Latest news with #VenetianGothic
Tatler Asia
26-05-2025
- Tatler Asia
Regal stays: 8 historic hotels with aristocratic and royal connections
2. The Gritti Palace (Venice, Italy) Set on the Grand Canal, The Gritti Palace is a triumph of Venetian Gothic architecture and heritage. Originally built in the 14th century, the palazzo became the private residence of Andrea Gritti, the Doge of the Venetian Republic, in 1525. Later transformed into a luxury hotel in 1895, it now belongs to Marriott's Luxury Collection, with interiors restored by Rubelli. Ernest Hemingway once called it his Venetian home. John Ruskin, Winston Churchill and Grace Kelly were also frequent guests. The hotel now offers 82 rooms, including the Hemingway Suite and the Redentore Terrazza, with panoramic views of Venice. When dining at The Gritti Terrace or sipping cocktails at Bar Longhi, guests are enveloped in the city's cultural past. 3. Château de Bagnols (Beaujolais, France) Dating back to 1217, Château de Bagnols is a medieval fortress turned Renaissance château in the heart of wine country. Royalty has walked its halls—King Charles VIII visited in 1490, and his crown still adorns the guardroom fireplace. Later residents included Madame de Sévigné, who wrote of the château in her letters. Restored in the late 1980s and now a five-star hotel, its suites feature original frescoes, antique furniture and period tapestries. Surrounded by vineyards and formal gardens, guests can enjoy tastings in its ancient caves or dine at Michelin-starred Le 1217. 4. The Ritz (London, UK) Designed in the French château style by Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis, its Louis XVI interiors and gilded flourishes have hosted royalty since 1906. Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her 80th birthday here, and King Charles III renewed its Royal Warrant in 2024. Afternoon tea at The Palm Court is a London institution, while The Ritz Restaurant and the Rivoli Bar remain essential experiences. With individually styled suites and views over Green Park, The Ritz continues to attract London high society. 5. Villa d'Este (Lake Como, Italy) Built in 1568 for Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio, Villa d'Este has hosted everyone from the Princess of Wales (Caroline of Brunswick) to Czarina Maria Feodorovna. Converted into a hotel in 1873, its 152 rooms and suites blend Renaissance charm with 21st-century comfort. The 25-acre gardens—named a national monument—include mosaic grottos, a nymphaeum, and the iconic floating pool on the lake. Guests such as Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor, Alfred Hitchcock and George Clooney have all stayed, lured by its baroque beauty and Como's timeless allure. In case you missed it: Lamborghini Asterion LPI 910-4 makes a rare appearance at Grand Hotel Villa d'Este and Villa Erba, Italy 6. Rambagh Palace (Jaipur, India) Once a garden retreat for a royal nurse in 1835, Rambagh Palace became the residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur by 1931. Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and Maharani Gayatri Devi transformed it into Rajasthan's most opulent royal address. Queen Elizabeth II stayed here during her 1961 India tour, as did Jacqueline Kennedy and King Charles III. The palace, now managed by the Taj Group, is known for its Indo-Saracenic architecture, Mughal gardens and heritage dining at Suvarna Mahal. Polo Bar and Steam—a cocktail bar set in a Victorian train station—lend period charm. 7. Hotel Imperial (Vienna, Austria) Originally the Palais Württemberg, Hotel Imperial was built in 1863 and transformed into a hotel for the 1873 Vienna World's Fair. A masterpiece of Neo-Renaissance architecture, it became the go-to address for Emperor Franz Joseph I, who used it for diplomatic meetings and royal audiences. Guests have included Queen Elizabeth II, Richard Wagner, Charlie Chaplin, Alfred Hitchcock and Freud. With 138 rooms and suites decorated with silk walls and antique furnishings, the hotel continues its tradition of imperial elegance. Café Imperial and its namesake torte remain an iconic Viennese indulgence. 8. Ashford Castle (County Mayo, Ireland) Ashford Castle traces its roots to 1228, with the Guinness family later transforming it into a Victorian country retreat. The Prince of Wales (later King George V) visited in 1905, and the George V Dining Room still honours his stay. Now part of the Red Carnation Hotel Collection, Ashford offers 83 individually styled rooms, including staterooms in the oldest parts of the castle. The 350-acre estate features formal gardens, falconry, and lakeside views of Lough Corrib. Grace Kelly, John Wayne, Ronald Reagan and Pierce Brosnan have all visited, drawn by its Celtic romance and grandeur.
