Hit up this historic city for a break that scores surprisingly high in the food and fashion stakes.

The corridors at Edinburgh’s The Caledonian hotel are wide, wood- panelled and stretch for what seems like miles, before arriving at a central sweeping staircase that leads to the marble-floored atrium below. Perfectly positioned on Princes Street, the building might not be dazzlingly contemporary, but this former Victorian railway station offers comfort in spades. To start with, there are the suites complete with voluptuous velvet sofas, giant beds, huge marble bathrooms and toiletry treats galore. Ours has all the tartan trimmings you could wish for, along with a dramatic view of Edinburgh Castle, ominously stern on Castlehill. This fortress has a long history as a royal residence, military garrison and prison, and its looks tell us it isn’t to be messed with.

I’m here with my daughter, Jess, on a getaway we hope will give us style inspiration and time to indulge in girly gossip over cocktails, as well as ticking some sightseeing boxes. After a long train journey from London, we march up to the castle for glorious views across the city – it’s a real leg-stretching walk, which helps us feel like we’ve really arrived. There are busking pipers and selfie-taking tourists, and as we stroll back down Lawnmarket to the Royal Mile there are unlimited opportunities to stock up on whisky, tartan and shortbread for those we left behind in London. For dinner, we head to The Spence, a stylish, buzzy brasserie-style restaurant at the nearby Gleneagles Townhouse hotel (gleneagles.com/ townhouse). It has a decadent, devil-may-care atmosphere within a dramatic building – formerly the banking hall of the Royal Bank of Scotland – and the food matches it. We love everything we try, from the west coast crab crumpet with pickled cucumber and glossy burrata with pumpkin, pomegranate and chilli to the Lock Etive sea trout – a triumph in its saffron sauce, sitting on a bed of rainbow chard and scattered with delicate clams and roe. For dessert, we can’t resist a patisserie-perfect lemon meringue tart – a masterclass in glossy Italian meringue swirls.

We go easy at breakfast the next day, as we’re signed up for the hotel’s Suite, Spa & Style experience – designed, they say, to ‘simultaneously relax your mind and refresh your wardrobe’. Linking up with the Edinburgh branch of Harvey Nichols, it involves a styling session with one of the store’s expert stylists, over tea and cake in our suite. Prior to our trip, we sent details of our sizes, the looks we currently love and items we feel are missing from our wardrobe, and Melissa from Harvey Nichols arrives complete with a clothes rail and bags of goodies for us to try on. This isn’t nearly as intimidating as it sounds. Melissa is of course young, gorgeous and beautifully dressed, in a cool way – but she’s also extremely warm, friendly and down- to-earth, and encourages us to break out of our comfort zones and try styles that we’d never usually consider. I treat both of us to something new: a dazzling sequined dress for Jess – perfect for parties this year and for years to come – and a new cut of designer jeans for me. Melissa’s top tip: both of us are buying clothes that are too big for us. It’s a common mistake, apparently, as so many women see themselves as bigger than they actually are. I will take that!

The ‘spa’ part of the experience comes in the afternoon, when we don thick towelling gowns and slippers from our suite and slip along the long, carpeted corridors and down to the hotel’s spa below. We’re collected from the warm, cosy relaxation room for our chosen treatments. My Harley Street facial is a 90-minute trip to paradise and I return with a pampered, fresh, bouncy complexion. Jessica experiences a ‘grounding ritual’ – a deep and relaxing massage that obliterates all the stresses and strains of a demanding job and party lifestyle. Suitably soothed, we head to the hotel’s dark and dramatic Caley Bar for pre-dinner cocktails, before going out for the evening and dinner at Lady Libertine (ladylibertine.co.uk). This is a hip and happening bar-cum-bistro, with groups of stylish young people, courting couples and those who like casual dining tucking into sharing plates with a Middle Eastern flavour. We choose to kick off with chickpea and butternut houmous, which comes with a drizzle of date molasses, a pile of pitta crisps and a scattering of crispy chickpeas and pickled red onion. There are some panko feta balls – deliciously cheesy mouthfuls – a tender piece of braised lamb with lentils, harissa and cooling yogurt, and chicken kofta, too. It’s all great fun, served in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

Grazing is the foodie’s dining choice at The Caledonian, and when this breakfast buffet restaurant dims the lighting it becomes something more special. Executive chef Mark Greenaway is one of the city’s most awarded chefs and his menu (markgreenaway.com/grazing-restaurant) doesn’t disappoint. From the soft-shell crab with homemade tartare sauce starter via the Dover sole in butter with shrimps and samphire to the delicate apple strudel with crisp apple slices, ice cream and caramel sauce, this is comfort food at its very best. As we digest our last Edinburgh meal, we load our cases into a taxi and head to the station – we’ve got tickets for the Caledonian Sleeper. We find our cabin and snuggle down into our bunks, gradually getting used to the rhythm of the wheels on the tracks. These lull us to sleep, before we wake early the next morning at Euston station in London. Slightly disorientated, we disembark and hit the Sleeper’s guest lounge for a much-needed refresh, before heading into our respective offices. It’s hard to believe that just a few hours ago we were in Edinburgh, enjoying a fabulous weekend – one that won’t be easy to forget.