This year marks the centenary celebration of Edinburgh's famous Caledonian hotel, with a specially commissioned book on the history of the hotel and the city published this month. Parties and events are planned for every month of the year, with a final Christmas cocktail soirée hosted by general manager Dagmar Mühle in December.

The Caledonian has much to celebrate. When it opened in 1903, the hotel had the cable address "Luxury Edinburgh". Ever since, the enormous, rose-coloured, stone building that formerly housed both a railway station and the hotel, has dominated the skyline at the west end of Princes Street, and has played host to thousands of guests, including Gene Kelly (who danced on the hotel's staircase), Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Elizabeth Taylor, Rudolph Nureyev and Bing Crosby, and it remains a favourite haunt of local-boy-made-good Sir Sean Connery.

The station which formerly took up the entire ground floor of the building has now closed, and much else has changed in the past 100 years, but it is still evident that the Caledonian, known locally as the Caley, was built for another era. For example, its corridors are unusually wide, a fact explained by the necessity for two Edwardian-age women to be able to pass each other in the hallways without their hooped dresses touching.

And while the hotel's bedrooms might now all be en suite, hot and cold running water arrived at the Caledonian for the first time in 1929, and even then only in 50 bedrooms. Running water was supplied to the remaining 155 bedrooms the following year, when central heating and a boiler were also installed.

The hotel's food offering was also remarkably different during its early days. Meals served in the Pompadour restaurant when it opened normally involved many more courses than today (as many as 12) and included dishes such as Angels on Horseback - fresh oysters wrapped in smoked streaky bacon, impaled on skewers and chargrilled, finished with fried breadcrumbs.

"People liked a lot more fuss over service in those days," Mühle says. "Time has become much more important, and courtesies such as escorting new guests to their rooms seem to be disappearing. Efficiency, adaptability, comfort and healthy food are much more important to guests nowadays."

More than anything else, however, the hotel's consistent success can be traced to the staff. There is a huge tradition of long service and steadfast loyalty to the hotel itself. Despite a succession of owners and operators over the years, the Caley's staff have a relationship with the hotel that most people would considered rare. "We work for the Caley," says Billy Garioch, a member of staff for the past 40 years. "The owners come and go, but it's the people here who make it what it is."

Billy Garioch, 55
Concierge and baggage master
Length of service: 40 years

"I started off at the Caley as a page boy when I was 15 years old. I left school to work in the Ferranti factory [now BAE Systems], but I was too young and too small (only 4ft 3ins at the time) to get an apprenticeship, so I had to find something else to do for a year.

"I came to the Caley and earned £4.50 a week, but usually got about £9 including tips. My father was a foreman mechanic and earned £15, so it was a good wage. A Ferranti apprenticeship paid only £4.50 a week, so I decided to stay at the Caley.

"Since then, I've worked as a barman, bar manager and concierge. I've been here 40 years and am the longest-serving staff member. I've seen generations of the same families coming back to the hotel, and it's nice for them and for us. The reason I've stayed so long is because there's such a good team here. If you have a good team, you stick at your job.

"The biggest change since I started here has been the staff. People don't stay in one place for very long nowadays. When I started, my job was my life, and the staff were more like family than colleagues.

"It's a lot easier now too, a lot less regimented. The general manager used to be more like the general, and my boss used to be like the sergeant major. It's a lot friendlier now and less segregated."

Sarah Callaghan, 41
Revenue manager
Length of service: 25 years

"I first came to the Caley aged 16, on a work placement from Cardiff College. Little did I know it at the time, but on my second day I met my husband. He was a chef de rang in the Pompadour restaurant.

"I went back to Cardiff after my placement but applied for a job at the Caley as a junior receptionist as soon as I had finished. I lived in the staff quarters on the fifth floor. We had female and male blocks and never the twain could meet. The executive housekeeper ruled with a fist of iron - she was like an Irish Mrs Thatcher. In those days, she ruled over the general manager too, but she was wonderful if you were ill.

"When I first came here, the exterior of the building was black from the dirt. When Gleneagles bought the property in 1980, they sandblasted it to make it red again."

Wilma Brown, 47
Credit manager
Length of service: 30 years

"I was 17 years old when I started, and I've stayed so long because I've always enjoyed my job. I feel comfortable here, and I also met my husband here.

"The biggest change since I started has been the arrival of computers to replace the manual ledgers. Computers haven't stopped the paperwork, though.

"All the ownership companies have always looked after us and, because we used to be part of the railway service, we still get free rail travel. With Hilton, we get free hotels, too.

"The most exciting thing that has happened since I was here was the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 1997. We had Nelson Mandela staying here, as well as representatives from Canada, Jamaica, Switzerland, Singapore, Pakistan and many more."

