Five-star hotel opens in Brisbane’s giant new $3.6 billion complex

Openings don’t come much bigger than this – the Queensland capital’s several-times delayed, $3.6 billion Queen’s Wharf Brisbane is finally ready, with Thursday marking the debut of The Star Brisbane – albeit still stage by stage.

An impression of The Star Brisbane, which will anchor the Queen’s Wharf entertainment complex.

Owned by the troubled Star Entertainment Group, the casino, hotel, dining, event, retail and entertainment complex on the Brisbane River will, in the not-too-distant future, house three distinct hotels – the Star Grand (five stars), the Dorsett Brisbane (4.5 stars) and Australia’s first Rosewood hotel (touted as a six-star).

The Star Brisbane also features the Sky Deck – a 250-metre stretch of restaurants and bars, and the Leisure Deck running between four towers, offering 12,000 square metres of open-air space.

Open now are the Star Grand’s 340 hotel rooms, including four penthouses, along with Sokyo restaurant and the 1440-seat ballroom in the Event Centre, another key area of the mega-development.

Luke Nguyen at Fat Noodle.

The Sky Deck’s viewing platform, along with a trio of restaurants and bars – Cicada Blu, Aloria and Babblers – will swing their doors open before the end of the year.

Waterline Park, Queen’s Wharf Brisbane.

Black Hide by Gambaro (steak and seafood) will open on The Terrace, as will Luke Nguyen’s Fat Noodle (South-East Asian). They’ll be joined by several other outlets, including a mammoth sports bar, plus the main casino floor and premium gaming rooms.

The Terrace dining on level four – Cucina Regina (Italian), Azteca by Potentia Solutions Leisure (Latin American), Ghanem Group’s Luc Lac (Asian fusion) and other eateries – will also open during this first phase.

But from now, you can walk across the Neville Bonner Bridge and check out Miller Park, explore the Leisure Deck, and peruse public art installed throughout the precinct, including the already unveiled “Swallowed by the Milky Way”, an eight-metre-high, eight-tonne bronze work by famed Brisbane-born, NSW Northern Rivers-based sculptor and painter, Lindy Lee.

King Room at The Star Grand Brisbane.

It’s part of a huge procurement of public pieces designed to keep “art at the precinct’s heart”.

The full 7.5 hectares of public space will open progressively from there, including the upgraded Bicentennial Bikeway and newly created green space, The Landing.

The next phase, starting early next year, will involve further multi-staged openings, including the Dorsett and Rosewood hotel tower and luxury retail.

The Neville Bonner pedestrian bridge connects Queen’s Wharf Brisbane with South Bank’s cultural precinct, providing access to the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Gallery of Modern Art and the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

See star.com.au/brisbane/