The Age
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
This restaurant will write a menu to suit your whims. But how does that work in practice?
This gorgeous city venue promises each diner a bespoke menu, a bit like having a private chef. But with food this good, Dani Valent questions the need for such a gimmick. Previous SlideNext Slide What do you feel like for dinner? Three years after opening, this elegant city restaurant has reshaped its nighttime offering to meet your whims. Tell your waiter your deepest dining fantasies and they'll prepare a $99 set-price meal to suit. Maybe you're feeling extra-carnivorous. Perhaps you want to be surprised. Or, possibly, you feel as I did: 'Lots of vegetables, maybe seafood, I love pickles.' Freyja is in the Olderfleet Building, an 1890 beauty in the Venetian Gothic style with striking, pointed arches. As you enter, the open kitchen with woodfire is to the left and the dining room is to the right with tones in dark green, leather and exposed brick, and artwork that my notes describe as 'scary'. Please drink enough water that you need to visit the toilet in the new build at rear: the soaring atrium is heart-stopping. 'The food feels relaxed and generous. It's more 'My god, that's good' than 'Ooh, how clever!'' Chef Jae Bang is Korean, but when Freyja opened, he'd just spent three years leading Re-Naa in Norway, which earned its second Michelin star on his watch, and the Melbourne venue leaned into Norse mythology and cuisine. The goddess Freyja is associated with beauty, love and magic; the food was precise, using preserving techniques to layer flavour. Bang also brought influences from his stints in junior roles at game-changing Spanish restaurants El Bulli and Arzak, plus time in New York under fine-dining master Daniel Boulud. From the beginning, you could tell he was accomplished and thoughtful. Over time, Nordic notions have eased and the food feels relaxed and generous. It's more 'My god, that's good' than 'Ooh, how clever!' Oysters are dotted with a green oil that turns out to be lovage kombucha. Kohlrabi is pickled and served with goat curd, fermented blackcurrant and kelp powder. Beef tartare uses green strawberries for tart acid (instead of, say, cornichons). The Ramarro farm salad name-checks a producer in the Dandenong Ranges: Freyja takes what's growing and turns it into a micro-seasonal expression. Skate – a flat fish that comes away in long strands – is in a light broth with unripe blueberries that have been salted as though they were capers. They're cool, clean, juicy and one of many examples of marginal produce elevated through creativity and preservation. Cauliflower cheese is my favourite comfort meal. Freyja's version is the one I'd eat if a genie gave me a wish: it's a crazy-fun jumble of miso, butter, hazelnut and toasty roasted veg. Dessert is a joyful plaiting of the seasons: macadamia ice-cream, fig leaf oil, plum syrup, white chocolate and puffed grains are a melange of sour, sweet, creamy and caramelised. Freyja is owned by Florence Guild, a collective that includes WorkClub, a mostly Sydney-based, high-end, co-working company with speaker events and activities, including calligraphy and dream mapping. The company runs a few cafes and a bar, but Freyja is its only restaurant. The service here is keen and polished: our waiter chooses a great wine and does a lovely job of steering us through the choose-your-own-adventure concept which, let's be honest, is a stretch. After all, isn't a menu already a way to tell the kitchen what you feel like eating? The bespoke promise doesn't exactly play out, either. Nearby tables have many of the same dishes and they're also available at lunch, which is still a la carte. Having said that, everything is so delicious I don't care how it gets in front of me. Freyja was good from the get-go, but there was a slightly strained feeling. Now it has grown into one of the city's leading restaurants.