Corinne Morrison, 25
Assistant human resources manager
Length of service: one year

"I've always been interested in hospitality, and studied hotel and catering management and then human resources management. It was a natural move to come to the Caley. If you're going to work in a hotel in Edinburgh, the Caley has a fantastic reputation.

"I do see myself progressing within hotels - if not always at the Caley, probably still within the Hilton group. It would be difficult to beat the family atmosphere among staff here, though. I was really made to feel a part of the family from day one."

Ray MacAleece, 26
Health club manager at Living Well
Length of service: 10 months

"I grew up next door to a hotel and used to carry people's bags in for them from the age of 10. As a result, it seemed very natural for me to come into the hotel business through the health club division.

"It's very special working at the Caley because there are such amazing people here. There's a real sense of selling the hotel, and the need to provide a true five-star service.

"I think people stay here so long because the prospects to progress are so good and there's a lot of investment in staff. It's also because of the friendly atmosphere among staff - we have lots of nights out together."

Gabriella Palazzini, 27
Receptionist shift-leader
Length of service: three years

"This is my first job in hospitality, and I think I'm going to spend the rest of my life in the industry now. Before this job, I was travelling and came to Edinburgh to see the Festival. When I arrived, I fell in love with the place, so decided to work in the Caley bar, Henry's, so I could stay a bit longer. Eventually, I decided to stay and get a 'proper' job, so transferred to reception.

"Everyone in the hotel gets on so well - there's a real bond among staff.

"The best thing about working here is the excitement and the buzz. Meeting famous people is also a real perk and gives everyone a high. Sean Connery, a regular guest, once asked me for some change and I went weak at the knees." n

A potted history

Caledonian Hilton
Princes Street, Edinburgh EH1 2AB

Tel: 0131-222 8889

*   The second half of the 19th century saw the arrival of the railway network in Edinburgh and, with it, many new visitors and businesses. As well as facilitating a new gateway into Scotland, the Caledonian Railway Company, which operated the west coast line from Carlisle to Glasgow, and to Edinburgh via Beattock, also decided to build two new hotels in Scotland's capital, the Balmoral at the eastern end of Princes Street and the Caledonian at the western end.

*   1903 An announcement in The Scotsman proclaimed that the Caledonian Railway Company's new hotel at Princes Street Station was "now open for the reception of visitors".

*  1923: The Caledonian Railway Company merged with the larger London, Midland and Scottish Railway, which by then was the largest hotel operating company in Europe.

*  1925: The merger of the two railway companies instigated a major refurbishment of the hotel, including the creation of the lavish Pompadour restaurant. It was based on the decadent court style of Louis XIV of France - with walls covered in gold brocade - and named after the formidable Madame Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XV.

*  1947 The Edinburgh Festival of Music and Drama was initiated.

*  1948 The nationalisation of the railways meant the creation of British Rail and its subsidiary company, British Transport Hotels.

*  1956 New management meant another refurbishment, this time under the auspices of interior designers Robert and Roger Nicholson. The project took two years to complete and the architects' names are enshrined in the Nicholson Dining Room under the duo's 230ft hand-painted mural.

*  1965: Caledonian Station closed.

*  1970: Building of a new 50-bedroom wing commenced on an area that had formerly held seven railway platforms.

*  1980: British Transport Hotels was broken up and both the Caledonian and the Balmoral hotels were bought by the Gleneagles Group.

*  1984: Caledonian sold to Norfolk Capital Hotels.

*  1990: Caledonian bought by Queen's Moat Houses.

*  2000: Hilton Hotels bought the Caledonian for £45m and Dagmar Mhle became the first female general manager.

*  2003: Caledonian's centenary year.


Caledonian hotel tariff and charges, 1920s

	Per day
Single bedroom	from  8s 6d
Double bedrooms, large bed (occupied by one person)	from  0s 6d
Double bedrooms (occupied by two persons)	from 15s 0d
Double bedrooms (with private bathrooms)	from 25s 0d
Double bedrooms (with bath)	from 30s 0d
Sitting-rooms	from 17s 6d
Sitting-room, double bedroom with private bathroom, en suite	from 42s 0d
Drawing-room, dining-room, two double-bedded rooms, one double room, two private bathrooms and WC, all in private corridor	from 84s 0d
Numerous smaller suites at proportionate charges.
These prices include attendance and lights.
Visitor's servant's bedroom	from 4s 6d
Baths: sponge bath in bedroom	from 1s 0d
Hot or cold bath in bathroom	from 1s 6d
Fires	day 3s, evening 2s