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Before you visit
Happening Here
Vonda Shepard
The Voodoo Rooms · West Register Street
19:30£37.80
Vonda Shepard at The Voodoo Rooms.
Confirmed by The Voodoo Rooms. View source. Checked .
The pub’s story
The Voodoo Rooms opened in 2007 as a cocktail bar, restaurant and live-events venue in upper parts of the Cafe Royal complex. HES dates Robert Paterson’s French Second Empire building to 1861. Its ground floor was planned as a gas showroom but converted to the Cafe Royal Hotel and Oyster Bar before opening; CAMRA records the hotel there by 1863. Later upper-room layers include A W Macnaughton’s 1893-95 alterations, J Macintyre Henry’s 1900-01 remodelling and the 1923 American Bar. HES cautions that some plasterwork is hard to date, although it attributes the woodwork to Henry. The operator says Voodoo expanded into the former Penny Black in 2010, creating an event space refurbished as Carte Blanche in 2023. The Speakeasy is a separate current room reached from the first-floor landing: its name is modern branding, not evidence of Prohibition-era use. Council research also shows that part of the venue occupies the top floor of the distinct late-eighteenth-century 5-17 West Register Street building.
Film and television details
Each entry separates the real venue from its fictional role and states which part of the site was filmed. Scene notes avoid major spoilers.
Clique
The Voodoo Rooms features prominently in the first season and in promotional material for the series. The checked official guide does not provide episode numbers or enough detail to assign a specific room.
Filming footprint: Exact scope not confirmed
- Clique Official Edinburgh screen guide stating that The Voodoo Rooms featured heavily in season one and associated promotional materials.
What to notice
- 01
Read the first-floor heritage by phase: Henry's woodwork is tied to the 1900-01 remodelling, some plasterwork remains hard to date, and the American Bar is 1923.
- 02
The venue is not one 1861 envelope: council research places part of Voodoo in the top floor of a distinct late-eighteenth-century building at 5-17 West Register Street, linked to Cafe Royal at third-floor level.
- 03
The Speakeasy is one current self-contained events room, not the whole venue or evidence of Prohibition-era use; current opening hours were checked 12 August 2026.
From visitors
A visitor
The time rail
The building, the pub and its interior may date from different periods. The timeline keeps documented dates separate from tradition.
HES dates Robert Paterson's Cafe Royal building to 1861.
CAMRA's current brief description says the building had become the Cafe Royal Hotel by 1863.
HES dates A W Macnaughton's alterations to 1893-95.
HES dates J Macintyre Henry's interior remodelling to 1900-01.
HES dates the American Bar to 1923 and attributes that phase to Henry and T Forbes Maclennan.
West Register Street, Cafe Royal was designated Category A as LB29619.
The operator says The Voodoo Rooms has operated since 2007.
The operator says Voodoo expanded into the former Penny Black and created another events space.
The operator says the added events space was refurbished as Carte Blanche.
Sources & confidence
Eight sources separate building, interior, business and room-name evidence. HES controls the 1861 Cafe Royal phase, later alterations, 1923 American Bar and Category A record; its statutory title is West Register Street, Cafe Royal and does not name The Voodoo Rooms. The council shows that part of Voodoo also occupies a distinct late-eighteenth-century building at 5-17 odd West Register Street. CAMRA documents retained historic fabric, its Three Star assessment and, with an explicit caveat about inconsistent page text, the by-1863 hotel boundary. Operator pages supply current details and attribute the 2007 opening, 2010 former-Penny-Black expansion and 2023 Carte Blanche refurbishment. The Speakeasy is one modern events room, not a whole-venue alias or evidence of Prohibition-era use. Trove's coordinates locate the broader Cafe Royal record rather than a surveyed entrance. Phone and hours were checked 12 August 2026.
Research reviewed
- WEST REGISTER STREET, CAFE ROYAL (LB29619)Historic Environment Scotlandheritage
SupportsStatutory Category A identity, 8 January 1970 listing date, Robert Paterson's 1861 building, the intended gas-showroom use and pre-opening conversion, 1893-95 and 1900-01 alterations, first-floor Crown Room fabric, the 1923 American Bar, and the caution that some plasterwork is hard to date while the woodwork is attributed to Henry. The statutory title names West Register Street and Cafe Royal, not The Voodoo Rooms.
- Princes Street Cultural Significance AssessmentThe City of Edinburgh Councilgovernment
SupportsCouncil Block 7 assessment of the 1861 Cafe Royal and its retained interiors, plus the distinct late-eighteenth-century building at 5-17 odd West Register Street whose top floor forms part of The Voodoo Rooms and is linked to Cafe Royal at third-floor level. It is used to prevent the whole venue footprint being dated to 1861.
- Voodoo Rooms, EdinburghCampaign for Real Alespecialist
SupportsSpecialist record for the first-floor venue at 19a West Register Street, with CAMRA Three Star historic-interior rating and Category A status. It distinguishes retained partitions, 1920s fittings and ballroom wood-block flooring from modern black-and-gold finishes, altered bar fabric, seating and a sound booth. Its directory entry was last updated in 2022, so current hours come from the operator instead.
- Edinburgh, 17 West Register Street, Cafe RoyalTrove, Historic Environment Scotlandarchive
SupportsHES archive-place identity for Cafe Royal and published latitude/longitude coordinates 55.95377, -3.19061, displayed with an OSGB36 - NGR datum. The point locates the broader Cafe Royal record rather than a surveyed Voodoo Rooms entrance, and the source is not independent of the HES statutory record.
- Contact | The Voodoo RoomsThe Voodoo Roomsofficial
SupportsCurrent first-party name, 19a West Register Street address, EH2 2AA postcode, 0131 556 7060 telephone, opening schedule and city-centre description. The operator attributes the venue's opening to 2007, its 2010 move into the former Penny Black and creation of another events space, and that added space's 2023 refurbishment as Carte Blanche.
- Private Hire | The Voodoo RoomsThe Voodoo Roomsofficial
SupportsCurrent first-party room descriptions: The Ballroom is the largest space and adjoins the American Bar; The Speakeasy is a self-contained room reached from the first-floor landing with its own bar and toilets; and Carte Blanche is a current arts space. This supports room identity only, not historic Prohibition use.
- The Voodoo RoomsThe Voodoo Roomsofficial
SupportsCurrent first-party website, name, West Register Street address, hours, cocktail and food offer, and live-event programme. Event listings separately label The Ballroom and The Speakeasy, confirming that The Speakeasy is one room rather than the venue's alternate name.
- Cafe Royal, EdinburghCampaign for Real Alespecialist
SupportsCAMRA's current brief heritage description dates Robert Paterson's building to 1861 and says it had become the Cafe Royal Hotel by 1863, with major alterations from the 1890s and much visible work dated 1900-01. A longer text on the same page gives inconsistent dates, so this source is used only for the expressly attributed by-1863 boundary.
- CliqueForever Edinburghofficial
SupportsOfficial city screen guide documenting The Voodoo Rooms’ substantial season-one and promotional connection.