Sydney Morning Herald
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
If you love cauliflower cheese, don't miss this ‘crazy-fun' version, Melbourne
Freyja was good from the get-go, but it has relaxed and grown into one of the city's leading restaurants. Previous SlideNext Slide What do you feel like for dinner? Three years after opening, this elegant city restaurant has reshaped its nighttime offering to meet your whims. Tell your waiter your deepest dining fantasies and they'll prepare a $99 set-price meal to suit. Maybe you're feeling extra-carnivorous. Perhaps you want to be surprised. Or, possibly, you feel as I did: 'Lots of vegetables, maybe seafood, I love pickles.' Freyja is in the Olderfleet Building, an 1890 beauty in the Venetian Gothic style with striking, pointed arches. As you enter, the open kitchen with woodfire is to the left and the dining room is to the right with tones in dark green, leather and exposed brick, and artwork that my notes describe as 'scary'. Please drink enough water that you need to visit the toilet in the new build at rear: the soaring atrium is heart-stopping. 'The food feels relaxed and generous. It's more 'My god, that's good' than 'Ooh, how clever!'' Chef Jae Bang is Korean, but when Freyja opened, he'd just spent three years leading Re-Naa in Norway, which earned its second Michelin star on his watch, and the Melbourne venue leaned into Norse mythology and cuisine. The goddess Freyja is associated with beauty, love and magic; the food was precise, using preserving techniques to layer flavour. Bang also brought influences from his stints in junior roles at game-changing Spanish restaurants El Bulli and Arzak, plus time in New York under fine-dining master Daniel Boulud. From the beginning, you could tell he was accomplished and thoughtful. Over time, Nordic notions have eased and the food feels relaxed and generous. It's more 'My god, that's good' than 'Ooh, how clever!' Oysters are dotted with a green oil that turns out to be lovage kombucha. Kohlrabi is pickled and served with goat curd, fermented blackcurrant and kelp powder. Beef tartare uses green strawberries for tart acid (instead of, say, cornichons). The Ramarro farm salad name-checks a producer in the Dandenong Ranges: Freyja takes what's growing and turns it into a micro-seasonal expression. Skate – a flat fish that comes away in long strands – is in a light broth with unripe blueberries that have been salted as though they were capers. They're cool, clean, juicy and one of many examples of marginal produce elevated through creativity and preservation. Cauliflower cheese is my favourite comfort meal. Freyja's version is the one I'd eat if a genie gave me a wish: it's a crazy-fun jumble of miso, butter, hazelnut and toasty roasted veg. Dessert is a joyful plaiting of the seasons: macadamia ice-cream, fig leaf oil, plum syrup, white chocolate and puffed grains are a melange of sour, sweet, creamy and caramelised. Freyja is owned by Florence Guild, a collective that includes WorkClub, a mostly Sydney-based, high-end, co-working company with speaker events and activities, including calligraphy and dream mapping. The company runs a few cafes and a bar, but Freyja is its only restaurant. The service here is keen and polished: our waiter chooses a great wine and does a lovely job of steering us through the choose-your-own-adventure concept which, let's be honest, is a stretch. After all, isn't a menu already a way to tell the kitchen what you feel like eating? The bespoke promise doesn't exactly play out, either. Nearby tables have many of the same dishes and they're also available at lunch, which is still a la carte. Having said that, everything is so delicious I don't care how it gets in front of me. Freyja was good from the get-go, but there was a slightly strained feeling. Now it has grown into one of the city's leading restaurants.
