What is the Sleeping Beauty Spa at Radisson Blu Edinburgh like?
If you’re looking for a spa in Edinburgh city centre with a pool, treatments and proper spa facilities, the options are surprisingly limited. There are plenty of places to drop in for a steam room, salt experience, sauna, cold plunge, facial or massage, but far fewer that offer the full spa day experience, with a pool, treatments and afternoon tea.
For that kind of thing, you often need to travel further out of Edinburgh to somewhere like Archerfield Estate, or even towards the Borders for SCHLOSS Roxburghe, though it’s worth noting that even Archerfield doesn’t have a pool area!
So, when I was recently invited to spend the day at Sleeping Beauty Spa inside the Radisson Blu on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, I was keen to see what they could offer in such a central Old Town location. I tried the pool, sauna and steam room before a 50-minute facial, and came away impressed enough to book another experience almost immediately afterwards. Here’s what I thought, what I’d change and what you need to know before booking.
Please Note: I was invited to experience Sleeping Beauty Spa at Radisson Blu Edinburgh, so my original visit was complimentary. However, this review reflects my own experience and opinions. I subsequently booked another spa package for a friend almost immediately afterwards.
Visited: August 2026 | Last updated: September 2026
Sleeping Beauty Spa Edinburgh at a glance
- Location: Radisson Blu, 80 High Street, Royal Mile
- Spa facilities: Indoor pool, sauna and steam room
- Treatments: Massage, facials, reflexology and spa packages
- Best for: Treatments, friends’ spa days and a central Edinburgh location
- Worth knowing: Pool is shared with hotel guests
- Accessibility: Lift access to spa level
- My highlight: Treatment rooms and spa team
Location and Reception
Location-wise, it doesn’t get much more central. The Radisson Blu sits directly on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, right next to the North Bridge junction, with frequent bus services passing and stopping nearby (and Waverley Station within easy walking distance.)
Once inside the hotel, you’ll need to head downstairs to reach the spa. Most people use the decorated stairwell, but there is also a lift for anyone with mobility issues.
I hate nothing more than heading somewhere new for a treatment only to find a cold, impersonal welcome. It sets the scene for the rest of your time there, in my experience. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case here. Along one side of the reception area are soft, comfortable couches and chairs where you’re invited to sit while filling out your consultation and safety forms. At the far end is a cabinet piled with plush towels.
The team gave us a really warm welcome, checked us in, fetched our robes and slippers and then showed us through to the women’s changing rooms. Lockers are provided too, with no additional payment needed.
What is included in a spa day at the Radisson Blu Edinburgh?
Our visit was for a friend’s birthday, with her opting for the 60-minute Deep Tissue Full Body Massage while I chose the 50-minute Touch Renew Facial. Her massage was designed to target aching muscles and tension using aromatherapy oils with clove, black pepper and rosemary, while my facial focused on hydration, lifting and firming, using a combination of products and facial massage techniques.
We arrived at the spa at 11.30am so we could make use of the pool, sauna and steam room before our treatments, and I’d definitely recommend doing it this way if you’re combining a treatment with time in the spa. The last thing you want after a massage or facial is to immediately wash off all those lovely oils and skincare products by jumping into the pool or sitting in the steam room. Give yourself enough time beforehand.
We were also asked if we’d like to add afternoon tea and make more of a day of it. Unfortunately, the Radisson Blu on the Royal Mile currently only lists a traditional afternoon tea, with vegetarian and gluten-free options, but no dedicated vegan afternoon tea menu. Had there been a vegan option, we definitely would have added it.
This came up again when we were chatting to the spa team after our treatments and they showed us some of the seasonal spa packages. One that immediately caught our attention was the Morning Spa Retreat. For £69, it included a choice of spa treatment, use of the spa facilities, robe and toiletries, plus tea or coffee and morning pastries. Treatment choices included a massage, facial, scalp treatment or ELEMIS Lime & Ginger Salt Glow.
For a city centre spa, £69 is really good value and it’s exactly the kind of package I’d book for a morning with a friend. But again, there was no vegan pastry option. It’s such an easy thing to fix, but unfortunately it’s something so many hotels overlook. When you’ve created a package that combines food with a spa experience, not having an equivalent vegan option effectively means vegan guests can’t book the complete package as advertised – though it’s worth highlighting that I appreciate the Sleeping Beauty Spa team are at the mercy of the Radisson’s food offering in this instance.
One other thing worth knowing before booking is that the leisure facilities aren’t exclusively for spa guests. The pool, sauna and steam room are also used by people staying at the hotel, and that had quite a big impact on our experience, which I’ll come back to later.
What was my Touch Renew Facial like?
Before we started, my therapist asked about my skin and how regularly I have facials. When I admitted this was my first proper one in years, she recommended using gentler products together to avoid irritating skin that wasn’t used to regular treatments. The facial involved multiple creams and massage techniques, concentrating particularly on the areas where I’m most conscious of lines and loss of firmness, including around my eyes, forehead, mouth and, most importantly for me, my jawline and jowls.
I wish I’d made a note of everything she used. She actually wrote all the products down for me afterwards and I managed to misplace the card! It was another example of how thorough she was throughout the treatment. Most importantly, my skin felt incredibly soft and glowy afterwards, without any irritation despite having gone so long without a facial.
