143-bedroom hotel approved for Edinburgh’s New Town

The Dakota hotel will replace a 1980s office block on Dundas Street despite concerns about over-tourism.

Daily Alba · 2 October 2026 · 2 min read

Illustrative image of a New Town street corner with a modern office block. Illustrative image, not a photograph of the reported event.

City of Edinburgh Council has approved plans for a 143-bed Dakota hotel on the corner of Dundas Street and Fettes Row, the Edinburgh Evening News reports.

The plans

A seven-storey hotel will replace the former Centrum House office block, with a restaurant and bar on the ground floor and suites with roof terraces on the top floor.

Concerns

Edinburgh World Heritage raised concerns about the growing number of hotels in the World Heritage Site and called for a review of the city’s capacity to absorb more.

Source & attribution: This original report is based on Edinburgh Evening News, published 1 October 2026. This is not independent on-the-ground reporting.