The Age
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
If you love cauliflower cheese, don't miss this ‘crazy-fun' version, Melbourne
Freyja was good from the get-go, but it has relaxed and grown into one of the city's leading restaurants. Previous SlideNext Slide What do you feel like for dinner? Three years after opening, this elegant city restaurant has reshaped its nighttime offering to meet your whims. Tell your waiter your deepest dining fantasies and they'll prepare a $99 set-price meal to suit. Maybe you're feeling extra-carnivorous. Perhaps you want to be surprised. Or, possibly, you feel as I did: 'Lots of vegetables, maybe seafood, I love pickles.' Freyja is in the Olderfleet Building, an 1890 beauty in the Venetian Gothic style with striking, pointed arches. As you enter, the open kitchen with woodfire is to the left and the dining room is to the right with tones in dark green, leather and exposed brick, and artwork that my notes describe as 'scary'. Please drink enough water that you need to visit the toilet in the new build at rear: the soaring atrium is heart-stopping. 'The food feels relaxed and generous. It's more 'My god, that's good' than 'Ooh, how clever!'' Chef Jae Bang is Korean, but when Freyja opened, he'd just spent three years leading Re-Naa in Norway, which earned its second Michelin star on his watch, and the Melbourne venue leaned into Norse mythology and cuisine. The goddess Freyja is associated with beauty, love and magic; the food was precise, using preserving techniques to layer flavour. Bang also brought influences from his stints in junior roles at game-changing Spanish restaurants El Bulli and Arzak, plus time in New York under fine-dining master Daniel Boulud. From the beginning, you could tell he was accomplished and thoughtful. Over time, Nordic notions have eased and the food feels relaxed and generous. It's more 'My god, that's good' than 'Ooh, how clever!' Oysters are dotted with a green oil that turns out to be lovage kombucha. Kohlrabi is pickled and served with goat curd, fermented blackcurrant and kelp powder. Beef tartare uses green strawberries for tart acid (instead of, say, cornichons). The Ramarro farm salad name-checks a producer in the Dandenong Ranges: Freyja takes what's growing and turns it into a micro-seasonal expression. Skate – a flat fish that comes away in long strands – is in a light broth with unripe blueberries that have been salted as though they were capers. They're cool, clean, juicy and one of many examples of marginal produce elevated through creativity and preservation. Cauliflower cheese is my favourite comfort meal. Freyja's version is the one I'd eat if a genie gave me a wish: it's a crazy-fun jumble of miso, butter, hazelnut and toasty roasted veg. Dessert is a joyful plaiting of the seasons: macadamia ice-cream, fig leaf oil, plum syrup, white chocolate and puffed grains are a melange of sour, sweet, creamy and caramelised. Freyja is owned by Florence Guild, a collective that includes WorkClub, a mostly Sydney-based, high-end, co-working company with speaker events and activities, including calligraphy and dream mapping. The company runs a few cafes and a bar, but Freyja is its only restaurant. The service here is keen and polished: our waiter chooses a great wine and does a lovely job of steering us through the choose-your-own-adventure concept which, let's be honest, is a stretch. After all, isn't a menu already a way to tell the kitchen what you feel like eating? The bespoke promise doesn't exactly play out, either. Nearby tables have many of the same dishes and they're also available at lunch, which is still a la carte. Having said that, everything is so delicious I don't care how it gets in front of me. Freyja was good from the get-go, but there was a slightly strained feeling. Now it has grown into one of the city's leading restaurants.
