Hotel revamp brings a classic touch of London’s Mayfair to Melbourne

You might have seen the memes suggesting, “In a world full of Kardashians, be an Audrey” – or a “Diana”, or other classy icon; meaning, one assumes, that in a world full of trendy people and things, one should choose to be classic.

While classic is not for everybody (wouldn’t life be boring if it was) it is for a newly reimagined hotel in Melbourne. In a world full of rooms decked out with record players, sunken lounges, ironic wallpaper, and Wes Anderson movie aesthetics it has chosen to be a Claridge’s, aligning its look and vibe with the venerable boutique hotel of London’s Mayfair.

One of the prettiest spaces is the breakfast room.

And this positioning has made it a design standout in Australia.

When the Royce Hotel opened in a former 1920s Rolls-Royce dealership on Melbourne’s St Kilda Road in 2000, it was part of a small, exciting brigade of new independent hotels offering something that then was outside the city’s existing five-star options. But in recent years it stagnated and fell behind as the Melbourne hotel scene, particularly its unique and boutique category, burgeoned.

Melbourne hospitality operator Mazen Tabet and his Tabet Investment Group bought the Royce in 2018, closed it and engaged SJB Interiors, exponents of many successful private, public and hospitality projects, to reinstate the hotel’s glamour and glory – and then some.

“It’s truly one of those special standout hotels,” says Andrew Parr, director at SJB Interiors. “And it has an art deco style, so I immediately thought of Claridge’s as a reference – Claridge’s and those luxury boutique Mayfair hotels.”

Hosting royalty since 1853, Claridge’s is renowned for its art deco design that includes Lalique touches and shiny chequerboard floors. But it’s the upscale residential comfort of the interior that make it the award-winning icon it is. Claridge’s is opulent but never overwrought, luxuriously appointed but relaxing. It’s an approach shared – though through differing aesthetics – with a cluster of hotels in Mayfair, offering a lower-key, high-class neighbourhood pied-a-terre alternative to the city’s larger, more spectacular five-stars.

The Royce’s lovely courtyard.

Just by way of location, the Royce ticks some of those boxes. It sits on the edge of South Yarra, one of Melbourne’s more affluent suburbs. And like Mayfair, it affords easy access to the CBD, a short tram ride north, as well as Melbourne Grammar next door, the Shrine of Remembrance and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria a stroll away, and Alfred Hospital a 15-minute walk the other way through a locals’ favourite, Faulkner Park.

But the inside also needed to measure up.

“The client really had international aspirations,” says Parr, of working on Tabet’s brief. “He wanted it to be a world hotel. There was a starting point of: ’What would it be if not in Melbourne?″⁣

That’s when the property’s history began to answer the question.

Says Parr: “As a starting point, the Rolls-Royce showroom aspect began to inform us as to the amount of chrome and polished timbers we would use and even the palette: using a lot of ivory, lilacs, navy blues; very traditional English art deco colours.”

The result is pretty as a picture. A dazzling disco-ball-mirrored porte-cochere leads to a serene foyer with signature orchids punctuating the space. It leads to the bar-restaurant that gleams with impeccably chosen furniture including chrome-armed chairs from Ralph Lauren.

One of the prettiest spaces is the breakfast room towards the rear of the ground floor, adorned with illustrated wallpaper and salmon pink chairs. It looks out to a lovely courtyard.

The 94 rooms range from cosy, well-appointed entry-level lodgings to amazing suites including a series of two-level ones in the old service garages that have floor-to-ceiling windows across both light-flooded floors.

One of The Royce’s amazing two-level suites.

Original features are given hero status throughout, though, as Parr says, “No one wants to stay in a museum.” To that end, the Royce has exemplary tech and functionality (though notably and most un-Claridge’s-like, only instant coffee available in-room).

The biggest challenges, Parr says, were structural, especially as the owner wanted to completely reconfigure the lobby level.

“He sacrificed six rooms on the ground floor to open up the bar and restaurant spaces. A lot of energy went into reinventing the whole ground floor. But I don’t really see it as a challenge,” he adds. “I mean, dealing with a client with a strong vision – I think that’s why it’s probably turned out as well as it has.”

The writer stayed as a guest of the Royce Hotel.

THE DETAILS

STAY

From $350 a night. 379 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne, Victoria; [phone]. See roycehotel.com.au