The 10 best presidential suites in Australia
The nation’s standout hotel chambers are large, luxe and distinctly empowering if you’re prepared to splurge. Many of them have a long line of illustrious past guests, too.
I recently shared a bed with Barack Obama, Prince Harry, Lady Gaga and the King and Queen of Jordan, plus a few others I’m too humble to mention. Well, to clarify, I slept on the same commodious beds that they did when testing out 10 of the ritziest presidential suites in Australia. While at first the immensity and amenity of these vast retreats – with their in-room kitchens, gyms, saunas and even pools – seemed like excesses of the super-rich, it struck me that people who are too famous to go outside don’t just stay in these suites; they live, eat and hide away in them. If you’re willing to spend the money, you too can experience the suite life.
The Langham, Gold Coast
Rarely have I regretted not sticking with the piano, nor whittling myself down to six-pack form, but the palatial and polished Chairman’s Ocean Suite at The Langham will make you wish you had cracked pop stardom. On the 20th floor of the hotel, with panoramic ocean outlooks, the suite was most recently occupied by Harry Styles. It’s so enormous – with two bedrooms, two luminous living areas and a balcony as long as a football field – that it took me an hour to notice the study. Not only is it equipped with televisions the size of ping-pong tables and a stereo system to match, but it’s so anointed in luxe flourishes that you could sleep comfortably standing up. The large spa bath, which features disco lighting (no, seriously), is the final touch of rock-star reality bending. A friend’s delighted 10-year-old daughter asked me to lick the tub. From $5,000 per night. langhamhotels.com
Crown, Sydney
It’s been reported that a pair of Hollywood heavyweights recently chose not to stay at Villa 88, a two-floor, 800-square-metre pleasure palace at Crown Sydney, because it was “too much”. In their case, it may not have been a reference to the cost – perhaps they just thought a master bathroom the size of a house with attached massage room, an outdoor jacuzzi, grand piano, rock-star-styled pool table with carbon cues and a cinema-sized karaoke room were all a bit over the top. The truth is this room eclipses every other suite in the country, and comes with handy features for the mega-famous (Taylor Swift may be staying here), like a private lift and garage for screaming-fan-free entry. Sequestered in your ultra suite, you can see almost all of Sydney. The cost includes all food and drinks (and there’s nothing mini about the bar, either), as well as a 24-hour butler service. From $38,888 per night. crownsydney.com.au
The Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne
The only thing posher and plusher than a sumptuous suite in a grand old hotel is the same category of room in a brand-new one. The Ritz-Carlton, which debuted last year, is the loftiest hotel in the southern hemisphere, with its reception on the 80th floor – arriving is a big gasp moment. Naturally, this suite is impressively capacious at 251 square metres. The dressing room alone is larger than some hotel rooms. But the little details matter, too: the way everything feels global in its ornamentation yet local in its considered touches, from stunning flower arrangements to the privately prepared meals with native flavours. I’ve been tempted to steal bathrobes before, but the cloudlike fluffiness of the robes in the double-showered bathroom, with its own sauna, were beyond decadent. I felt like a beautiful, big bunny rabbit as I swanned around, marvelling at how good Melbourne looks from this angle. From $12,000 per night. ritzcarlton.com
Eos by Skycity, Adelaide
Some suites are so cavernous it seems they might only be booked for parties, or by the kind of party people who travel with a coterie of acolytes – hence the need for a 12-seat dining table like the one in this Adelaide eyrie atop the city’s casino. Dubbed the Grace Villa, the suite is so large it doesn’t merely have a desk, or even a study, it has a “business centre”, which makes you feel like you should be doing some work – mergers, acquisitions and brand extensions, perhaps. Worse still, though, it has its own gym, which seemed to taunt me with my idleness. There are generous-sized bedrooms, each with its own obscenely large walk-in wardrobe and bathroom. The best vistas, which take in many of the city’s churches, plus its most famous place of worship, the Adelaide Oval, are from the inviting living area and its balconies. The sleek villa embodies the trend for haute, residential-like hotel interiors. From $6,999 per night. skycityadelaide.com.au
The Four Seasons, Sydney
