Majority of Caledonian Hotel jobs under review in Edinburgh
- Published
The Caledonian Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the capital's West End said it needs to lose 65 fulltime post
The majority of jobs at one of Edinburgh's landmark five star hotels are under review.
The Caledonian Waldorf Astoria Hotel in the capital's West End said it needs to lose 65 full-time posts and amalgamate and change the hours of a further 135 jobs.
The Hilton, which runs the hotel, said it had tried everything to mitigate the impact of the lockdown.
The hotel has 290 staff including some casual workers.
The consultation process, which started on Monday, will end in September.
A Hilton spokeswoman said: "Covid-19 has created unprecedented challenges for our industry and with social distancing measures and travel restrictions remaining in place, it is unlikely we will get back to normal operations for some time.
"As a result, we are having to make some very difficult decisions about our future structure.
"We have worked hard to minimise the impact on jobs so far, but we have been left with no choice but to resize and restructure the team at The Caledonian.
"Over the coming weeks, we will be discussing future plans with our team members so that we can hear their views and minimise the impact on jobs as much as possible."
The Caledonian Waldorf Astoria Hotel over looks Edinburgh castle
Hilton said it would begin holding weddings and conferences again "as soon as" Scottish government restrictions were lifted.
The Caledonian Hotel, which was constructed from 1899 to 1903, was part of the Caledonian Railway's Edinburgh Princes Street railway station.
It was a rival to the North British Railway's North British Hotel - now known as the Balmoral Hotel - which opened at the other end of Princes Street in 1902.
The hotel, which has 241 rooms and over looks Edinburgh Castle, has been visited by famous names including Charlie Chaplin, Elizabeth Taylor, Bing Crosby and Sir Sean Connery,
Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was staying at the hotel in 2016 when he was spotted cycling on the wrong side of the road.