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Former Northern Lighthouse Board ship Fingal to be turned into a luxury hotel

• Stef Bottinelli

The Royal Yacht Britannia’s trading company, Royal Yacht Enterprises, has invested £3.5m into turning Fingal into a luxury hotel which will be docked in Edinburgh

Fingal, a former Northern Lighthouse Board ship, is being turned into a luxury hotel due to open later this year.

The Royal Yacht Britannia ’s trading company, Royal Yacht Enterprises, has invested £3.5m to transform Fingal into one of Edinburgh’s most stunning hotel. The former ship will be berthed in Edinburgh’s historic Port of Leith, benefitting from the city’s restaurants and nightlife. Nearby attractions include the Royal Yacht Britannia,The Scotch Whisky Experience, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle.

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All aboard the Sunborn Yacht Hotel London

The superyacht moored by the Excel in East London is not just a four star hotel, but a veritable experience.

Fingal will boast 23 stylish cabins, all named after Stevenson lighthouses, and inspired by Fingal’s rich maritime heritage.

Cabins will feature their own private balcony, and there is a choice of standard, duplex cabin or, a suite, the Skerryvore.

For more information click here .

Name MV Fingal

Previous names

• 2016 Windsor Castle

Construction

Launched in August 1963, this steam tender vessel was the last ship built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company, Glasgow, and was previously the Northern Lighthouse Board's (NLB) tender Fingal. At some time after she was launched, a flight deck was added, which required the mizzen mast  to be moved forward. She was Leith-registered but spent most of her NLB service working out of Oban for 30 years, followed by her last six years in Stromness, Orkney.

When she retired from NLB service in 2000 she was sold to a private owner who fully maintained her, moored on the River Fal in Cornwall for the next 14 years until she was acquired by Britannia (The Britannia Trust) in 2014.

At nearly 73m long, FINGAL was both big enough to convert into a commercially viable small hotel and not too big to be beyond the Trust's budget, so when the deal to acquire her, or Windsor Castle as she had been renamed, was completed the ship went into Falmouth dry dock for an insurance survey to ensure she was suitably seaworthy to be towed to Edinburgh.

FINGAL was safely towed to Leith, arriving in August 2014, and the detailed designs for the conversion could begin. The Pedley Group's £5m 'design and build' conversion took the best part of two years to complete and had a soft-opening in January 2018.  Now a 5 star hotel, it is being managed by Britannia's trading company; Royal Yacht Enterprises.

In September 2023, FINGAL was awarded the title of AA Scottish Hotel of the Year. 

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact [email protected]

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New luxury floating hotel launches in Edinburgh

• Hamish Kilburn

The new floating hotel that will be permanently located in Edinburgh has launched, marking a new era in luxury hotel design in Scotland…

Developed by The Royal Yacht Britannia’s trading company, Royal Yacht Enterprises, Fingal , a new floating hotel with 23 luxury cabins that are each named after Stevenson lighthouses, has launched.

The hotel, which will be permanently berthed in Edinburgh’s historic Port of Leith, includes considered design that offers high specifications of craftmanship and finishes with nautical touches and polished woods throughout. Sumptuous Scottish leathers and the finest linens are in colour palates inspired by Fingal’s journey from land and sea.

The design development was led by the Pedley Group’s Co-founder Alan Pedley who has been responsible for manufacturing and installing more than 180,000 hotel rooms in 61 countries for the world’s leading hotel groups including  IHG ,  Hyatt ,  Hilton  and  Marriott .

Image credit: Fingal

A stylish yet relaxed restaurant with banquette seating offers a light menu celebrating the best of Scotland’s larder, from coast to field. Guests can raise a glass at the welcoming Moët Hennessy Champagne bar or opt to enjoy a cocktail from the creative menu.  Spacious outdoor decks provide a blend of private and public spaces to bask in the quayside setting or sit out under the stars.

Launched in 1963, Fingal was the last ship to be built by the prestigious Blythswood Ship Building Company in Glasgow. She spent most of her service life working out of Oban helping maintain lighthouses and transporting their keepers, equipment and supplies to some of the most treacherous locations in Scotland. Fingal was originally registered in Leith and has now returned home to Edinburgh’s vibrant waterfront, the largest deep-water port in Scotland.

Main image credit: Fingal

Hamish Kilburn / 07.01.2019

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The Royal Yacht Britannia, Ocean Drive, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6JJ

Tel: 0131 555 5566 Email us: [email protected]

The Royal Yacht Britannia is scheduled to be closed 7 – 10 October for planned building works out with our control

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Luxury accommodation by The Royal Yacht Britannia

Fingal, a five-star floating hotel and exclusive use venue on Edinburgh’s waterfront. Awarded Tripadvisor's No.1 UK Luxury Hotel 2024 & Tripadvisor's No.1 UK Small & Boutique Hotel. Awarded AA Hotel of the Year Scotland 2023.