Hovering above Sydney Harbour, with window seats that accent the panorama, is just the start of this elevated experience at the Four Seasons. Everyone at the hotel seems to go above and beyond for occupants of this stately chamber. Witness the dedicated staff members who painted a welcome to my two children on their bedroom’s window, presented chocolate treats to them on arrival, their names scrawled in icing, and then, later in the evening, delivered a giant new box of Lego. They turn it on for adults as well. A resident mixologist stopped by to tempt us with zinging cocktails, while a free minibar in the butler’s kitchen was filled with quality tipples. They will go even further, too, bringing a gum tree and a living, breathing koala to your room should you be too famous, or busy, to visit the zoo. The elegant four-poster bed and double bath with a view were also highlights, and, on the 34th floor, you’re so high up the drone of street traffic is imperceptible. From $8,680 per night. fourseasons.com
The Langham, Melbourne
Opposite the double doors that open into this distinguished apartment is a piece of furniture almost as imposing as the Resolute desk from the Oval Office. This desk has also had the important elbows of Barack Obama resting on it, and writing here feels like playing “Chopsticks” on Mozart’s fortepiano. All manner of vintage and valuable objects fill the hotel’s 24th-floor Chairman Suite, which creates the impression of staying in a gilded antiques emporium. The rugs are thick, the chairs are weighty, and even the glasses in the fully stocked butler’s kitchen feel substantial. A pair of sprawling bedrooms, placed a generous distance apart, are serene sanctuaries, while both bathrooms feature the brass and marble fittings you’d expect to find in the White House. There are also plenty of large windows, behind heavy drapes, offering both skyline and river vistas. From $3,000 per night. langhamhotels.com
Shangri-La, Sydney
The Shangri-La’s Altitude Restaurant and Blu Bar on its 36th floor are undeniably lovely, but they are invariably filled with tourists lapping up delicious morsels and harbour views. Fortunately, just one floor down is the hotel’s most-impressive suite with a private dining area of its own where we enjoyed the best room service my taste buds have ever known. The single-bedroom suite also offers a tempting living area suffused with golden sunlight through walls of glass, and a marble-lined bathroom with a deep soaking tub. Too few hotel suites have a stereo suitable to their surroundings, but this one has a Bang & Olufsen unit the size of a small trampoline. It delivers sound so wonderful we just sat staring at it, and occasionally stroking it, while playing our favourite songs for hours. From $5,305 per night. shangri-la.com
Park Hyatt, Melbourne
Can greatness soak into walls, seep into soft furnishings or even linger in the air? It takes just a few awestruck moments in the Park Hyatt’s opulent 240-square-metre presidential suite to realise the answer is yes, particularly once you lay your hands on the same baby grand piano tinkled by almost every musical megastar you can think of. Officially, the hotel won’t confirm that it’s the home away from mansion for the world’s biggest entertainers, but unofficially this recently facelifted haven has felt the presence of the knights of yore, including Sir Rod, Sir Paul and Sir Elton, plus Billy Joel, Lady Gaga and even Katy Perry. While the living area – with its Juliet balcony and French doors that actually open so you can gaze down upon your “little monsters” (Gaga speak for fans) – has a stately English feel with silky curtains and over-puffed lounges, the Italian marble bathroom is pure Beverly Hills. An actual Beatle probably sang in that shower. From $7,500 per night. hyatt.com
Hilton, Sydney
The master suite on the 48th floor of the Hilton offers slick furniture, mood lighting and riveting urban scenes with skyscrapers poking up in every direction. Seated at the grand, eight-seat dining table, my eye was constantly drawn to one of the nine windows, which frame views to the Queen Victoria Building, the distant cliffs of South Head, and all the glamour of the Emerald City. At sunset, you look like a tennis fan switching back and forth between the incendiary orange of the horizon on your left and the glowing pink over the beaches to your east. Yet I found myself tempted to leave all that behind and climb back into the decadent double shower with its eight separate shower heads. If it was possible to tuck this bathroom wonder into my suitcase along with the lovely soaps and unguents, I would have. Sadly there was no minibar to pillage (you have to order drinks, which seems like something ordinary people would do), so I went off to cry myself to sleep on giant pillows the size of Ewoks, only cuddlier. From $1,240 per night. hiltonsydney.com.au
Q1, Gold Coast
While many of the finest suites in the land feel properly presidential, only one could be said to be playful. Set on level 74 of the country’s tallest residential tower, this penthouse pad has its own indoor pool. It also features four bedrooms (two enormous, two merely huge), a cinema, a games room with putting green, foosball and arcade games, a Swedish sauna, a private office and spa bath – and did I mention the pool? It’s arrayed with mood lighting and pool toys. If the various entertainment options weren’t so many, you’d probably spend more time being blown away by the views from two impressive open-roofed balconies, encompassing swathes of the east coast. Spread over 1000 square metres, with plenty of hard surfaces and reflective elements, it can feel a little stark. That said, I loved it. From $4,960 per night. q1.com.Hihgau