Edinburgh's The Caledonian Hotel offers luxury £4,000 personalised helicopter tours of Scotland

The tours, run by bespoke helicopter tour company Heliscot, can also become even more expensive if the customer wishes to visit whiskey distilleries across the country. Picture: Heliscot

The Waldorf Astoria hotel on the corner of Lothian Road has expanded its offering to its wealthiest customers with the addition of personalised helicopter tours of the skies of Edinburgh, starting at a mere £1,400.

For those who wish to explore the further reaches of Scotland, the prices start a little bit higher at just £4,000.

The tours, run by bespoke helicopter tour company Heliscot, can also become even more expensive if the customer wishes to visit whiskey distilleries across the country.

The Edinburgh tour includes a personal transfer from their hotel to the take-off location before flying over city sights including Arthur’s Seat, the Royal Yacht Britannia and Edinburgh Castle.

Scottish mother-of-two dies during Bikram yoga training course in Mexico

For £4,000, the trip takes in Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond, Inverary Castle, past the Glenfinnan viaduct made famous by Harry Potter before landing Skye for lunch.

Then, a quick flight over Eilean Donan Castle, Ben Nevis and Glencoe before, if desired, landing in Islay to take in some of the famous distilleries on the island.

Dale MacPhee, general manager of The Caledonian, said: “At Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh, The Caledonian, we always love to go above and beyond for our guests and with these experiences we are quite literally doing so.

“We are incredibly proud of our Scottish heritage and know that this is also something that our guests enjoy learning about and experiencing first hand; our helicopter tours allow them to do so even if they only have a day to spare."

Personal tours

The experiences are for a maximum of four guests but can be personalised.

Graham Martlew, who runs Heliscot and pilots the helicopters, said: “Heliscot offers bespoke tours to the clients requirements, so can be varied in nature. An example of a common tour which I offer is the west coast and Skye.

“The departure point depends on where the client is staying, as I generally I collect them from their location such as the Dalmahoy Hotel if staying in Edinburgh, Gleneagles, or St Andrews to name a couple or from Perth Airport where I am based.

“All quotations are based on flight time, so I would look at the inquiry in question and if they requested a distillery tour, which could be the numerous distilleries on Islay or Speyside, then I would look at working out a quotation based on flight time.”

In 2018, Hilton luxury brands Waldorf Astoria and Conrad launched a luxury experiences campaign with its own website.

Every hotel in Europe, Middle East and Africa have unique experiences to offer their guests which are all featured on the website with the understanding guests are now looking for more than just a hotel room.