United places, South Yarra, Melbourne

Full of nice touches, these smart new South Yarra digs are a sensory delight.

United Places, South Yarra.

The breakfast trolley is wheeled silently across the timber floors of our apartment by a butler who cheerfully gives a weather update: cool, windy, a chance of showers and perhaps some sunshine. Good morning, Melbourne. She unloads the trolley – croissants and pastries, fresh juice, pretty glasses of bircher muesli and yoghurt. All very nice, all very predictable. But what’s this? If you’re part of the bacon ‘n’ eggs brigade, look away now. Cloches are lifted with a flourish to reveal cured salmon, fennel and salsa verde; smoked chicken scattered with rocket and three perfectly roasted cherry tomatoes; a quinoa, beetroot, kale and almond salad… It’s delicious but unorthodox, just like our surrounds in one of Melbourne’s newest boutique hotels.

United Places 159 Domain, South Yarra.

United Places Botanic Gardens is the brainchild of first-time hotelier Darren Rubenstein, who engaged Melbourne design firm Carr (of Mornington Peninsula hotel Jackalope fame) to create a spare-no-expense 12-suite venture heavy on craftsmanship and understated luxury. Nothing is here by accident; everything has been obsessively curated, from the brass pens to the organic cotton linen, the handcrafted leather “Do not disturb” signs and brass room numbers. The beautifully tactile Szilvassy hand-thrown crockery (three locally sourced clays fired with a glaze of plant particles mixed with timber shavings) are a classy touch and the bathroom products from cult New York perfumery Le Labo are dangerously addictive. There are some surprises, too – a Tasmanian wallaby skin bowl complete with furry exterior invites a tentative stroke.

Luxurious couches by Patricia Urquiola.

“I wanted to create somewhere that I would want to stay; an experience you can’t get anywhere else,’’ says Rubenstein, running his hands over a velvety Patricia Urquiola Redondo sofa, its rich fabric and rounded lines providing a touch of softness in an otherwise minimalist palette.

The contemporary four-level building nestled amid Victorian terraces on South Yarra’s Domain Road overlooks the Royal Botanic Gardens and our two-bedroom suite makes the most of the outlook via floor-to-ceiling windows, a nicely sheltered terrace and a black enamel bath under the master bedroom window. We have three televisions, a smart pad that controls the room’s switches and, off the master, a wonderful rain and hand shower, from where I try to imagine the cursing from the tradies tasked to lay a single porcelain tile on the shower floor, a painstaking workaround to appease Rubenstein’s dislike of grout. He tells me with a sigh that yes, there was a high breakage rate but hey, for no grout, totally worth it.

Matilda restaurant.

The long concrete-walled corridor entrance to the property – a nod to Melbourne’s famed laneways – is unusual for a hotel. There’s no concierge desk or lobby; just a butler who appears from behind a black door to whisk you to your room and check you in, offer local knowledge and make a restaurant booking.

As you exit the lifts you notice a wonderfully warm, woody scent. The new timbers or some hidden essential oils, I wonder? Rubenstein thinks it might be coming up from the ground-floor restaurant, Matilda, where chef-restaurateur Scott Pickett cooks everything over wood or coals. Perhaps it’s the scent of charred cherrywood chips or cabernet vines that’s permeating the space – whatever it is, he could bottle it.

Tthe ground-floor restaurant, Matilda.

The collaboration with Pickett was a masterstroke in drawing locals to the hotel and, just as importantly, creating a brand that asserts quality and finesse from top to bottom. It’s Pickett’s kitchen that provides the breakfasts delivered to rooms each morning. If you want eggs there’s a fully equipped kitchen and a good choice of cafes nearby – it’s a pleasant 20-minute walk to the shopping and eating strips of Toorak Road and Chapel Street; about the same distance through the Botanic Gardens to the National Gallery and CBD.

United Places.

When I think about who might come to this hotel I picture a weekend trip to Melbourne, an evening at Matilda, a stroll through the Botanic Gardens, an afternoon at the gallery. Rubenstein was following his love of architecture, design, food and luxury when he created United Places – if that’s your thing too, this place is for you.

• Perfect for: Anyone looking for a stylish place to stay in Melbourne.

• Must do: Explore the Botanic Gardens or, if you’re in a suite overlooking the gardens, admire them from your bathtub window. Visit the NGV’s highly recommended MoMA (Museum of Modern Art, New York) exhibition, which finishes on October 7. The city’s self-guided Laneways and Arcades tour is worth doing, too.

• Dining: Scott Pickett’s Matilda restaurant relies on wood, charcoal and smoke; no electricity or gas is used for cooking in this kitchen. Our restaurant reviewer John Lethlean nominated it as one of Australia’s Hot 50 restaurants. A short stroll from the hotel you’ll find sublime pastries at Baker D.Chirico, and a touch of Paris at Entrecôte steakhouse.

• Getting there: United Places is at 159 Domain Road in the inner Melbourne suburb of South Yarra.

• Bottom line: Two-bedroom suites from $1050 per night; one bedroom from $650 per night. Includes breakfast hampers.

unitedplaces.com.au