Located opposite the Royal Botanic Gardens in South Yarra, United Places Botanic Gardens is the latest hotel designed by renowned design firm, CARR, recently of Jackalope fame
Four years in the making, United Places Botanic Gardens is now open, introducing new, design-led luxury to Melbourne’s inner city.
Situated in the heart of South Yarra, the hotel’s modernist yet refined textured concrete façade overlooks 36-hectares of bucolic views thanks to its premium position overlooking the leafy parklands of Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens – and this is where the hotel’s appeal merely begins. The concept for the boutique hotel was derived from the idea of combining a hotel and home, not least because the hotel houses a mere 12 guest suites.
“‘United Places is a creative platform, built upon my very own experiences in design, travel and hospitality. I wanted to create a ‘home’ for the likeminded traveller seeking experiences that celebrate locality,” said property developer Darren Rubenstein who is the man behind United Places – his first hotel project.
To realise his vision for a new accommodation that felt more like home than a hotel, Rubenstein worked with some of Australia’s most esteemed creatives including celebrated design firm, CARR, commissioned for the hotel’s architecture and interiors, and who was also behind the design of award-winning Jackalope in Mornington Peninsula.
Melbourne creative studio, Projects of Imagination is responsible for the hotel’s branding, while award-winning Chef, Scott Pickett, has been selected to steer the culinary direction at the hotel’s ground floor restaurant, Matilda. Complimentary ‘curated breakfast’ will also be served in the restaurant.
Guests will experience a different type of arrival and check in process at United Places, entering the building via a discreet and alluring entrance, a corridor with a minimalist palette of dark metal screening. For those that have stayed at Jackalope, United Places’ moody and super-contemporary ambence will feel familiar.
Guests are then greeted by a team of butlers and taken directly to their rooms to be checked-in – overthrowing norms of cluttered reception desks and queues. “Butlers will be as present or discreet as the guest would like,” explains General Manager, Marcus Pelham, “ensuring their every need is catered to – from valet laundry service to private picnic set-up and everything in-between. Its all about a personal experience and personal space.”
Spanning three floors, there are nine one-bedroom suites and three two-bedroom suites that have large sunken bathtubs overlooking the city’s skyline. The suites themselves are spacious and palpably high-end, featuring rooms premium amenities and United Places’ personalised butler service. The aesthetic is “very Melbourne”, according to Chris McCue, Director of Architecture at CARR, and each suite has its own personality and an interesting use of space that adds to the theatre of the experience.