HOTEL BUZZ: New Crown Metropol Opens in Melbourne

Australia’s infamous media and gaming mogul James Packer launches a sleek new luxury $300 million hotel to surprisingly great acclaim in its most discerning cultural capital.

The dramatic curved glass façade of the Crown Metropol pierces the sky with its pointy galleon-like brow and contains a whopping 658 rooms, and that’s just for starters. The gleaming structure is also home to private apartments, an urban day spa (Isika), a pool and gymnasium, meeting rooms and Crown Conference Centre, as well as an exclusive rooftop lounge and skybar called “28” which boasts panoramic views across Melbourne’s skyline, all smack in the heart of the city’s vibrant shopping precinct. The new Crown is also home to Gordon Ramsay’s first Australian Restaurant: maze and maze Grill, as well as it’s own shopping complex. It’s all very SITC (Sex in the City) gone Australian. Stepping inside is like getting aboard a luxury liner where everything is contained in one single space and is so seductive you may never want to leave.

Internationally acclaimed architects, Bates Smart, have successfully designed a modern and glamorous building that challenges tradition while creating a sense of fun and anticipation with unorthodox elements, dark, dramatic shapes and earthy, grounded silhouettes inspired by nature. Inside, satiny wood, smoky glass, textured wallpapers, sexy leather chairs, swathes of curtains, luscious fabrics and swirling patterns all compete for attention, but with celebrity coolness. The six different types of guest rooms are all comfortably contemporary with a distinct Manhattan flavor. Striking black matte and gloss walls set against rust-colored carpets combined with timber finishes, stylish furnishings, crisp white bed linens and modern art pieces generate a sexy and edgy vibe. Shoji-inspired privacy screens divide the bathroom and bedroom, which feature the latest in-room integrated technology (iPod docking stations, high-definition LCD televisions and Wi-Fi.)

All of Crown Metropol exudes an electricity that something exciting and unexpected is about to happen. Be sure to embark there on your next trip to Melbourne to find out more and experience this cosmopolitan city’s hippest hotel brimming with  cognoscenti all eager to see and be seen.

Rates: Luxe rooms from AU$249 a room a night, studios $289, lofts $463, spa rooms and studios $449 and the Apartment (presidential suite) is $5000 a night. For reservations call: + 03 9292 6211 or 1 800 811 653.

Read our article on Gordon Ramsay’s maze in our FOOD BUZZ section.