24 Best Hotels in Glasgow, Scotland

There's no lobby at the futuristic citizenM—no reception area at all, because you can only book online—but there are chic "living spaces" with ultramodern furnishings where guests can congregate and streamlined rooms that are smartly designed. Each has a square bed with storage space beneath and wall-to-wall windows with shutters and blinds that are opened and closed with a touch pad that also adjusts the lighting and air-conditioning. Wi-Fi is free, as are on-demand movies on the LCD TVs. Bathrooms are compact, but clean and efficient. The bar-restaurant offers food around the clock, from sushi to sandwiches, via automatic vending machines. Though the bar is staffed, this is a futuristic establishment with most things arranged via computer. Breakfast is not included, but you can book it ahead for £15.95.

At this extremely stylish addition to Glasgow's hotel scene, the textured, neutral decor creates a restful, subdued atmosphere. That feeling continues in guest rooms that are beautifully decorated in soft browns and white. Bathrooms merit special mention for their comfort and size. The downstairs bar and grill have a sophisticated, very modern air, but the lighting allows intimacy, too. Although the location is toward the outer edge of the City Centre, it's close to Blythswood Square and a few minutes' walk from the center's amenities. It's a popular spot with celebrities when they visit the city. 

Consisting of a group of Victorian houses on a tree-lined street, well away from the bustle of Byres Road, this hotel is all about elegance, from the sophisticated drawing room to the individually decorated guest rooms with flowing draperies, Egyptian linens, and mahogany furnishings like four-poster beds. Once the legendary One Devonshire Gardens hotel frequented by many a visiting celebrity, today the Hotel du Vin Glasgow is still a destination for those in search of luxury. The stained-glass windows on the stairwells are an impressive reminder of the glamorous life of the wealthy who once lived here. The stylish bistro offers good Scottish cooking, with alfresco dining on sunny days; the menu lists more than 600 wines and 300 whiskies.

History and luxury come together at this smart conversion of the former headquarters of the Royal Automobile Club of Scotland, which occupies a classical building on peaceful Blythswood Square. The entrance is impressive, with marble floors and huge chandeliers. Room design is elegant and understated; the Spanish marble bathrooms make a dramatic contrast to the calming grays, whites, and deep reds of the furnishings. A basement spa offers serious pampering with its steam rooms, pools, sauna, and mud chamber. The ground-floor restaurant is modern and spacious while the upstairs bar and lounge serves afternoon tea from noon to 5.

One of Europe's great Victorian hotels built when train travel was a luxury, this hotel located within Glasgow's historic train station deserves its name, as everything about it, from the magnificent marble-floor Champagne bar to the ballroom fully restored to its original glory, is grand. Original features have been carefully preserved, including the guest-room doors and windows. Many of the rooms (although not all) are spacious with high ceilings, decorated in muted colors, and papered in elegant designs. The luxurious semicircular Champagne bar overlooks the station concourse, providing some visual theater for the visitors to this often-crowded bar.

Opposite the West End's peaceful Glasgow Botanic Gardens, this hotel is within minutes of busy Byres Road yet well away from its noisy weekend activity. The Ambassador is part of a collection of elegant town houses on the banks of the River Kelvin. The interior echoes the peacefulness of the location and the Victorian ethos of the spacious former family home. The rooms have a contemporary look, with rich red-and-gold fabrics and beech furniture. Looking directly onto the bridge on Queen Margaret Drive, it is comfortable without being pretentious. It is worth asking for rooms with a river view.

The extraordinary floor-to-ceiling windows here set this modern chain hotel apart, providing a panoramic view over Glasgow and beyond from the upper floors (sixth and seventh). These "city view" rooms cost a bit more, but are worth asking for. Guest rooms are low-key and sleekly minimalist in design; light woods and white prevail, with touches of yellow. All beds are king-size, and the bathrooms (with showers only) are in muted colors. The downstairs bar and restaurant area (where breakfast is served) maintain the style.

A narrow revolving doorway, a step back from busy West George Street, creates the illusion of a secret passageway leading into this lavish boutique hotel. Guest rooms are tastefully decorated and quite spacious, with some done up in slightly racier tartan tones. The comfortable lounge offers complimentary drinks to guests in the more expensive executive rooms. Crystal decanters of gin, sherry, and whisky are in every room, as well as minibars and bathrobes. Windows, the top-floor restaurant, has a sweeping view of Glasgow's rooftops. The location couldn't be better: minutes away from Buchanan Street and George Square.

Not visible from the street, this hotel occupies a sixth floor above Central station; guest rooms are on the small side but have expansive windows overlooking the glass roof of the station on one side and across the rooftops of Glasgow on the other. All are decorated with different hand-painted wallpapers; beds are comfortable, and the powerful showers provoke special comment. The kitchen where breakfast is served feels a little like someone's home. There is also a small sitting room for guests. To find the hotel, just look for the door marked "Caledonian Chambers" on Union Street and take the elevator.

This small, unpretentious, but well-established hotel in a very central West End location has cozy, simply decorated rooms. It is comprised of two Victorian town houses on a terrace above a row of shops on the busy Great Western Road, but the location means that it isn't affected by noise. The Heritage is well used by visitors to the nearby university. Rooms are rather small, but the breakfast room is quite elegant.

Overlooking the Clyde, this hotel is within sight of the SSE Hydro entertainment arena and a short walk along the water from the Riverside Museum, and a slightly longer walk from Argyle Street in Finnieston. Guest rooms are bright and contemporary, dressed in muted colors, and each has an Apple Mac that doubles as computer and TV. Those overlooking the river have lovely views but cost a little more.

