VALLEY HIGH
The opening of the stunning Calile hotel continues the remarkable transformation of Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. By Mark Sariban.
The opening of the stunning Calile hotel continues the remarkable transformation of Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
Many years ago, I visited the studio of a photographer in what was then a light industrial zone in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley to discuss a magazine commission. The photographer’s warehouse studio was on Doggett Street, only a five-minute drive out of the city centre, but on that bright Saturday morning there wasn’t another soul to be seen, and nowhere to get a coffee or something to eat. The world could have ended and you wouldn’t know it until you’d left Doggett Street and driven back towards Fortitude Valley’s Brunswick Street Mall and the bustling weekend market that at the time featured a stall for Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton’s fledgling Sass & Bide label.
Fast-forward to now and the precinct is buzzing with cafes, boutiques and galleries radiating down from James Street Market, the pioneering retail venture by the Malouf family real estate business that kick-started the emergence of this fashionable enclave. The biggest buzz, however, is being generated by the Calile Hotel, on the corner of James and Doggett streets.
Another considered development by the Maloufs, the Calile opened its doors late last year to widespread acclaim. The hotel is billed as an ‘urban resort’, and it’s easy to see why when you discover the handsome elevated central pool and surrounding deck
taking full advantage of Brisbane’s subtropical climate. A phalanx of cabanas and sun lounges faces the pool, as do the outdoor dining tables of Hellenika, the second modern Greek restaurant by famed Gold Coast restaurateur Simon Gloftis, named after the original Hellenika at Nobbys Beach. Here you can dine on certified sustainable market fish or graze on mezedes such as the signature zucchini chips and veal dolmades served by staff decked out in chic Bassike linens, while Hellenika’s poolside menu includes such temptations as the Ari Onassis, a Tanqueray ginbased cocktail with ouzo, elderflower liqueur, lemon and cucumber, and a rosemary-infused gin and tonic.
In the bright and breezy design by architects Richard & Spence, open spaces are flooded with light, while stylised breeze blocks (or Besser blocks, to those who grew up in the Sunshine State) are used to allow cooling air flow in the cabanas and hallways.
There are 175 rooms over seven levels; the smaller rooms have Juliet balconies, while the other room categories have generous curving balconies complete with chairs and a table for taking in the city or pool views and the often balmy night air. There are also two suites – named after Calile and Ada Malouf, respectively the founding patriarch and matriarch of the Malouf family empire – with private rooftop terraces that cleverly frame the Brisbane skyline while offering discreet spaces to entertain.
The Calile was the fourth James Street development for Richard & Spence, allowing the firm the luxury of a continuity of design with the tree-lined streetscape outside. “We looked to other hot-weather cities with a resort focus to inform our design … Miami, Palm Springs, Rio de Janeiro and Mexico City,” says Adrian Spence, co-director of Richards & Spence, of the inspiration for the project.
Instead of carpeted hallways, the corridors and lift lobbies are naturally ventilated and cooled with ceiling fans and planters, while the guest rooms forgo heavy fabrics and carpeting in favour of cork floors, sisal matting and furnishings in a colour scheme of blush-pink, almost sun-drenched tones.
For details, go to thecalilehotel.com.