Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/52531
Grand Hotel Melbourne Mgallery Collection, Melbourne, VIC Not many hotels can claim hallways wide enough to allow Cobb & Co horse-drawn carriages to pass through, but this historic, central hotel can. Housed in heritage-listed former railway administration offices, this boutique hotel with its imposing central staircase is where, as Minister for Transport, the late Sir Robert Menzies had his office for two parliamentary terms. The site started out as the fledgling Port Phillip colony's first racetrack, then became the personal home of the founder of Melbourne, John Batman, and boasted an orchard of some 1000 fruit trees. The railway offices were originally built to cater for 500 railway staff, and today's guests are accommodated in 97 spacious apartments, most built over two-levels with a comfortable lounge area and workable kitchen downstairs, a bedroom and bathroom upstairs. A hidden garden is a welcome and secluded oasis at the rear, and there is an in-house restaurant and bar. www.mgallery.com Admiral Hotel Copenhagen This 366-room hotel is housed in an historic 1787 grain-drying warehouse on the city's waterfront, which was the heart of this former bustling port in the days of the gracious 'tall ships'. Built using the finest materials available, its impressive exposed joists were made from Pomeranian pine from the great forests of what today is northern Germany and Poland. The hotel comprises two old warehouses, which once held 30,000 barrels of grain with a grain-drying oven – now the hotel's lounge. Had it been a hotel in 1801, guests in sea- facing rooms would have witnessed Admiral Lord Nelson launch the famous "Battle of Copenhagen". Today, the décor and design complement the rustic nature of the building with teak furniture, panels of ship's gratings and prints of old engravings depicting the era. Beautifully lit at night, the hotel is the perfect background for the authentic old schooners and sleek modern yachts that moor in front. www.admiralhotel.dk 70 www.travelandliving.com.au