Cathedral House, Glasgow

About us

28-32 Cathedral Square G4 0XA

Campbell, Douglas & Morrison, 1896

A 19th-century Scottish baronial-style hotel, complete with turrets, originally built as a hostel for inmates released from nearby Duke Street Prison. Discover the history of the building and area. You may even catch a glimpse of the resident ghosts!

Cathedral House Hotel was built in 1877 as a hostel for inmates released from nearby Duke Street Prison. Activity includes a ghost which passes guests on the stairwell and two children being sighted and giggling children heard on the top floor.

As Duke Street prison held women prisoners from around Scotland, many Suffragettes and political activists were imprisoned here whose protests at the living conditions would eventually lead to the closure in 1955. It was demolished in 1958 to eventually make way for the Ladywell housing scheme which was built on the site from 1961–1964 and stands till this day. The only remaining structure of Duke Street Prison is some of the boundary wall.

Duke Street Prison also known as Bridewell is one of 8 prisons which used to stand in and around Glasgow. By 1840 most of these were closed except Duke Street Prison .

After the transfer of responsibility to the state from local authorities, HM Prison Barlinnie was built in the Eastern suburbs of the city in 1882 in order to take over from ‘Bridewell’ which eventually remained open as a women’s prison until 1955.

Facilities

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Reviews

302 reviews

4.5/5

Stew Walker

1 year ago

What a lovely hotel. Stayed for 1 night as we were going to a gig at the barony hall as part of the Celtic connections festival which was literally on the opposite side of the cathedral square. The room was immaculate and very beautiful. Had great views of the cathedral and over huge parts of Glasgow from the bedroom windows. We had breakfast in the restaurant (celentanos) wise was excellent. All ingredients were fresh and so delicious. My partner had forgotten to bring the charger for her iPhone and the phone was running low on charge but Laura came to the rescue by giving us( borrow) her phone charger to allow the phone to get a decent charge to last the rest of our trip. Highly recommend staying here, great location and will stay again.

Rob Mounter

2 years ago

Really disappointed with this hotel. We were due to visit Glasgow for a gig on Saturday and had booked to stay here. Unfortunately the gig was postponed at the last minute on Friday afternoon, so we no longer wanted to travel (a fair distance from Newcastle), given this was the main purpose of our trip. Given the late postponement, we could no longer cancel our reservation for free and the hotel explained that they could not make an exception to their policy as they are a small family-run hotel with rising costs - okay fair enough, totally appreciate that. We then hoped to at least come to a compromise whereby we could keep our reservation for a future date (which we had already prepaid for). We felt this was a reasonable request, given the circumstances, however this was swiftly declined with no further explanation. So now we not only have the disappointment of the gig postponement but are also £160 out of pocket. The hotel themselves stated they are small family-run business but we saw none of the service that we'd expect from somewhere like that, with clearly no regard for future repeat business and positive recommendations.

Cary Aurand

2 years ago

The room was cute and comfortable, with incredible views and an amazing bathroom. The design of everything is top notch. Breakfast was simple, but incredible and impeccably executed. I'm still thinking about the toast. And the bar downstairs is perfect. The owner was accommodating and just generally lovely. Highly recommend.

Jay Gregg

2 years ago

This small 8 room hotel is ideally situated in the Glasgow Cathedral area which is a magical place to be. The host Laura is amazing and the associated restaurant has been awarded a Michelin badge…the food is excellent! Highly recommend staying here.

Erin West

2 years ago

We stayed in room 4, which had a great view of the cathedral just across the street. The service was excellent, we were so happy with our stay! Breakfast was homemade granola, fresh fruit and yogurt, homemade sourdough and coffee. Everyone was very friendly, would definitely stay here again! Thank you!!