Palazzo Versace, Gold Coast
What is it? A decade has slid past since Palazzo Versace, the world's first designer-brand hotel, opened in Australia's Gold Coast, but it remains an experience worth bragging about. A sophisticated symphony of marble, glass and stone personally approved by the late Gianni Versace, this opulent temple to Greco-Roman style hasn't aged a jot. Also frozen in time are iconic images of 1980s 'glamazons' Linda, Helena, Naomi, Claudia and Cindy, whose gaze follows you as you walk the hotel's catwalk-length, lushly carpeted corridors before entering suites that reflect Versace's passion for theatrical Renaissance-era costumes and set design.
The world's first and, for the time being, only Versace hotel (another is scheduled to open in Dubai next year) drips with gilt-edged glamour. The opulent foyer, lit by one of Versace's own chandeliers and dazzling Queensland sunshine, is an arc of Roman columns, plump circular lounges and gleaming Carrara marble floors. A pool boy cleans an errant leaf from the shimmering aqua lagoon where sun worshippers, sipping flutes of chilled champagne, rest their designer-clad derrieres. The pebble mosaic driveway, laid by five Italian master tilers, is so beautiful it seems a pity to drive on it.
What are the rooms like? In one word, sumptuous. A tri-level classic Roman villa estate of 200 rooms and suites and 72 condominiums, some with private plunge pools, are arranged around five shallow lagoons. Rooms are furnished with bespoke Versace homeware, windows are lavishly festooned with silk damask curtains, parquetry floors gleam and clay pottery bas-reliefs depict bucolic scenes. Medusa heads, Versace's brand signature, are fashioned into cornices. A quarry's entire annual production adorns bathrooms stocked with Versace toiletries and travel-sized perfumes. Two bite- sized red chocolate lips and a pillow menu encourage a perfect night's sleep.
The glamour of the Imperial Suite (above right) has enticed Gulf state royalty and celebrities such as Jay-Z, Beyonce and Kate Hudson to live like Roman nobility.
What about the food? It hardly matters when you're eating and drinking from the House of Versace's gilt-edged plates and glassware. Nevertheless, the hotel's three restaurants deliver a stylish range of options. Il Barocco provides all-day grazing, from a bountiful breakfast buffet to chic lunch menus and seafood buffet dinners. The restrained Vie Bar and Restaurant is a sleekly modern Italian bistro overlooking the marina, so diners can keep an eye on their floating assets. Signature restaurant Vanitas delivers a gastronomic tour-de-force across degustation and a la carte menus. In the lobby, Le Jardin bar is fashion central, serving afternoon tea, antipasto with cocktails and apres-dinner nightcaps.
Define the luxe life: at Palazzo Versace you don't just go to the pool, you laze by the 'water salon', where lagoons containing salt chlorinated water are heated to a comfortable 25 degrees. Fringed by talcum-fine sand, private cabanas accommodate guests behind billowing sheer-white curtains for pedicures, manicures and mini-massages, otherwise guests head to Salus per Aquum (SPA), a 'health through water' neo-Roman spa and fitness centre for a customised consultation. The sleek, tech-savvy gym is stocked with the kind of Technogym gear used to buff up the Formula One Ferrari team and elite European football players. Guests can check e-mails and update their Facebook page from the treadmill.