Former Edinburgh department store on Princes Street to be transformed into luxury hotel with 'cocoon' rooms

The former Debenhams department store on Princes Street, which spans nine floors, is set to be transformed into Scotland’s first Zedwell hotel.

The plans for the luxury hotel have been announced after the 116,500 sqft site was bought for an undisclosed amount by Criterion Capital, the development company headed up by billionaire investor Asif Aziz.

Under the plans, the luxury hotel would boast guest rooms dubbed “cocoons”, with noise-reducing walls, floors and doors, as well as warm ambient lighting.

The location boasts what had been marketed as “uninterrupted” views over Princes Street Gardens and on to Edinburgh Castle.

It will be the fourth Zedwell hotel to open in the UK, with three sites already operating in London, including one at Piccadilly Circus. A further hotel is set to open in Manchester in 2026.

Mr Aziz, founder and chief executive of Criterion Capital, said: “Opening our first hotel in Scotland is a significant step in our ambitious UK-wide expansion of our unique Zedwell hotel brand.

“Edinburgh’s rich history, cultural significance and strong tourism sector make it an ideal location for Zedwell. This project represents a fantastic addition to our committed pipeline of 22 hotels with over 7,000 rooms that, together with our expanding residential and commercial portfolios, will see our AUM [assets under management] exceed £6 billion.”

The company is planning to open eight more hotels before 2026, bringing the total number in its portfolio to 12.

The vacant retail space at 109-112 Princes Street spans three separate listed properties. The site had been granted previous planning approval for an upscale hotel of up to 210 bedrooms. A statement on the Zedwell hotels website says: “Sleep isn’t a luxury. It's a state of mind we must embrace to live better. Zedwell is a lifestyle concept designed to promote sleep, positive health and wellbeing.”

The site adds: “For you to embrace peace, our doors, walls and floors use sound insulating design using recycled materials to create quiet ‘cocoon’ spaces. To encourage you to breathe deeper, Zedwell purifies the air to ensure urban pollution stays firmly outside of our walls.”

The Princes Street site has been vacant since Debenhams closed its doors for the final time in May 2021, ending the company’s 243-year reign on the high street.

Plans for the former department store are the latest in a series of planned luxury hotels for one of Scotland’s most famous shopping streets. A new 300-bedroom hotel with a rooftop bar and retail space is already expected to open at a neighbouring site, formerly home to both Zara and Next stores, late next year. Kerr Young, head of UK national hotels transactions, capital markets at JLL, said of the Zedwell hotel plans: “We are delighted to have advised on the sale of 109 Princes Street.

“Edinburgh remains the best performing hotel market in Europe and JLL are very excited to be facilitating the entry of a new hotel concept such as Zedwell to the market, which will support the adaptive reuse of a strategically important property located in the heart of the city centre.”