The Joppa rocks on which this hotel is built are some 300,000,000 years old and the subject of much interest to various geologists and historians.

The rocks also provide an ideal environment for numerous bird species creating yet another interest for those visiting the hotel. David Preston of Craigmillar Castle started the commercial salt pans around 1630 and they thrived until their demise in the 1950's-this made Joppa and district a very odorous and sooty place to live due to the process of coal burning off evaporating seawater, with two large chimneys sending out black smoke into the local atmosphere. All that remains today of the Salt Pans is Rock Cottage and Rockville House, the former residence of Mr. Alexander Nisbet, the owner of The Scottish Salt Co., which also includes Preston Pans.