Recommended in Scotland

During our 6-day visit to Scotland, May 18-23, 2014, my husband and I stayed at Old Waverley Hotel (43 Princes St., Edinburgh, EH2 2BY, U.K.; phone 0044 [0] 131 556 4648, www.oldwaverley.co.uk), conveniently located across the street from the Waverley rail station.

We highly recommend this charming hotel for its value, location and accommodating staff. We booked five nights there, at £164 (near $279) per night, in a Princes Street-view room. We also had great views of the Scott Monument (directly across the street) and Edinburgh Castle.

The rooms had been updated since our 1991 stay. Our room was surprisingly quiet, considering the busy street. It was clean, with quiet air-conditioning and room-darkening drapes. The bathroom was compact, with lots of hot water and great water pressure (a pleasant surprise in an older building). The WiFi, included in the room rate when booking on the hotel’s website, was reliable. 

We enjoyed a nice meal in the hotel’s cozy Abbotsford Bar & Lounge. The staff was outstanding, especially Michael and Zoltan in the restaurant/bar, and the reception desk staff was very welcoming.

We had a superb meal at a nearby restaurant, Amarone (13 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh; phone +44 131 523 1171, www.amaronerestaurant.co.uk). The atmosphere inside was chic yet relaxing. We enjoyed sitting in a very large booth.

I had succulent king scallops sautéed in white wine, garlic and chiles on a bed of tagliolini pasta, while my husband had roasted fillet of cod with a mixed Italian herb and garlic salsa on a bed of basil and olive oil mash with a white wine and cream sauce.

We shared a bottle of white wine, and each of us had the most delicious vanilla panna cotta on the planet. The total bill came to £71.35 ($122). 

We had another great meal, this time at Tiles Café Bar Bistro (1 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, Midlothian; phone +44 131 557 3228, www.tilesbar.co.uk), located on the southeast corner of St. Andrew Square. 

It was a lovely place — a cross between a pub and an upscale bar. Somehow they pull off that combination and make it work. 

I had the Ploughman’s Platter and my husband had a burger. We each enjoyed a pint, chosen with the help of our server’s recommendation. Our bill was £28.55 ($49).

We stumbled onto the tiny Writers’ Museum when we saw it out the back window of Gladstone’s Land (a 17th-century, 6-story tenement building that’s been restored). 

Housed in Lady Stair’s House at the Lawnmarket, on the Royal Mile, the museum is worth a look, even if you’re not well acquainted with Edinburgh writers Sir Walter Scott, Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s a quirky, interesting museum, 

JoANN IRWIN

Landisville, PA