Day 33
Malmaison Hotel
We look at the history of this building, originally built as a seaman’s mission in 1883.
This building was originally a seaman’s mission which provided accommodation for sailors whose ships were in Leith port. The original sailors’ home was located down the street at Dock place, but at a cost of £10,000, this new structure was built at Tower Place as a bigger and grander version in 1883. There is an angel carved above the doorway of the building and the words, “Sailors’ Home,” that still exists today to mark its original intent. The original mission had rooms for up to 50 sailors and 10 officers as well as a chapel and clothes shop. At the time, it was said to be “an innovation in social care at the time when many workers lived in overcrowded slums.”
However, over time, the building became known as a “house of ill repute,” and eventually the mission would become a hotel called the Angel hotel in honour of this stone emblem carved above its doorway. In 1994, it was bought and renovated by Malmaison, marking one of the first of many transitions to the Shore area in Leith. This was the first and remains the flagship hotel of this UK-based chain of boutique hotels. The facade of the Malmaison played host to an artistic installation this January as part of Edinburgh Hogmanay’s Message from the Skies 2020: Shorelines. The piece, purpose built for this location was called The Sea. Written by Irvine Welsh with moving image visuals created by local artist, Norrie Harman, and music composed by Steve Mac. In this letter, it recalls the lessons Welsh learned from a well-travelled sailor he met growing up in Leith.
