The "secrets" behind that seemingly endless scaffolding on George IV Bridge

We reveal what is really going on at the former Missoni Hotel and how - surprise, surprise - it may drag on until the Spring

Unsightly scaffolding in the heart of the Old Town

Far be it from us to compare Soviet Russia to the building in Edinburgh’s Old Town formerly known as the G&V (or before that Missoni) Hotel – but at times it has seemed in danger of turning into Churchill’s description of the Soviet Union as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”

The building, on the corner of George IV Bridge and Lawnmarket, has been “under wraps” – literally - for approaching five years now. When remedial work started in 2020/21, it was expected initially to last about a year.

What has added to the frustration with the inconvenience and visual blight has been a consistent failure by the building’s owners to tell everyone affected what on Earth has been going on.

As long-running mysteries go it’s heading up there with Agatha Christie’s record-busting play The Mousetrap for longevity. It’s a question repeatedly posed in our postbag: “What is happening under that scaffolding, and why is it taking so long?”

Such has been the frustration that city centre MSP Angus Robertson has been among those getting involved to try to get some answers and get things moving.

Let’s be honest. The situation has hardly posed a threat to global security, and there is no suggestion anyone is acting in particularly bad faith, but for the good people of Edinburgh it has been, well, really annoying. Unsightly, bang in our World Heritage site, with a busy pavement narrowed, and roadway and cycle track width reduced at one of the city’s busiest junctions.

Local exasperation has been fuelled in no small part by communication around the project, or lack thereof.

Now, after digging through a paper trail at the city council and asking some pointed questions, we can shed some light on what is actually going on behind the wrapping and how long it is likely to take before it’s all finished.

After finding out, we can’t help but wonder why no one simply explained what was going on sooner. But more on that later…