Check it out: Rydges South Bank, Brisbane

Rydges South Bank Brisbane has completed a $30 million three-year makeover.

A king suite in the refurbished Rydges South Bank, Brisbane.

Rydges South Bank Brisbane has completed a $30 million three-year makeover to unveil 304 new-look guestrooms in the heart of the city’s arts precinct.

Half the spend has been allocated to the accommodation and a slick new in-room fitout is designed to service business and leisure travellers alike with free high-speed Wi-Fi, high-definition flat-screen televisions and dedicated workspaces.

Many guestrooms command great city skyline panoramas or towards Mount Coot-tha and the city’s West End. Best picks are 40 river-facing King Suites on higher floors with a larger minibar area featuring a microwave (handy for longer stays), that all-important Nespresso machine, dining space, separate bedroom and balcony off the living room. Deluxe King Suites, on the corners of the building, afford river and city views, and a few extras, including handmade chocolates at evening turndown service. Throughout, the palette is in relaxing hues of taupe, grey and bronze with light-coloured timbers and splashes of aubergine.

Leisure facilities include a gym with spa and sauna, and rooftop swimming pool with a wraparound bar; after dark, the mood shifts with an enormous LED screen embedded in the ceiling lighting up and a DJ spinning discs.

The Rydges South Bank incarnation also includes a reimagined facade and entrance and state-of-the-art meeting rooms but it’s location, location, location that’s the big winner, with the city’s leading arts and entertainment complexes on the doorstep and the Queen Street Mall an easy 10-minute walk away.

DON’T MISS: A complimentary wine tasting at Bacchus with the head sommelier every Wednesday from 5.30pm.

DINING IN: Under the command of talented chef Mark Penna the in-house Bacchus, on the hotel’s podium level, is regarded as a city leader (with house bubbles from Dom Perignon).

Expect menu items such as Jamon iberico and foie gras and best quality Australian produce, including line-caught swordfish from the reefs around Queensland’s Lady Musgrave Island cooked over charcoal, free-range duck from Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, and lamb from the New England Tableland of northern NSW.

Be sure to leave space for pastry chef Tammy Coles’s strawberry panna cotta with lemon meringue puffs, rosewater and candied cannelloni. Breakfast and more casual dining are available at CBD where the pizzas are particularly popular.

DINING OUT: Stokehouse Q on the riverfront; Ahmet’s at South Bank; The Charming Squire brewhouse for craft ales.

ASK THE CONCIERGE: Afternoon tea at Bacchus is a great way to while away a few hours.

CHECKING IN: Rooms from $219; King Suites from $299; Deluxe Kings from $319.

More: rydges.com.

ALSO TRY: Rydges World Square, Sydney; Ibis Adelaide; Peppers Docklands, Melbourne.

ACCOMMODATION BUZZ

• An all-villa resort has opened on a private beach in Vietnam’s Nha Trang affording Irish linen bedding, butlers, private pools and lifeguards trained by Surf Life Saving Australia; snap up a 40 per cent discount until December 21 on all 105 villas at The Anam (not to be confused with members of the Aman group).

• Also in Vietnam, the 237-room Pan Pacific Hanoi opens on October 1 overlooking the beguiling West Lake of the busy capital; there’s 20 per cent off the best available rate until the end of the year for bookings by October 31.

• Mantra will add Albury on the NSW-Victoria border to its Australian network in early 2018 with the opening of a 158-room full-service hotel featuring a restaurant, bar, executive lounge and gym.

• In South Africa’s premium winegrowing region of Stellenbosch, outside Cape Town, Lanzerac Hotel & Spa has had a full revamp by designer Constant van der Colff; all guestrooms have been refurbished, there’s an impressive new wine tasting facility and a remodelled day spa opens soon.

• Eichardt’s Private Hotel in New Zealand’s Queenstown is set to open a new penthouse featuring a sauna, terrace with lake views and commercial-grade kitchen with on-call chef; a new hotel bistro is also soon to open.