A world-class destination

Dine under the shimmering ceiling for Afternoon Tea, dinner and spectacular cocktails.

Luxurious cabins

With 22 stunning cabins, discover something completely different.

Visiting Britannia

TRIPADVISOR'S NO.1 UK ATTRACTION 2023 - 2024

The Royal Yacht Britannia is scheduled to be closed 7 – 10 October for planned building works out with our control.

Click on the Visit page  for more information before you visit.

Step aboard to enjoy a great day out!

Fingal Hotel

Get away from the everyday aboard Britannia’s sister ship, Fingal.  Extend your visit with a stay in one of Fingal’s luxurious cabins, your own oasis by the sea. 

TRIPADVISOR'S NO.1 UK LUXURY HOTEL TRIPADVISOR'S NO.1 UK SMALL & BOUTIQUE HOTEL AA Hotel of the Year Scotland, AA five-star hotel and 2 AA Rosettes

Learn more: fingal.co.uk

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Alexandra Dock, Leith, Edinburgh,  EH6 7DX - Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0)131 357 5000

The story of Fingal

The beginning

Fingal was commissioned by the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) in 1963 and was the last ship to be built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company in Glasgow. Registered in Leith, she was stationed for 30 years in Oban and then for 6 years in Stromness, ferrying lighthouse keepers, essential supplies and maintenance staff to lighthouses, as well as undertaking repairs to navigational aids throughout the West Coast and the North of Scotland. Fingal retired from   NLB service in 2000.   The name Fingal is believed to pay homage to the King of the Morven (Argyll) in ancient Caledonia during the 3rd century.

The maiden voyage

“The ship proved herself to be most comfortable and a very good sea boat, indeed, it is true to say that all concerned are most satisfied with her and look forward to her performing many years of useful work in the service.”

NLB Secretary W Alastair Robertson to J A Campbell Brown, Director at Blythswood Shipbuilding Company.

Her early days

Fingal’s duties included bringing equipment of the utmost importance to some of Scotland’s most far-off lighthouses. She was one of three vessels responsible for the Scottish coast and when lighthouse keepers saw Fingal on the horizon, it meant their three week posting was over and that replacement lighthouse keepers and vital supplies were on the way.

Discover what life was like aboard Fingal as a working ship.

Photography by Alan Provan

After retiring from NLB service, Fingal was sold to a private owner and renamed ‘Windsor Castle’. The proud new owner fully maintained the ship in working order for 14 years on the River Fal in Cornwall.

It was in December 2008 that Fingal's owner first approached The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust (the Trust) to enquire if it was interested in acquiring Windsor Castle. There then followed six years of negotiations before the ship was eventually acquired by the Trust in July 2014.   After a dry dock survey in Falmouth, the ship was towed to Leith in August 2014 and the detailed designs began.

Two years later her original name: Fingal was restored as a tribute to the outstanding role she had performed for the NLB, and the great affection with which she was held throughout the coastal communities she served.

A new life in Leith

The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust were keen to develop an additional income stream that was not dependant on visitors to the former Royal Yacht. As overnight accommodation is not permitted on Britannia, a luxury floating hotel concept that serviced both the leisure market and helped attract more evening events to the former Royal Yacht, was developed by the Trust’s trading company: Royal Yacht Enterprises.

A Dazzling interlude

Whilst the designs for Fingal’s conversion were being prepared in 2016, the WW1 commemorative charity, 14-18 Now, asked if they could ‘dazzle paint’ Fingal as a tribute to Royal Navy and Merchant Navy ships that had been painted to confuse enemy submariners during the First World War. As Leith Docks was home to many of these dazzle painted WW1 ships, the Trust agreed to this request, and the Turner Prize Finalist, Ciara Phillips, was commissioned to design and dazzle paint Fingal.

The Royal Yacht Britannia team “on board”

“Having excelled in the visitor attraction market for nearly 20 years, we are very much looking forward to the challenges of operating in the luxury hotel market and the benefits it will generate for BRITANNIA over the years to come.” Bob Downie, Britannia’s Chief Executive .

A brand-new Fingal

The £5m conversion took more than two years to complete, and involved totally hollowing out the ship to create 14-bedroom cabins on the main deck, including four duplex rooms. The funnel was removed to allow two new decks to be built behind where it used to be, the lower of which would feature eight larger bedroom cabins and a Presidential Suite, while the upper would be for The Lighthouse Bar and a small private dining room, The Bridge.

