NOT FOR
SQUARES
when a first-time hotelier opens
accommodation in one of Australia’s most-visited cities? With
property developer Darren Rubenstein and his inaugural hotel,
United Places, you get a concept that thinks outside the square- more specifically, outside the check-in desk. Instead of the
reception area seasoned travellers are so used to, guests are
greeted by a butler who will be as present or discreet as you wish.
Doing away with a check-in desk is just one of Rubenstein’s
efforts in breaking the hotel mould. “I wanted to create a home
for the like-minded traveller,” he explains. A stone’s throw from
the Royal Botanic Gardens in South Yarra, and with a lobby
constructed to elicit the atmosphere of a Melbourne laneway,
you certainly could be entering your own apartment block. Design
firm CARR took on the architecture and interiors of United Places,
including the 12 one- or two-bedroom suites. “Each suite has its
own personality and dichotomy of spaces that create theatre and
a heightened sensibility. It’s all very Melbourne,” says director of
architecture Chris McCue. This theatre comes from deep, sunken
baths overlooking the city skyline, switch-controlled velvet curtains
that separate rooms, changeable mood-lighting and indulgent
showers. Hand-loomed towels and blankets, 100 per cent cotton
bed sheets and amenities created in collaboration with NYC-
based Le Labo add to the luxury, not to mention the 200ml bottle
of Sullivans Cove whisky in each suite – a serving size made
exclusively for United Places to encourage guests to give it a try.
Breakfast is delivered courtesy of Scott Pickett and his team
at Matilda, the restaurant downstairs where you’d struggle to get
a table – if you didn’t have the help of your butler, of course.
157 Domain Road, South Yarra, Melbourne; unitedplaces.com.au
CHECK IN.
140 delicious.com.au