The Fingal hotel in Edinburgh, a 1963 lighthouse ship, named Europe’s leading boutique hotel

Built in 1963 to supply Scotland’s lighthouses, the Fingal is now a 23-cabin hotel moored at Leith, Edinburgh’s port. On 17 October 2026 it collected two titles at the World Travel Awards, as Europe’s and Scotland’s leading boutique hotel. Its owner, the trust that runs the Royal Yacht Britannia, is headed by a Frenchman, Franck Bruyère.

☰Contents

1. Built in 1963 to serve Scotland’s lighthouses
2. Fourteen years in Cornwall under another name
3. Five million pounds to hollow out the hull
4. Every cabin named after a lighthouse
5. Princess Anne’s former suite, from £880
6. Where to dine on board the Fingal?
7. A Frenchman at the helm, two trophies in 2026

Built in 1963 to serve Scotland’s lighthouses

The Fingal was ordered in 1963 by the Northern Lighthouse Board, the lighthouse authority for Scotland and the Isle of Man. The last ship to leave the Blythswood yard in Glasgow, she was registered in Leith. Based in Oban for thirty years, then six in Orkney, she supplied the lighthouses of Scotland’s west and north coasts and relieved the keepers: their three-week shift ended when her silhouette appeared on the horizon.

She was retired in 2000. Her name is said to honour Fingal, King of Morven, in Argyll, in the west of Scotland, in the 3rd century.

Fourteen years in Cornwall under another name

Sold to a private owner, the ship was renamed “Windsor Castle” and spent fourteen years in seaworthy condition on the River Fal, in Cornwall. The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, which runs Britannia, Elizabeth II’s former royal yacht moored a five-minute walk away, bought her back in 2014 after six years of negotiations and had her towed to Leith that August.

In 2016 the artist Ciara Phillips, shortlisted for the Turner Prize, covered her in “dazzle” camouflage, the geometric patterns painted on ships during the First World War. The same year, she got her Fingal name back.

Five million pounds to hollow out the hull

Why a hotel? Overnight stays are not allowed on board Britannia, so the Trust and its subsidiary Royal Yacht Enterprises came up with a floating hotel as an extra source of income. The conversion cost 5 million pounds and took more than two years. The hull was completely hollowed out to house 14 cabins on the main deck, four of them duplexes; the funnel was removed to build two new decks, home to eight large cabins and a suite, then its upper half was put back on top.

The former hold became a double-height Ballroom, reached by two grand curved staircases, beneath a sparkling ceiling and a retractable glass roof: 60 guests seated, 100 for drinks receptions. The hotel opened to the public in January 2019 and now holds five stars from the AA, the British hotel rating body.

Every cabin named after a lighthouse

Each cabin bears the name of a lighthouse built by the Stevensons, the family of Scottish lighthouse engineers from which the writer Robert Louis Stevenson descended. Inside are fabrics by Scottish designer Araminta Campbell, headboards embroidered with nautical chart lines, brass taps and portholes.

The 20 m² Classic Cabins are listed from £264 (about €305), and the 21 to 24 m² Luxury Cabins, opening onto the deck, from £330 (about €380). The 45 m² Classic Duplex Suites, with their hand-carved spiral staircase, start at £462 (about €530), and the 60 m² Luxury Duplex Suites at £528 (about €605).

Princess Anne’s former suite, from £880

The Skerryvore Suite, named after the Skerryvore lighthouse off the island of Tiree in the Inner Hebrides, occupies the former quarters of Princess Anne, patron of the Northern Lighthouse Board, who stayed on board. Its 53.5 m² bring together a private deck, a table for eight and a freestanding bath, from £880 a night, or about €1,010.

Where to dine on board the Fingal?

On the upper deck, The Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar has earned two AA rosettes. Behind its picture windows it serves a tasting menu and salmon smoked on board every evening, and a five-course afternoon tea in the afternoon. Non-residents are welcome by reservation.

The former bridge, The Bridge, keeps the ship’s original wheel and hosts private dinners for up to ten guests, including the Chef’s Table, a five-course tasting menu for 6 to 10 people.

A Frenchman at the helm, two trophies in 2026

On 17 October 2026, at the World Travel Awards European gala in Kotor, Montenegro, Fingal won two boutique hotel titles: “Europe’s Leading Boutique Hotel 2026”, against 17 nominees, and “Scotland’s Leading Boutique Hotel 2026”, against 13. The awards are voted for by travel professionals and the public; another floating hotel, London’s Sunborn Yacht Hotel, took the European title in 2021. See the full list of World Travel Awards Europe 2026 winners.

Head of the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust since July 2024, Franck Bruyère, of French origin, succeeded Bob Downie, who held the post for 26 years. A veteran of the InterContinental Paris Le Grand, the Fairmont Monte Carlo and The Caledonian in Edinburgh, he previously ran the Trust’s hospitality. “Since opening, our ambition has been simple: to deliver world-class hospitality with warmth, personality and a genuine Scottish welcome,” he says in the hotel’s press release.

There is no spa or pool on board, but the direct tram from the airport stops two minutes away. To extend your stay, read our article on Dalhousie Castle, restored near Edinburgh, and our selection of the world’s most unusual hotels.