Cafe Royal, 17 West Register Street, Edinburgh

Robert Paterson, 1861; altered A W Macnaughton, 1893-5; J Macintyre Henry, 1898-1901; Henry and T Forbes Maclennan, 1923. French 2nd Empire hotel and oyster bar. 3-storey basement and double attic in steep mansard 6-bay with quadrant corner bays to return elevations. Polished cream ashlar sandstone. Base course, pavement grilles to basement; basket arches and cornice at ground; arcaded fenestration at 1st floor with simple cornice band; pilastraded 2nd floor with lugged architraves and keystones; heavy consoled cornice. Pedestalled parapet with interlaced arcaded cast-iron (?) balustrade; pedimented ashlar dormers at corners with acroteria; pedimented timber dormers behind parapet; arched timber dormers to upper attic. Slim timber mullions. Pedimented doorway to Oyster Bar with polished pink granite columns at NW corner, 1898.

Register Place elevation: symmetrical 6-bay. Arched doorway at centre right with pair of Corinthian columns and incised decoration; consoled panelled parapet dated 1862. Cellar hatch to centre left bay; secondary door to right bay with wrought-iron bracket bearing lobster above. 3 dormers.

West Register Street elevation: 5-bay; door to right to upper floors. 3 dormers.

Gabriel's Road elevation: 2 bays as above; 2 further plain stugged bays to S above pedimented door with granite columns (as above). 1 dormer.

Bipartite plate glass windows at ground and 1st floor (with opening roundels); 4-pane timber sash and case above. Grey slates; harled stacks.

Interior: remodelled by J Macintyre Henry, 1900-1, with sumptuous woodwork; panelled dado, foliate rococo frieze, delicate compartmented ceiling with tiny hanging bosses at intersections. Bar at ground to E, with 6 large Doulton tile pictures of famous inventors, designed by John Eyre, executed by K Sturgeon and W G W Nunn; brass Corinthian lamp standards on consoled central bar; upholstered horseshoe booths to window wall. Oyster Bar, separated by arcaded mirror screen, with small tiled ovals set into woodwork of red marble counter; 8 stained glass windows of British sportsmen by Ballantine and Gardiner; 3 more tile pictures, 1 as above, 2 of ships on Clyde and Mersey by Esther Lewis.

At 1st floor, Crown Room with opulent plasterwork and gilded figurines at arcade spandrels; ceiling roundels. American Bar at NW corner, 1923, with Wrennaisance woodwork. Function room with 3 domes to ceiling extends to S (above 5-17 (odd nos) West Register Street - see separate listing).