TRIED & TESTED_HOTELS
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From beneath the leather skirting on my Art Series signature bed there’s a discreet cardboard sign:
‘Yes, we clean here too’ the notecard reads. It’s one of many playful elements that greets guests at the new Brisbane boutique hotel, The Fantauzzo.
Created in collaboration with acclaimed Australian portraiture artist Vincent Fantauzzo, The Fantauzzo
Hotel, an Art Series Hotel, offers a chic, art-filled accommodation option in Brisbane’s hot new Howard Smith Wharves precinct – located beneath the Story Bridge on the Brisbane River, a 10-minute stroll from the CBD.
Arriving at the 166-room The Fantauzzo feels like a bit of a rock-star experience in itself. Earth-toned panels line the external walls of the building while signage of the hotel name glimmers from the roof, catching the light of the
Brisbane afternoon sun. Music is playing at the entrance on an external sound system as we pass parked white Fiats and Lekker bikes outside the lobby – both available for guest hire. Locals glide past on bicycles and electric Lime scooters.
A glass, automated sliding door opens to reveal a blackhued lobby with originals of Fantauzzo’s most arresting and well-known artworks, including his 2012 portrait of wife, actress Asher Keddie; and the 2014 self-portrait All That’s Good in Me (self-portrait as son Luca) with his four-year-old boy Luca dressed in a Superman costume. His enveloping, deep brown eyes pierce through the canvas. Guests can take complimentary daily art tours with an ‘Art Advocate’.
Hotel rooms overlook either the textural rear cliff beneath the bridge, or the river and wharves district. A sleek, moody and minimalist design scheme reigns, with splashes of colour popping from a green velvet settee and a print of the Asher Keddie portrait above my bed. More quirks include a mini bar that stocks an Art Series ‘Recovery Pack’ (with Panadol, electrolytes, spritzers etc.); a bottled Negroni cocktail; and, should the mood strike, an Art Series blank canvas with paints (items not necessarily used in that order).
After a workout in the hotel’s gym, I relax at the hotel’s level three pool and bar. The modest-sized pool has a superb outlook over the pylons of the Story Bridge and all the action swirling below at the wharf.
Rates start from $309 per room, per night.