George Street is one of the finest streets in Edinburgh as it has retained many of the original buildings of the New Town. It is a magnificent wide street - this was to allow a 6 horse drawn carriage the space to turn!
This part of George Street was built c1780 with what is now Tempus being house numbers 23 and 25. We have some very early drawings, inside the bar & restaurant, showing the main entrance to Tempus (number 25) as an Ironmongers shop, and number 23, with its magnificent window, having two raised entrances, still clearly visible from outside, as probably another shop. This drawing goes back to c1787.
The Ferrier family moved to 25 George Street (now Tempus) in 1784. Susan Ferrier lived here and went on to write many novels including her first novel, Marriage and later The Inheritance and Destiny. The family had a close friendship with Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott.
In 1947, numbers 23 and 25 were taken over by the hotel and so the George Hotel re-christened number 25 as the Adam Room and number 23 became Le Chambertin Restaurant. In 1950 the new entrance and the current revolving doors were added and these along with the whole building and its interior are now listed.
The George Hotel was owned by various operators and when Principal Hayley purchased the hotel they saw the opportunity to create a bar and
restaurant with a separate George Street entrance, and so Tempus was born. To complete the transformation the old restaurant was turned into the magnificent domed Kings Hall. This was formerly the Caledonian Insurance trading hall.
Tempus opened in July 2006 after a complete renovation as part of a £20m investment programme of the George Hotel.
As a George Street Bar and Restaurant, Tempus allows customers to come and have a great time and allows hotel residents to join the local scene.
