"Dunstane House is located on the road to Edinburgh airport just a mile and a half outside the city centre. It’s actually one of two rather grand houses owned by Shirley and Derek Mowat from Orkney, and the couple have put their mark on both. Photos of Orkney abound as do images of vintage cars and aeroplanes (Derek’s twin passions) and there is a lot of Orkney on the menu too. A “Wee Taste of Orkney” denotes the hotel’s sharing board of salmon, mackerel paté and Grimbister – my favourite name for a Scottish cheese. And in the “Wee Bites” section of the menu you can have haggis bonbons as well as hand-dived Orkney scallops and smoked Orkney mackerel pate on special oatcakes made in the Orkney seaport of Stromness.

The word “wee” crops up a lot at Dunstane House too. The three categories of bedroom include the “Luxury Wee Doubles”. But there is nothing at all wee about the height of the Ba’Bar, the all-day dining lounge where you can help yourself to a wee dram from the decanter. The Ba’Bar is where breakfast, lunch and dinner are served. It’s a lofty room with an ornate ceiling and was originally the drawing room of Thomas Gill who built Dunstane House in 1852. Surprisingly Gill lived in the house all on his own – apart from a few servants - for the rest of his life which is odd as it has the feel of a gracious mid-Victorian family home. When Gill’s sister came to join him in later life she lived across the road in Hampton House, which is the second part of Shirley and Derek’s Dunstane Houses wee hotel complex.

The Ba’Bar gets its name from Ba’, a game of rough football played on Orkney. There is an actual ba’ (ball) hanging over the bar, which makes for an interesting talking point. The height of the room has also been used to stack more than 30 whiskeys in a floor to ceiling glass cabinet that has to be accessed by steps. The nicest touch of all is that decanter of blended whisky on a table to which guests are able to help themselves.

The Ba’Bar’s own wine list has its impressive moments too, including a Jim Barry Assyrtiko made in Australia from grapes grown in Nemea on the Greek mainland. Now that’s not something you encounter very often. Certainly not in this country."

"Oh, who doesn’t adore the dark and brooding drama of Edinburgh’s landscape? A ten-minute stroll into The Haymarket, this high-Victorian mansion is set in two gorgeous houses across the street from each other and the design is true boutique. We are truly and wholly in love with the bold, dramatic colours and prints, oriental rugs and historic art and photographs that echo the owners’ family connections with both Edinburgh and Orkney. We are also hopelessly smitten with the roll-top copper bath with sweeping views at the window in the Dunstane suite. We don’t believe you will make it out of the luxury of your room but if you do, all-day Scottish dining and some of the finest spirits you’ll find in the city await you in the Ba’ Bar. Haggis bonbons, anyone?"

"The Dunstane has undergone a top-to-toe refurbishment and the result is decidedly classy boutique establishment that is a rather a dark horse in the Edinburgh hotel scene. This high-Victorian mansion is all about dramatic design, velvet teals and burnt orange over-stuffed sofas and Habitat-feel soft furnishings. They’ll pick you up from the airport in a vintage Daimler if you ask, too. It’s hard dragging yourself out of the Ba’ Bar with its Chesterfield sofas and glorious bay window views but once you do, it’s a quick ten minute drive into the heart of the city."

"One of the newest hotels in Edinburgh also has one of its most interesting bars. Dunstane Houses in Haymarket is a colourful, warm, design hotel run by Shirley and Derek Mowat from Orkney. They spent a million pounds converting this nineteenth-century West End townhouse into a 16-bedroom hotel with lots of Persian rugs, low atmospheric lighting, velvet sofas and original art from Edinburgh’s Red Door Gallery.

The hotel’s Ba’ Bar takes its name from a kind of football game played on Orkney. It’s an intriguingly dark room with a glowing glass whisky cabinet and bar seats for those who want to watch their drinks being prepared. Here lounge manager, Dan Welsh presides over numerous craft beers, 15 artisanal gins (all local except England’s wonderful Sipsmith) and 60 rare and vintage whiskies. If you want more than just a single malt with the slightest dash of water, order a Whisky Spice which mixes chilli sauce, ginger ale and lime with the single malt of your choice."

"While England has been going through its “Ginaissance”, Scotland has seen its national drink –unfashionable as late as the 1980s - reach stratospheric levels of desirability around the world. Wealthy people want to own bottles that retail in four figure sums. Wealthy companies want to own whole distilleries.

Edinburgh doesn’t have any distilleries within the city, but it is full of people who want to experience Scots whisky. Walk down the Royal Mile and you are assailed by shops selling whisky, tartan and cashmere. There is a subtle preponderance of certain retail companies who give their outlets different names but sell all the same whiskies at all the same prices.

So how to get an authentic experience of whisky while visiting in the Scottish capital? Here are ten places worth visiting where you are guaranteed to learn and enjoy – and not get ripped off in the process."