What are the treatment rooms like at Sleeping Beauty Spa Edinburgh?
This is where the Sleeping Beauty Spa really stood out for me. The team had given us the option of having our treatments in individual rooms or together in a double treatment room. We chose the double room, partly because it was my friend’s birthday and partly because I was hoping to quietly capture a couple of clips for social media.
I’ve been in plenty of hotel spas where the treatment rooms have felt like an afterthought, squeezed in beside noisy gym facilities or with walls running alongside busy roads where you can still hear the traffic outside. The treatment rooms here felt like I was walking into exactly what I’d been promised, a luxury therapy space.
You’ll find a full list of the Sleeping Beauty Spa treatments at the Radisson Blue Edinburgh here.
What are the spa facilities like at the Radisson Blu Edinburgh?
I’m going to be honest, the pool area was a lot smaller than I’d anticipated, perhaps because of the photos being used online to promote it. It’s not really large enough for swimming lengths, even short ones, and I’d describe it as more of a pool for relaxing than swimming.
Unfortunately, relaxing wasn’t particularly easy on the day we visited. We were there during the Edinburgh Fringe, so the hotel was (understandably) busy. At one point we were struggling to get a lounger and couldn’t really make use of the pool because a particularly large group had taken over most of the space.
There’s nothing less relaxing than sitting poolside with around seven kids under the age of ten dive-bombing into the water right beside you. It did throw off the spa-day experience for us a bit, and my main feedback for the spa would be to consider dedicated adult-only or spa-guest hours around the pool. I completely understand that this is a hotel pool too, but if you’ve specifically paid for a spa day, having a quieter period to enjoy the facilities before or after your treatment would make a big difference.
That said, it’s worth noting that this is one of the relatively few spas with a pool in Edinburgh city centre where you’ll actually find loungers beside the water. Surprisingly, that’s a lot harder to come across than you might imagine. When I visited the spa at the Edinburgh’s famous Caledonian Hotel, for example, there was no lounger offering beside the pool at all, and we had to sit on hard plastic seats instead – quite a disappointment when you’re paying for a 5* location.
Both the sauna and steam room at the Radisson are immediately beside the pool, with around 7-10 pool loungers nearby. Both are a decent size considering this is a basement spa in the middle of Edinburgh’s Old Town, and I had no complaints with either.
How much does a spa day at Radisson Blu Edinburgh cost?
After our treatments, the team gave us a list of the products they’d used during the hour and also told us about the spa special offers they run seasonally throughout the year.
I genuinely couldn’t believe I hadn’t heard about these sooner. As far as Edinburgh city centre spa prices and packages go, some of the offers are an absolute steal! The fact that they change throughout the year and are often themed around the season also means they could work really well as gifts for birthdays, Christmas or just an excuse for another spa day.
When we visited in August 2026, they were running a summer ‘Holiday Passport’ package that included 3 treatments for £119, allowing guest to choose from:
- Power Pedicure
- Signature Manicure
- Lash Lift
- Signature Salt Scrub
- Eye Package
- Brow Lamination
- Hollywood Wax
- Half Leg & Underarm Wax
And there’s probably no better indication of what I thought of the treatments and value than what happened next. I’d been impressed enough with the treatments, packages and location that I waited for the next offer to drop and booked it myself for another friend’s birthday in September.
The Autumn 2026 ‘Hot Stone Indulgence Package’ was only £75 for 70 minutes and included:
- Hot Stone Back, Neck & Shoulder Massage
- Signature Hydrate & Glow Facial
- Scalp Massage or Hot Stone Foot Massage
Before you book one standard treatment, I strongly recommend signing up to their email list and having a look at the current seasonal spa offers first, because depending on what’s running, you may be able to get considerably more for your money!
Note: Prices and packages change regularly, so check the current Sleeping Beauty offers before booking.
Is Sleeping Beauty Spa Edinburgh worth it?
For me, absolutely. The biggest indication of that is probably the fact I was straight back looking at the spa offers afterwards and have already booked experiences for other people.
My treatment experience was genuinely one of the best I’ve had in Edinburgh. The atmosphere of the spa reception, the treatment rooms themselves and, most importantly, the team all played a part in that. Everyone we dealt with was lovely, professional and incredibly accommodating, and there was none of the slightly rushed or impersonal feeling you can sometimes get in a busy hotel spa.
The treatment rooms were a particular highlight for me. Despite being underneath a busy location in the middle of Edinburgh’s Old Town, once we were inside it felt calm, quiet and properly removed from everything going on outside.
There are a couple of things I’d change. I’d still love to see some dedicated adult-only or spa-guest times around the pool, particularly during busy hotel periods, and I’d like to see vegan food options added to the afternoon tea and packages that include p astries. Both would make it much easier to turn a treatment into a full spa day. But neither would stop me going back.
If you’re looking for a huge resort-style pool where you’ll spend most of the day lounging, this isn’t really what Sleeping Beauty Spa is about. If you’re looking for one of the most central spas in Edinburgh, with a pool, sauna and steam room alongside genuinely excellent treatments and a team who make the experience feel special, I’d happily recommend it.
