Roxy does a Hawkie with new Double Bay digs
Almost another social media meltdown ensued when Roxy Jacenko tweeted photos mid-week of her new temporary abode, the Double Bay Intercontinental Hotel.
But there was nothing new about the accommodation concept.
Those who've seen a few show ponies in their day would recall the events that unfolded after Bob Hawke lost Prime Ministerial office to that pesky deputy Paul Keating.
Same hotel, but different brand name this time.
It was 1991 when the 62 year had been running the country for close to eight years.
SMH Canberra bureau chief Mick Millett had got the vague tip that Hawke had quietly bought a home somewhere on Sydney Harbour.
After it was tracked down, it was then reported in June 1991 by yours truly and Mike Seccombe suggesting it was a sign that he was planning for life away from the Lodge.
Paul Keating certainly used the purchase in the campaign that Hawkie needed to retire in the lead up to his December 19 dumping.
Bob and Hazel Hawke's $1.23 million home had been leased at $650 a week to a Japanese businessman until September 1992.
So the day before the sacking, his mate and election advertising consultant, John Singleton offered Hawke his Birchgrove joint. So on the 4/5 January, 1992 weekend, the Hawke's moved from Canberra. Singo was away, Title Tattle seems to recall, his brief marriage to Liz Hayes coming to a close.
The Birchgrove house, one of 10 Allen, Jack & Cottier-designed Loiusa Keys waterfront properties, had been bought by Singleton from Leon Fink's development company for $825,000 in 1987.
As Sally Loane reported in the SMH, the Singleton housekeeper was there to ensure the passage to the real world of washing and cooking was gradual. "She was never impressed with any of the stars that came to stay, but she fell in love with Bob Hawke," Singleton advised.
By February 1992 Bob and Hazel needed to move out of Birchgrove - and so it was into the plush new Ritz Carlton Hotel in Sydney's Double Bay, developed by Paul Smith's Sahben Pty Ltd
Deborah Cameron subsequently told the SMH readers that if the Hawke's were ordinary guests at the Ritz Carlton the bill for six months would range from $77,500 to $114,000, given room prices range from $215 a day to $375 a night.
It appeared the Ritz had been second choice with Cameron reporting James Erskine's IMG had previously sought out a contra deal at The Boulevard Hotel, a hotel with a longer Hawke association.
Standard Double Bay Intercontental rooms can be secured anywhere from $300 to $400 a night these days, though suites will cost $850 to $5500.
Anyway this week Roxy Jacenko, the founder and director of Sweaty Betty PR has, along with her husband Oliver Curtis and two children, temporarily taken on hotel life while they look for a new home. She posted snaps of her children in their beds on Instagram, even her meals.
Back in the days of a tad more discretion, the Ritz Carlton was cagy about admitting that Bob Hawke was a guest and its switchboard gave callers the telephone number for Parliament House in Canberra instead of connecting them to his room.
The Sydney PR queen Roxy Jacenko and her husband, Oliver Curtis, sold their Woollahra residence late last year for $8 million plus with settlement due shortly.
She suggested it was an offer too good to refuse since they bought the four-bedroom house for $6.6 million in 2011.
Photo source: Instagram.
