Latest news with #LaurenDinse
Time Out
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This boutique Melbourne hotel was just honoured with a major style and design award
Hands up if the name La Liste rings a bell? You may recognise it as the Paris-based restaurant ranking guide that unveils an annual list of its top 1,000 restaurants – last year, it crowned Melbourne's very own fine diner Vue de Monde as the best restaurant in Australia (and fifth in the whole world). Now La Liste is back with a hotly anticipated 2025 guide to the most outstanding hotels around the globe. And you may be surprised to hear that a new boutique accommodation in Fitzroy has been awarded a very special accolade. The StandardX – an uber-cool, industrial-style venue that we reviewed in November 2024 – is among just five hotels to receive the prestigious Style and Design Award. These are hotels that have been either "launched or refurbished with outstanding design". La Liste called the StandardX "arty, bold and unfiltered", and it shared the honour with Maison Heler Metz in France, ÖÖD Hekla Horizon in Iceland, Reschio Hotel in Italy and Ulaman Eco Luxury Resort in Indonesia. The hotel only opened in August 2024, and is the first StandardX iteration from famed hotel chain the Standard. Described as "the rebellious younger sibling", it boasts 125 rooms over eight floors, as well as an all-day Thai street food-inspired restaurant called Bang, a rooftop bar with panoramic city views and a retail offering. Led by Melbourne-based interior design firm Hecker Guthrie, the styling elements blend the grittiness of Fitzroy with modern comforts – think rustic finishes, plenty of greenery, caramel leather couches and an epic red revolving front door. "It's bougie, for sure, but still artsy enough to feel like it belongs to the northside," says Time Out Melbourne's food and drink writer, Lauren Dinse. "The designers have taken inspiration from Fitzroy's post-punk 'Little Band' scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s, paying homage to its music venues, street art and café culture – historic pulse points of this vibrant 'hood." The full list of 1,000 hotels included properties from Paris, London and Bangkok. This year, the ten spots to share the top gong with a near-perfect score of 99.5 include: La Réserve Paris, France The Connaught and The Savoy, England Il San Pietro di Positano, Italy Cheval Blanc Paris, France J.K. Place Capri, Italy Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Thailand The Peninsula Shanghai, China The Peninsula Chicago, USA Rosewood Mayakoba, Mexico To find out more, read the full list here. Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out Melbourne newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.
Time Out
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Fancy Hank's
May 2025 update: Yes, the rumours are true! One of Melbourne's OG American BBQ faves is celebrating International Briskey Day this Wednesday May 28 with free brisket sangas all day long, from noon until sold out. The signature 12-hour smoked 'Wanderer' brisket comes piled high on a classically American and ultra-soft Martin's potato roll. Plus, with each free brisket sandwich you get a complimentary drink voucher redeemable at sister venue Springrock next door. What a hump-day deal! - Lauren Dinse Read on for our original listing from Fred Siggins in December 2016. ***** While neon signs and posters advertising blues concerts long past used to line the wood-panelled walls in Fancy Hank's Queen Victoria Market location, its Melbourne CBD home is more polished. Taking over the former Tuscan Bar location, Fancy Hank's is more a restaurant than a smokehouse pub, with leather-lined seats and tables facing out to Grossi Florentino's glowing red neon signage. Most people will be here for the excellent barbecue. The smoky beef brisket is as great as ever, as is the pulled pork shoulder and whole rack of pork ribs. Try the crisp-skinned buttermilk brined chicken if you need a break from the red meat. The sides are plenty here, so go big on the potato salad, mac and cheese, and Kentucky-style coleslaw. There's also the option on a smoked vegetarian option for the non-meat eaters. The other drawcard here is the rooftop bar above the restaurant, Good Heavens, which will be pouring cocktails throughout summer. With blues on the stereo and finger-lickin' 'cue, Fancy Hank's is your ticket on a slow train to Georgia.
Time Out
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
These two stunning NSW stays made the world's 100 best new hotels list
It's been a huge 12 months or so for Australia's hotel scene, with shiny new stays from the east coast to the west welcoming guests. And the expert wanderers at Travel + Leisure have been busy scoping out the world's best new and renovated properties for their hotly anticipated 100 Best New Hotels of the Year list. From luxe city breaks to lower-budget properties, their round-up covers all styles and price points – and we're pleased to see that three excellent Australian hotels made the list, including two beauties right here in NSW. Let the daydreaming begin... We called it – we knew The Eve Hotel Sydney would be one of the hottest Sydney hotel openings in years, and it of course made the list. This stunning urban property is from the folks at TFE Hotels, and it opened in Sydney's new Wunderlich Village lifestyle precinct in February this year. The Eve seamlessly blends the glamour and grunge that Redfern is known for, and features 102 boutique rooms, a rooftop deck with a 20-metre pool, lush greenery and a European-style lobby bar. Guests there are also be within walking distance of some of Sydney's best new dining venues, including Olympus, a bustling Greek taverna, and Island Radio, a high-energy Southeast Asian eatery. We're itching to check in! But it was a hotel outside Sydney, up on the stunning Byron Bay coast, Basq House, that topped the list of best new hotels to open in Australia. I was lucky enough to stay here on my last trip to the boho beach town, and ended up naming it my favourite NSW stay of 2024. Designed to feel like a home away from home, the free-flowing property features plenty of communal spaces, including an eclectic lounge filled with board games, books, a bar, a fireplace, and a centrepiece magnesium pool inspired by the type you might find in a Moroccan riad. During my stay, I spent hours 'basqing' in the sun on comfy loungers by the pool, making the most of complimentary snacks from the self-service bar, and sinking into the plush bed in my light-filled room. Take me back! Completing the line-up of Australian hotels on the best new openings list is the effortlessly cool Melbourne Place. There's a lot to love about this 16-storey brick hotel – its artfully warm design, locally made contemporary artworks, signature woody black tea fragrance, Mediterranean-leaning rooftop bar, and 192 spacious rooms with complimentary mini bars. Our Time Out Melbourne Food Editor, Lauren Dinse, particularly loved Melbourne Place's circular windows and mirrors, calling them 'sunlit portals to the surrounding city life.' Sounds pretty dreamy to us!