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Chicago Athletic Association Hotel Has A Gilded Age Past
Chicago Athletic Association on Michigan Avenue. Chicago. Some hotels have a clubby feel, and some were once actual clubs. The Chicago Athletic Association Hotel easily fits both of those definitions. The stately Venetian Gothic tower commands a prime location on Michigan Avenue, across the street from the shiny bean sculpture known as Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, and the Pritzker Music Pavilion. Down the street is the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Symphony. As you look straight out onto shimmering Lake Michigan, it's hard to imagine a better Chicago location or a more storied hotel in the city. The Drawing Room at Chicago Athletic Association When you walk through this hotel, which is now part of Hyatt, it's a bit like time travel. There are terrazzo marble floors, 19th-century stained glass windows, and vintage marble. The spectacular Drawing Room, which is a second-floor lobby and sanctuary looking out on the lake, feels like the ornate library of a gentleman's club, with wooden columns, fireplaces, work tables, and reading nooks. It may be vintage, but it's more playful than stuffy, with the homey, club-like feel you'd expect in such a building. As I discovered, the enormous room is a great place for a morning coffee or a cocktail after a day out in the Windy City. It's also the antithesis of most hotel lobbies, which are rarely laid-back places to linger. Designed by architect Henry Ives Cobb in 1893 for the Chicago Athletic Association (CAA) as a private men's club, it was built to coincide with the opening of the World's Columbian Exposition, the legendary 'White City.' From the start, the CAA was all about power and privilege. Members included the city's wealthiest and most successful businessmen, such as William Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, who appropriated the club's logo for that team. There was also Olympic gold medal swimming champion Johnny Weissmuller, who would go on to play Tarzan in the movies. Marshall Field, owner of Chicago's famed department store, was also a member, as was architect Daniel Burnham, who designed the World's Columbian Exposition. Chicago Athletic Association The club featured an indoor basketball court, running track, dedicated boxing ring, and swimming pool. There were bars and restaurants and, during Prohibition, speakeasys, along with a roster of entertainers as diverse as bluesman Muddy Waters and the great jazz artist Duke Ellington. Yet over time, the membership dwindled, and the club finally closed in 2007. What saved it was the billionaire Pritzker family, owners of the Hyatt Hotels chain, who embarked on a massive restoration and reimagining under Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture and Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors. Founders Suite at Chicago Athletic Association It reopened as a hotel in 2015 and now has 241 guestrooms and suites that are respectful and redolent of the original club rooms. They've been playfully done with conceits like a pommel horse at the end of some beds, table legs wrapped up like vintage tennis racquets, and even wooden climbing racks on the wall. The bathrooms are updated but have vintage-looking cream and white tiles. Modern versions of brass beds and Faribault Woolen Mill Co. custom blankets set the tone. This was one of the first buildings in Chicago to have electricity, and today, they have a contemporary version of Edison lightbulbs throughout the hotel for authenticity. The rooms are comfortable and quiet and high-ceilinged. Pony up for Junior Suite with a lake view, and you'll get a 550 square foot room with spectacular views and a spacious bathroom. The old boxing ring is now the Game Room, where you'll find billiard tables, a bocce ball court, and shuffleboard. The fourth-floor basketball court is still there, where you can shoot hoops, rent roller skates for a spin around the large court, or run on the track suspended above the court. Where there were once Turkish Baths on the ground floor is now a Shake Shack. The swimming pool, nicknamed The Tank, is gone, though the decorative tiles remain. Elevators are paneled in wood from the former fencing court. I'm generally not inclined to get excited about ballrooms, but The White City Ballroom is an exception. Overlooking the lake, it was restored by a team of artisan plasterers who recreated the original ceiling from photographs. That ceiling has 160 ornate stalactites, which look like nothing so much as upside-down meringues. The bas-relief carvings on the fireplaces are extraordinary. Cindy's at Chicago Athletic Association The hotel's restaurants (except Shake Shack) have recently come under the management of the Boka Restaurant Group. They include the Cherry Circle Room, the Drawing Room, the Milk Room, and Cindy's Rooftop. The latter is a light-filled aerie with staggering views over the lake and decorated in bright colors, making it the most feminine space in a hotel that otherwise feels very masculine. It's named for Cindy Pritzker, the late matriarch of the Pritzker family, and a portrait of her by Andy Warhol hangs in the restaurant. It also serves food that is among the best in downtown Chicago. You no longer need to be a club member to get into the Chicago Athletic Association, whose slogan is now 'All Are Welcome.' Chances are that you will feel very welcome, thanks to a staff who seem to go out of their way to make you feel at home. Details at the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel.