Behind a row of grand terrace houses, this modern hotel overlooks the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. The guest rooms facing the park have high ceilings and expansive windows; those at the back are slightly larger but have less appealing views. The hotel has ample public spaces, including a popular bar and grill on the ground floor and a quieter bar one floor above. In the heart of the West End, the hotel has easy access to the City Centre. Wi-Fi is available in public areas but costs extra in the guest rooms.

In the center of the city, the fashionable Indigo is awash with bold colors and modern designs that emphasize comfort and calm. You can choose the hues you prefer for your room—green, blue, or pink, perhaps? The lounge and bar areas are open and airy, with high ceilings and comfortable chairs. A reasonably priced bar menu includes more standard fare and is available 24 hours in your room. The corridors and restaurant are lined with Glasgow-themed art.

Housed in a converted church, this modern boutique hotel prides itself on personal service and outstanding amenities like plasma televisions and high-end stereo systems. Echoing art deco in some aspects, the interior employs bold colors in playful prints and geometric shapes, balanced by traditional fabrics and furnishings. The lobby's splendid staircase has a wrought-iron balustrade illustrating Napoléon's exploits (the chain takes its name from an extravagant home decorated by Empress Josephine). The Chez Mal Brasserie offers some high-end dishes for sharing, including Yorkshire lamb and Chateaubriand, as well as a range of steaks and burgers. Sunday lunch is a good value.

This imposing baronial house, now a luxurious golf and spa resort, sits amid formal gardens and overlooks the River Clyde and verdant woodlands. Clad in dark stone, the building itself is slightly forbidding, but the interior has been redesigned to reflect the luxurious style of its original mid-19th-century construction. The Grand Hall, hung with tapestries, looks out onto greenery and is a restful place for afternoon tea or evening cocktails. The guest rooms vary in size, but many have grand four-poster beds draped in silk and satin. The elegant restaurant has a menu that emphasizes local ingredients in dishes like venison and lamb three ways. The Decleor Spa offers a wide range of treatments, and the swimming pool is a great place to rest after a round on the riverbank golf course.

This huge hotel behind an original Georgian facade occupies almost a whole side of George Square and stretches almost as high as the rail station next door. It has restrained and comfortable rooms with ample bathrooms. There are spacious public areas on the ground floor and an elegant restaurant looking directly onto the square. It also offers lovely and affordable afternoon teas. 

With a youthful, defiantly anti-institutional vibe, the Moxy is perfect for those looking to capture Glasgow's lively energy. Everyone is greeted at reception with a welcome cocktail. Rooms are simple but well equipped, and the social areas on the ground floor include a foosball table. Food is served at the on-site bar and a self-serve "grab-and-go" is available for hungry night owls.

Housed in a converted cotton mill by the river in the 18th-century village of New Lanark, this hotel is decorated in a spare, understated style that allows the impressive architecture of barrel-vaulted ceilings and elegant Georgian windows to speak for itself. The hotel has a fine restaurant, there are some shops nearby, and the visitor center is open through the day. But what the hotel offers most distinctly is a calm and restful environment with beautiful walks through the Clyde Valley nearby. Guest rooms include a number of cottages.

Formerly the home of a whisky magnate, this late-Victorian mansion on the southern edge of town is now a country-house hotel. All the bedrooms in the half-timbered main house are furnished in traditional style, and many have romantic four-poster or canopy beds. Oak paneling and log fires in the restaurant provide a warm backdrop for Scottish cuisine, including such specialties as beef medallions in pickled walnut sauce. The hotel is within walking distance of the Royal Troon course and a half hour drive from Turnberry.

You can't miss this eye-catching edifice behind Central station: its glass facade makes the interior, particularly the lounge, seem as though it were part of the street. Rooms are decorated in several styles—the Nordic rooms, for example, are done up in icy shades of blue. The pop-art-inspired Collage, serving Scottish and international cuisine, is filled with business types, as is the sleek street-level Grahamston at the Atrium bar. Guests have access to a gym and a popular swimming pool.

Located within the increasingly busy Finnieston Quay area, the stylish rooms here (with hand-drawn artwork from local comic book artist Frank Quietly) have large windows that take full advantage of the river view, which can be more fully enjoyed from the ninth-floor rooftop bar. The entrance is behind anonymous red doors, which open to a very large space.

The Victorian exterior of this hotel anticipates the colorful decor you'll find inside, where the large windows in the reception area let in lots of light. Although they vary in size, the individually styled rooms are basic but comfortable and economical. Located at the western end of Sauchiehall Street, the hotel is close to the Hydro and the Scottish Exhibition Centre, Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and a stone's throw from the busy restaurant scene on Argyle Street.

Seconds from Central Station, this shiny and fashionable spot has a youthful spirit, obvious in its colorful pop-art style decor and its on-site rooftop restaurant, bar, and neon bowling alley. This is a hotel that wears its fun side with pride.

Just a few yards from George Square, this good-value modern hotel is one of the newer additions to Merchant City's accommodation options. Previously a printworks and a pub, it has been well refurbished to offer style at a reasonable price. Attention has been paid to air-conditioning in the compact rooms, and the bathrooms are spacious and attractive. Because it was built around a central patio inherited from the original printworks, some interior rooms have small (or no) windows. In general, though, the hotel is airy and bright. There is no restaurant, but a small bar (where breakfast is provided) is on the ground level.