The new St James Quarter hotel has drawn mixed reactions - your views

Intro

Heartbreak hotel

Public reacts to new St James Quarter hotel as viral tweet shows finishing touches to exterior

Mary McLeod

I thought it was referred to as The Cupcake but, now that I see the finished article, I can understand the new description! Awful! It has totally spoiled the view along George Street to St Andrew Square.

Audrey Dickson

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Why do they insist on making the St James Centre area such an out of place eyesore and carbuncle? St James Centre was ugly in itself and a poor excuse as a shopping centre. Can anyone else remember the hideous centrepiece in the middle of the round about? It was an ugly metal construction that if I remember correctly lit up, although that could have only been at Christmas or possibly in my imagination. All that money to build a poop emoji!

Alan Brown

I think the new area looks good - ribbon hotel included!

Jean Andow

Carry on like this and Edinburgh will soon look like Dubai. It used to be so beautiful with all the historic buildings.

Jenny Pirie

It looks a lot nicer in the flesh than I expected. I still don't understand the logic of a cinema opposite a cinema, though.

Graeme Gairns

The whole problem with this new creation is that it has to be built around the existing John Lewis shop as they said if they were forced to move they would not return. The building is one eyesore replacing another and does little to enhance the area or fit in with the buildings around it. I would like to hear an honest opinion on it from HRH the Prince of Wales.

Mitch Stark

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This is what we’re moaning about? Has no one see the new Meadowbank Sports Centre? Now that is an eyesore, right next to a royal park and area of natural beauty. Hideous.

David Houston

The giant orange peel actually looks quite good, the whole site is coming along well inside. I think the shoppers will love the mall, a million times better than what was there. Fantastic views across the city too.

Sandie Boa

You just need to stand outside the new TKMaxx building and view the Scott Monument to see how Edinburgh is being ruined. You can’t force a city which has grown up over hundreds of years into a historic gem and bring it into the 21st century. What you do inside a building is one thing, but destroying beautiful facades is a sin. I have lived all my life in Edinburgh, travelled to many cities, and Edinburgh always stood out, but I have watched it destroyed by modern architecture.

Ian Ogilvie

It fits in perfectly with the Edinburgh I know. I am used to seeing ugly buildings there. When I saw the high rise tenement Appleton Tower, I worked out Edinburgh is a real dump. And when I saw the old slum buildings in Lindsay Road being turned into brightly coloured tenements I laughed at the pretension of the numpties that claim they live in "luxury apartments". A tenement is a tenement. Potterrow is a slum in the making as well.

Phil Kyle

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What has happened to Edinburgh in the last 10 years? What a mess, horrendous buildings , ridiculous one way systems, impossible 20 mph speed limits!

Lorna Gatens

Be better if there was a rollercoaster round the top.

Mamie Johnston

I live in Edinburgh and frankly this is an embarrassment.

Juli Harris

Yuk. The beauty of Edinburgh is in its streets and old buildings. Anything new has to complement, not stick out like a new age holiday spot skyline.

Claire AA Eadie

Doesn't look too imposing on the landscape; folk need to get over themselves.

Chris Storey

No one could argue that what’s emerging isn’t hugely better than the disappointing brutalist architecture it replaces, that unlike London’s Barbican Centre had not a single decent vista.

Margaret Ferrier

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It looks much better than the old place. I personally can’t wait for the centre to open.

Dirk Valentine

I really hope they build another one in Charlotte Square. I think it would look amazing having such a magnificent structure at each end of George Street.

Bradley Lewis Cannon

I really like it. It’s refreshing to see a bit more sinuous architecture - something that Edinburgh lacks. It’s also nice to finally have a modern building that I feel is going to become a landmark in the not so distant future. We can’t live in the past, we need a diverse mix of architecture from all eras.