They’re the hotels doomed to go on the jobby market… the eyesores, carbunkels and just wrongly named, and add to that the W Hotel in Edinburgh.
The more refined denizens of Scotland’s capital call the W Hotel in the St James Quarter ‘The Walnut Whip’ on account of its similarity to the chocolate treat.
While the less sophisticated have tagged it ‘The Golden Jobby’ on account of its tapered top and likeness to human waste.
Credit where credit’s due it’s The Guardian architecture critic Olly Wainwright who got the ball rolling ahead of the opening.
When his article headlined: Why has a poo emoji arrived on Edinburgh’s skyline? unleashed a stream of similar-typed comparisons.
With comments flowing such as ‘you can’t polish a turd, but you can clad it in bronze-coloured steel’.
And ‘despite all the Unesco World Heritage site … shit still happens’.
Back to the draft board
Now on the draft board The Golden Jobby may have looked like a good idea…
And we’ve all been there.
What designers Jestico + Whiles had seen would be different from the rest of us and branded it “the ribbon hotel”.
And, to be fair, it did boast some swish features, including a 360-degree panoramic rooftop bar.
A Sushisamba restaurant (no, us neither), a recording studio, spa, meeting rooms and a panoramic roof terrace.
With views of the Old and New Town and Arthur’s Seat.
And it boasted ten storeys and 244 rooms.
With a stay in a King room setting you back £425 per night.
Location, location, location
The W is also ideally situated, near Edinburgh’s theatreland and just off Princes Street.
And the best retail and restaurants and bars the New Town can offer.
The official reason given for putting the hotel, which was only opened just seven months ago, is that Nuveen Real Estate has wider plans for the development.
And according to Nuveen, the overall development has an estimated investment value in excess of £1b.
So what we would deduce from that is that you’ll have to shell out a billion then to spend a penny.
Visit if you will, and Edinburgh is a jewel, and decide for yourself.
If this is one of those hotels doomed to go on the jobby market.