OVOLO INCHCOLM
Fresh from a $4 million facelift, the renamed and updated Ovolo Inchcolm (formerly The New Inchcolm Hotel) blends Art Deco and Pop Art in an appealingly vibrant new look. The 50 rooms and lofts retain their smart, eclectic décor but now come with Ovolo treats such as free minibars, lolly bags and 21st-century technology. Regular visitors to this former doctor’s residence, opened as a hotel in 1995, will notice big changes in public areas, with a quirky reception desk styled as a curiosity cabinet and darkened corridors hung with Warhol-esque prints of pop stars (a penchant of Ovolo owner Girish Jhunjhnuwala). Room configurations vary but even the smallest are well appointed with queen beds, smart TVs, coffee machines and iPad minis. 73 Wickham Tce, Brisbane, (07) 3226 8888, ovolohotels.com.au The Inchcolm’s glass-walled lift, a century-old WaygoodOtis, spirits guests between floors with electric efficiency.
Ask a staff member to guide you through the hotel’s bold contemporary art collection. Don’t miss Enrique Rottenberg’s 12 Chairs and Rui Pinho’s celebrity pastiches. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are taken at marble-topped tables in the new in-house restaurant, Salon de Co. Breakfast covers all the main bases, from house-made crumpets with salmon and cucumber to chia pudding with banana and toasted coconut. Lunch and dinner are share plates teaming eggplant, tofu and yuzu, for example, or lamb, eel and potato.
An Ovolo innovation worth catching is the nightly happy hour, with cocktails, wines and beers on the house (if you book online) in the convivial bar. Ovolo minibars are (a) free, and (b) stocked with beer, wine and soft drinks, and a bag of sweet and savoury snacks.