Brisbane stepping into its own as a tropical hotel destination
In its progress to establish itself as a World city, Brisbane has amped development tremendously on reaping the benefits of its most natural asset, its tropical climate.
The third largest Australian city has recently seen a boom in property and cultural development with heritage, civic spaces, green spaces and new residential and commercial opportunities bringing the city into its strong economic future.
Brisbane has a heavy bohemian market culture with fashions, handicrafts and Partisan, African and Asian flavours to be found all over the city.
Miami, Rio De Janeiro, Kuala Lumpur and now Brisbane. These are the newest hotel developments that place the city on the map for international tropical destinations.
OVOLO THE VALLEY
This quirky rockstar themed hotel in the Fortitude Valley neighbourhood in Brisbane, blends effortlessly into its environment. Designed by acclaimed global architecture firm Woods Bagot, the hotel needed to have a sort of captured cultural significance that also brings visitors into the new era with an eclectic style and whimsical oasis of colours.
“Our brief to Woods Bagot was that each of our hotels must have their own unique personality and style, inspired by local surrounds, culture, heritage and Ovolo’s playful, forward-thinking spirit, and they’ve delivered exactly that with The Valley.” - CEO and Chairman of the Ovolo Group, Girish Jhunjhnuwala.
A rooftop swimming pool, gym, sauna, meeting rooms and Ovolo’s signature standard inclusions of free breakfast, free wifi, free mini bar, free laundry and free happy hour drinks, marking the hotel as a new favourite destination in Fortitude Valley. The Fortitude Valley district is home to an extremely lively and diverse crowd, just a short walk from Brisbane’s CBD, the suburb offers dive bars, mellow music venues, cocktail bars, rooftop bars and eateries, Chinatown cuisines, European restaurants, indie record stores, heritage listed properties and boutique and cafe lined streets.
The hotel offers five unique style of rooms catering for everybody and fit out with their own colour schemes and luxurious bohemian style.
THE CALILE
Australia’s first ever urban resort, The Calile is a hotel inspired by the high esteemed tropical destinations around the world such as Miami, Cartagena, Havana and Kuala Lumpur.
As Richard and Spence Architects first hotel, you can imagine the thoughtfulness put in to ensure guests feel relaxed and carefree inside its 175 boutique rooms and pastel muted colour schemed amenities and communal spaces.
Each room has a balcony of some sort with most overlooking the hotel pool lined by palm trees and plush cabanas.
“I think we decided we didn’t want to be Melbourne and we didn’t want to be Sydney,” general manager Jeremy Nordkamp says of the hotel. “Let's be Brisbane. Let's celebrate the fact that we have this beautiful weather 10 months of the year.”
With a city fringe location, a mix of ground floor boutiques, restaurants and cafes add to the vibe of the streetscape and give way to the podium level designed to be a raised urban landscape with a heated pool, cabanas, a poolside restaurant, day spa, fitness centre and business centre.
The Calile has been instrumental to Brisbane’s grand transformation into a vibrant hub of boutique hotel culture. Each room’s contemporary design and flair draws on the natural elements that celebrate Queensland’s environment. Although minimal in aesthetic, the pastel pinks, blues, and yellows used throughout the building bring life and warmth to the visitors.
THE W HOTEL
The W Hotel is Brisbane’s first 5 star Hotel in 20 years and sets a high benchmark for luxury development in a city that is deserving of attention. The 312 guest rooms and 32 luxe suites all feature river views and are equipped with the latest in technology and entertainment.
The bold, outlandish attitude of the Brisbanite’s are experienced in close proximity through the hotel’s city centre and riverfront location where the luxuries of Queen Street and the urban bars, restaurants and eclectic cafes that line the streets offer visitors a unique perspective and an open community welcome into the cheeky Australian lifestyle.
Known globally for its provocative design flair, The W Hotel fits effortlessly into Brisbane as its often touted Australia’s capital city of cool, with edgy communal spaces, burgeoning fashion and a rich nightlife with passionate live entertainment on the rise around drinking quarters.
Earth tones, sedimentary layers and frayed edges of the hotel’s interior were inspired by the Australian outback whilst the communal spaces offer a vibrant, daring and creative visualisation, aligning to Brisbane’s tropical and relaxed atmosphere.
Guests are able to take a piece of their stay home with them from collections including handbags, artwork, home decor and fine jewellery available from W The Store by Becker Minty.
At the entrance of the hotel lobby is Brisbane Quarter, a high end retail and dining experience with Italian restaurant Persone by Gambaro and Heritij flagship Indian restaurant and many more exclusive offerings.
THE FANTAUZZO
The Fantauzzo is a six storey, 166 room boutique Art Series Hotel beneath Brisbane’s iconic Story Bridge.
Nestling against a rocky cliff face, the hotel offers a unique experience for visitors by the Brisbane River through extremely tranquil and natural backdrops covered by a dynamic geometric rocky facade which responds to its environment. The hotel is the eights Art series Hotel and part of the revitalisation of the Howard Smith Wharves precinct, honouring artist Vincent Fantauzzo to whom the hotel is named after.
The interior designs are reflected by Fantauzzo’s moody portraits with the incorporation of dark shades contrasting the muted earth tones of the vegetation and cliffs that surround, giving visitors a warm, comfortable and chic stay.
Across from Brisbane’s Howard Smith Wharves heritage listed wharf on waterfront, the area in which is an active and vibrant hub filled with restaurants, cafes and bars. Fantauzzo allows visitors to encounter the city in a different way.
Equipped with a rooftop pool and bar, on site gymnasium and contemporary art tours available, the hotel showcases the best of Brisbane and its rich history with art and culture.
The Fantauzzo provides a luxury refuge in a vibrant and bustling city setting and broadens the hotel experience Brisbane has to offer.
