Portal Hotel: 52 Astor Terrace, Spring Hill QLD (07) 3009 3400 or www.portalhotel.com.au Portal Hotel is a boutique hotel close enough to and far enough away from Fortitude Valley to be both a springboard to and a refuge from the wealth of nightlife. And if the Valley sounds a bit too much like youthful excitement
Must Margaret River: 107 Bussell Hwy, Margaret River WA (08) 9758 8877 or mustmr@must.com.au Having reached the upper limits of what could be achieved with Must Wine Bar in Perth, owners Garry Gosatti and Russell Blaikie went down river in search of a second venue. Their search landed them in Margaret River. Being a wine
Melbourne Hotel: 10 Browning St, West End QLD (07) 3840 9888 or www.themelbournehotel.com.au Melbourne Hotel, in Brisbane’s West End, has been transformed from a tired hotel into a modern venue with a considerable breadth of offerings. It has The Office — an all-day dining area; an upstairs wine bar called Twelve; Tempted café and deli;
Bells at Killcare: 107 The Scenic Road, Killcare Heights NSW www.bellsatkillcare.com.au Up the Pacific Highway from Sydney you’ll discover a touch of Provence on the Central Coast. Or perhaps it’s more Fred Perry-era All-England (croquet anyone?); or even a beach ‘shack’ in the Hamptons — not that I’ve ever been, but I watch a lot
Westin Melbourne: www.westin.com.au/melbourne The Westin loves a good night’s sleep. Some 10 years ago when other five-star hotel marques were braying about their swimming pools, bars or views from the penthouse suite, the Westin was subtly insinuating itself into the minds of the discerning traveller with a fancy mattress. In fact, the Westin was so
Grand Hotel Rockdale: 482 – 484 Princes Highway, Rockdale NSW (02) 9567 2493 or www.grandhotelrockdale.com.au The Grand Hotel has been trying to follow the changing styles of Sydney and its local patrons for the last 25 years. Southern Hotel Group has taken the hotel through many refurbishments, including a sports bar, and at one time
Goldfish: 111 Darlinghurst Road, Kings Cross NSW (02) 8354 6630 Situated at Kings Cross’ ground zero is the newly refurbished Goldfish, a bar that offers a mix of music, cocktails and food in a comfortable environment with a twist. Its previous incarnation, The Goldfish Bowl, had a solid reputation in the area, and by paying
New Zealand may be the perfect setting for the fantasy genre, but when the Bacardi team needed a mobile way to spruik rum around the disconnected population, a pirate galleon wasn’t going to happen, and a space ship would have been a bit too high-flying for the average punter. In the end, the Bacardi team
It seems that Philippe Starck will never run out of venues on which to impose his vision. Declaring the pigeonholed, darkened recording studio to be unfit for working in 12 hours a day, he’s put his hand to Eastwest studios in Hollywood to save it from a similar fate. Founded in 1961, as part of
Rambutan: 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst NSW (02) 9360 7772 or www.rambutan.com.au Rambutan — inspired by a Thai fruit of the same name — has joined the new ‘Darlo’ Oxford Street strip, which is enjoying a renaissance. Husband and wife team Joe Natale and Milena Molina-Natale has between them an extensive design background in fashion and