosphere, here hosts two connecting rooms with a retractable wall perfect for a dinner dance, awards ceremony or conference. There are a further three formal spaces (Salisbury Suite, Boardroom & Hutton Suite), adjacent to the Biosphere which work really well for breakout rooms for team building days.

The YOURgb team were incredibly excited for this site visit and it certainly did not disappoint – with dinosaur selfies, rainforests and a brilliantly designed event space, all in the heart of Edinburgh, it is one which we highly recommend.