TRAVEL A series of suites and condominiums are also available for A-list guests, families or couples seeking extra space. Let’s step outside to the lagoon while the sun is at its zenith. Here, we can get personal with the wait staff, who never miss a beat among the rhythm of rest. If you’re looking to splash out, food and beverages are available all day, delivered promptly to your daybed and charged to your room. Another cocktail, please. Between you and me, I can’t help but want to peer inside one of the private cabanas. The only of its kind in Australia, the Water Salon offers two full-day cabana packages with body products, food and sparkling wine. When the relaxation gets too much, guests can cacoon themselves in a world of white cloth. Reclining in the shade, I watch the splashand dive of some children whose parents sip drinks upon black wicker deckchairs. On days like today, leisure time caters as much to the most affluent sunbathers as it does for toddlers wrapped in Disney towels – a down-to-earth Gold Coast mix. Palazzo Versace is a place of big decisions. While I’m tossing up whether to face north or south for the next hour, I can only imagine the difficulty for guests of the waterfront condominiums. Should they swim in the lagoon or the private plunge pool just metres away? It’s almost too much. Meanwhile, in the Imperial Suite above the lagoon, where rock bands U2 and the Rolling Stones have stayed, guests are deciding whether to dine in one of the hotel’s three restaurants or to stay in their robes and have their butler prepare dinner in-suite. As the tangerine and steel blue sky melts over the mountains, swirling a glass of French Rosé, I applaud my decision to dine at Vie Restaurant & Bar. Bearing one Wine Glass from the Wine List of the Year Awards and led by acclaimed Chef de Cuisine, David Pommier, Vie is one of the most refined restaurants in the city. In its open-air design, white linen settings and salt swept position on the exclusive Marina Mirage, Vie rejuvenates classical dining with a relaxed local edge, spotlighting Australian produce with worldly flavours honed by the French-trained Pommier. It all begins with the Tasmanian salmon and horseradish terrine, a sort of gravlax 2.0, served with green tea noodles. Beautified with seaweed and microherbs, the salmon falls apart into fine, oily segments, which sing in salted harmony with the piquant horseradish crème. Simple, yet divine. To be served the chef’s homemade sand crab lasagne is to meet the subject of local legend. Made with layers of pasta, crab and aromatic sauce, it rests under a handful of delicately deep fried crab legs, which add a moreish textural quality. Its savour lies in the way Pommier treats – or doesn’t treat – the crab, which retains a natural saltiness throughout. If its location was any reason for Vie to be a little haughty, there is no such indication in the wait staff, who are sharp, proficient and willing to stop and connect with diners. This attitude extends from the kitchen, too, as a chef begins personally explaining the dishes to a nearby table of diners. After resurfacing from the dream that was a spiced raspberry soufflé, served with warm dolce chocolate ganache, blueberries and mint, and a glass of pinot noir recommended by the sommelier, I’m left contemplating the veneer of pearl black water, flecked with the final glints of the sleepy sun. Content doesn’t begin to describe it. For guests seeking to dine inside the hotel, Il Barocco Restaurant is open for breakfast through to dinner for classic, informal buffet dining. Vanitas, which was named the world’s most fashionable restaurant by Harper’s Bazaar, serves high-end contemporary cuisine and degustation dining. If you’re looking to raise your pinkie, head straight to high tea at Le Jardin in the hotel’s lobby. Among four Couture High Tea packages, three of which come with a glass of sparkling wine or champagne, guests can wander through a culinary garden of opera cakes, finger sandwiches, tarts, scones and exotic hot and iced teas. The clinking of teaspoons and the whirr of the coffee machine are the only sounds entwining with the aural cascade of Gold Coast classical pianist, Cassidy Wilson. His music cartwheels through the lobby and as I melt into my chair, I’m seduced into a daydream once more. Palazzo Versace is renowned for its executive style, its award-winning cuisine, and its ability to turn every detail into fragments of an unforgettable memory. But it is perhaps the hotel’s ability to delight every guest – from celebrities to rock stars to children – that best justifies its praise. In a city that thrives on both ball gowns and beach towels, Palazzo Versace creates an experience that is luxurious, comfortable and ideal for the making big decisions: drink, swim or slip away. 80 Pindara Magazine 2015
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Six
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