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PUBLISHED PRINT:
The Coffs Coast Advocate | Coffs Harbour | 9 October 2010
PUBLISHED INTERNET:
ACCOMPANYING IMAGES Accompanying images were taken by Sandra Burn White, a freelance photographer whose work forms an essential backdrop to John Rozentals' travel stories. She has also built an extensive album of images which are available for purchase and can be perused on her site: www.sandraburnwhite.com.au
Victoria's Parliament House ... surely the grandest in the land.
The Hotel Windsor ... build during the great land boom that followed the Victorian gold rushes.
Captain Cook's Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens.
Federation Square ... one of Australia’s most exciting cultural and recreational precincts.
Stainless steel, varnished ply and bright leather combine artfully in the Adelphi's guest rooms.
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The Adelphi & The Windsor ... two classy but very different faces to Melbourne accommodation Story: JOHN ROZENTALS Images: SANDRA BURN WHITE There may only be a few Melbourne CBD blocks separating the Adelphi and Windsor hotels, but in terms of style they might as well be in different galaxies — and both very desirable galaxies at that. The Adelphi, in Flinders Lane, just a hop from Federation Square, City Square, Flinders Street Station and the Yarra, exudes cool. It’s arty and hip, its decor still edgy nearly 20 years after its construction. Stainless steel, varnished ply and bright leather combine artfully in the guest rooms, though occasionally, as with the angular sofas, it does seem as though a tad of comfort has been sacrificed to design. Those minor shortcomings are about to be corrected as part of a major refit. The avant garde flows through the public areas as well, especially on to the rooftop, with its modern decking, bright chairs and, of course, the hotel’s renowned and quite amazing 25-metre lap pool. Terms such as “amazing” are overused, but it’s clearly justified for a pool that at one end has a glass bottom and juts out over Flinders Lane, nine storeys below. If you’re going skinny dipping, can I suggest backstroke? Even the reception area offers plenty of interest. At the moment it’s home to a couple of pieces from the private collection of Damien Hodgkinson, one of the Adelphi’s directors. There’s a metre-and-a-bit-tall ceramic statue of Chairman Mao, one of many churned out in China during the 1970s as part of the Government’s propaganda campaign. And there’s a 1950s fibreglass car rescued from an old carousel at St Kilda’s Luna Park during renovations in 1986. There’s other artwork waiting in the wings and a significant proportion will be used during the refurbishment to add further interest to the hotel’s guest rooms. The Adelphi was designed by award-winning local architects Denton Corker Marshall and its construction within the confines of an old inner-city warehouse hailed as a prime example of urban renewal. How appropriate, because the Adelphi preceded and sits just a stroll away from Federation Square, which in the late 1990s arose phoenix-like next to the Yarra on the site of the old Jolimont Rail Yard. It’s one of Australia’s most exciting cultural and recreational precincts, home to the futuristically designed National Gallery of Victoria’s Ian Potter Centre, the equally striking Australian Centre for the Moving Image, and on a slightly less cerebral note, Abbaworld. There’s ample shopping and eating, plus a state-of-art children’s playground and bike-hire facilities that make nearby Kings Domain and the Royal Botanic Gardens just so accessible. Within easy walking distance across the historic Princes Bridge are the Arts Centre, the National Gallery of Victoria International and the Melbourne Theatre Company’s cutting-edge MTC Theatre. If ready access to this golden mile of culture is high on your list of priorities, so, too, should be the Adelphi. Less than a kilometre to the north-east, the Hotel Windsor is a very different animal that represents a lost era among Australian hotels. It was built in the early 1880s, in the midst of the great land boom that followed Victoria’s gold rushes*. The developer was shipping magnate George Nipper and, as with the Adelphi, an eminent architect was involved ... this time Charles Webb, whose earlier commissions included the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School and the South Melbourne Town Hall. Nipper went bust and work was completed by the Honourable James Munro and the Honourable James Balfour, who added the Grand Ballroom, the Grand Staircase and the cupola-topped towers. For a while it was a “dry” hotel, known as the Grand Coffee Palace. “The Duchess of Spring Street” became a major mixing pot for politicians and businessmen, and in 1898 the Australian Constitution was drafted there. In 1976, when the hotel was threatened with demolition, the Victorian Government stepped in and bought the Windsor, before leasing and eventually selling the historic property once its conservation and maintenance were assured. To stay in one of the suites — complete with stained-glass door, entry hallway, substantial sitting room, and a dining room that can be set for 10 from its antique sideboard packed with classy crockery, cutlery and glassware —is an exhilarating experience. So, too, is to wander through hallways restored to their original grandeur, complete with gold-leaf decoration, panelling and chandeliers, and to relax in the elegant restaurant for traditional high tea and champagne, with, of course, cucumber-and-cress sandwiches. Bookings essential well in advance. And, just think, you could be staying in a room once occupied by Lauren Bacall, Katherine Hepburn, Gregory Peck or Rudolf Nureyev. And the Windsor’s location is completely appropriate ... right opposite what must surely be Australia’s grandest Parliament House, and handily close to Treasury Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens, Captain Cook’s Cottage, and Carlton Gardens with its World-Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building. It’s a different side of Melbourne to Federation Square, but it’s equally satisfying. *As an aside, those interested in the period should hunt down Michael Cannon’s The Land Boomers (published 1966 by Melbourne University Press). It’s one of Australia’s most evocative and thrilling pieces of political, social and economic writing. DETAILS ADELPHI HOTEL 187 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000 THE HOTEL WINDSOR 111 Spring Street, Melbourne 3000 |