The top half of the funnel was then placed on top of The Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar deck to give the appearance that it was part of the original construction.

The conversion also included a spectacular round glass lift for the guests, and a separate back of house lift and stairwell for staff which connected the main galley to the four decks above, meaning they could access all areas from ‘behind the scenes’.

Fingal, the luxury floating hotel, opened to the public in January 2019. Her new life had truly begun.

Legacy of Scottish lighthouses

The Stevenson family was responsible for designing all of Scotland’s lighthouses, so to credit their work, and the NLB, each of the 22 cabins aboard Fingal are named after their lighthouses. The photographs of lighthouses that you see today on Fingal were all taken by a pharologist: Ian Cowe whose passion was to photograph every one of the Stevenson lighthouses in Scotland and the Isle of Man that were operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board. You can see more of Ian’s work in his book: Scottish and Manx Lighthouses: A Photographic Journey in the Footsteps of the Stevensons.

The Skerryvore Lighthouse is renowned as one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world, so it was only fitting that our most lavish cabin on board be named after it. The Skerryvore Suite provides an unparalleled experience of indulgence, taking luxury to a whole new level.

Robert Stevenson's talented family also included the famous Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (Robert's grandson). Probably inspired by visits with his grandfather to remote lighthouses, RL Stevenson wrote of many dramatic sea tales in his books Treasure Island and Kidnapped.

“There is scarce a deep sea light from the Isle of Man to North Berwick, but one of my blood designed it.  The Bell Rock stands monument for my grandfather;  the Skerry Vhor for my uncle Alan;  and when the lights come out along the shores of Scotland,  I am proud to think that they burn more brightly for the genius of my father.”

Robert Louis Stevenson

An award-winning Hotel

Fingal is now a five-star luxury floating hotel, winning Tripadvisor's No.1 UK Luxury Hotel & Tripadvisor's No.1 UK Small & Boutique Hotel. AA Hotel of the Year Scotland, Hotel of the Year (PoB Hotels) with the onboard restaurant, The Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar, awarded 2 AA Rosettes for culinary excellence. Fingal has also achieved the Keep Scotland Beautiful Gold Level National Award for Environmental Excellence. 

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ROYAL YACHT ENTERPRISES LIMITED

Company number SC185472

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Officers: 21 officers / 14 resignations, turcan connell company secretaries limited, other corporate body or firm what's this, bullock, michael peter, commodore, cran, carole jean, rankin, neil erskine, rear admiral, smith, terence patrick, spear, shirley louise, williams, lesley jane, mcneill, morag, tothill, john alan, md secretaries limited, turcan connell, registered in a non european economic area what's this, bird, rufus benedict godfrey, clifford, timothy peter plint, sir, denzler, eileen patricia, fleming, alistair, hammond, charles graham, marsden, jonathan mark, sir, milligan, eric, councillor, morrison, alexander charles, murray, william wilson, paterson, stuart randall.

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How Royal Romance, a $200-Million Superyacht, Will Benefit Ukraine

Though superyachts are often seen as the frivolous toys of the wildly rich, one named Royal Romance could soon provide more than just a lavish vacation for those who can afford it. According to The Guardian , a $200-million superyacht once owned by Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk will soon be put up for auction, with the sale funds going directly to supporting the people of Ukraine. 

Medvedchuk, who is currently under sanctions, was arrested in Ukraine in April, though he was sent back to Russia in September through a prisoner exchange. The superyacht was seized in March of this year in Croatia as part of Western-imposed restrictions on the assets of oligarchs. According to the British paper, a Croatian court has recently ruled that the boat can be transferred to a special branch of the Ukrainian government, the Ukrainian Asset Recovery and Management Agency (Arma), and sold at auction to maintain its economic value. 

Royal Romance was designed by De Voogt Naval Architects and built in 2015 by Dutch shipbuilders Feadship. Seymour Diamond was responsible for the ship’s interiors. Fit to hold 14 guests and 22 crew members, the 318-foot vessel also includes many notable amenities, including a swimming pool, gym, 3D cinema room, and fully equipped spa. 

Though multiple superyachts have been seized over the past months, this is the first to be auctioned with the funds going directly to Ukrainian people. In September , a yacht owned by Dmitry Pumpyansky was auctioned off, but the sale went to J.P. Morgan, which claimed Pumpyansky owed the investment firm $21.75 million. Though it’s possible more of the seized  yachts will be auctioned to support Ukraine in the future, as The New York Times reported, seizing and auctioning off assets is rarely a straightforward process. In the United States the Justice Department is working to expedite the process, but it can still take years.

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