This relative newcomer to the hotel scene has bones older than most others in Edinburgh city centre. The building has been a grand hotel since 1881, but it has lived through various incarnations, rebrands and owners, with the clever InterContinental group clocking that visitors might now also want a barista-run coffee shop and late-night steakhouse in their hotel alongside all the usual tartan trimmings.

Princes Street has unrivalled Edinburgh Castle views, retail heaven at St James Quarter and the Balmoral Hotel, where families are likely to disappear for afternoon teas and dips in the indoor swimming pool.

Hidden inside a turreted townhouse in the historic heart of the Royal Mile, this hotel is only a few minutes’ walk from a succession of spots that will allow families to connect with medieval Scottish history.

If your brood is tired after city sightseeing and in need of fresh air and open space, Prestonfield House is a go-to mini-Highlands hotspot.

A short walk from Edinburgh’s greenest attraction, the Royal Botanic Garden, this boutique bolt hole is primed for Edinburgh connoisseurs and repeat visitors who want a different perspective on the urban centre.

It may be surrounded by 55 acres of woodland (cue picnic hampers on the lawn, a dog-walking map and a fairy house trail), but this handily located Edinburgh Airport stopover is also within easy reach of the city centre.

Connecting rooms, an indoor pool and an interior that used to be the ticketing hall and main station of a former rail station all combine to create a glorious sense of space for families.

Teenage swingers and old timers needing a golf buggy will relish this out-of-town resort’s two championship courses, as well as the comforting spa and pool combo beside this castle hotel in Edinburgh’s western suburbs.

It’s not all fanfare and pomp like the Princes Street hotels, or romantic and louche such as those in the Cowgate or West End. This is a self-catering sanctuary tucked away in Leith and one designed to resemble an 18th-century garden pavilion.

Any stay in Edinburgh should take in a yomp up the Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat from the bottom of the Canongate, and there’s really no excuse not to when staying at this central all-apartment residence.

Cross family-friendly appeal with grown-up style and you’ll get the USP of this apartment-style hotel that’s slap bang in the thick of things on George Street.

A series of Georgian-era townhouses reworked as an Edinburgh hotel? It’s hardly news. But where this property excels is in its two mismatched restaurants, both of which are family-friendly and should have parents and children leaping from their chairs.