Beyond the hotel's art deco façade is possibly the most theatrical hotel lobby in the world. Chairs by the Australian designer Marc Newson inhabit the floor, looking more like exhibits in a modern art museum than furniture in a hotel. The most striking elements are a 15 metre high pink-lit curtain hanging behind a cantilevered matte-black reception desk, and a dramatic staircase leading skywards to luxury. The receptionists checked us in swiftly and we were soon in hotel heaven.
The Prince is on the corner of Fitzroy and Acland streets in Melbourne's funky oceanfront suburb of St Kilda. Trams still run through St Kilda and the parks are dotted with palm trees. They lead down to a wide promenade beyond which lies the Southern Ocean. The main street around the corner is lined with restaurants and bistros offering food from every corner of the world but stay loyal to The Prince and eat at Circa and Il Fornaio.
Some design hotels have staff who tend to be a little aloof, as if it is part of the "black and brooding" image they believe guests want and expect. The Prince has a touch of this but the Aussie charm comes through and prevents employees stepping over the line between cool and rude.
The rooms are the antithesis of the after-dark lobby. They are full of natural light and snow-white linens. Bathrooms sport a bamboo ladder which acts as a towel rack, and a collection of Aesop shower gels, shampoos and lotions. The bed in my room was on a raised level, as if sleep was something to be revered and celebrated and not merely a function that we have to perform.
Why is Melbourne better than Sydney? The official answer can last 24 hours but I got the potted version: "Melbourne has The Prince". He also explained the tram system, where to buy tickets and how to avoid getting fined for riding for free, which apparently is a terribly un-Australian thing to do.
This is a hotel resembling an art gallery resembling a nightclub. You are not sure if you are going to wander back through the lobby in the evening and find it full of art critics waiting for the latest video instillation to begin, or whether you have gone back in time to Studio 54 in New York circa 1981, and in a corridor you could meet KC and the Sunshine Band in psychedelic stage outfits.
The design aesthetic: the bamboo towel racks, funky furniture and the lobby's pink curtain. It is one of the few hotels in the world where merely staying in your room or wandering the corridors and sitting in the chairs is fun. It is a good example of the hotel being as much the destination as the city. Also loved the Aurora Spa and the delicious and immaculately served supper at the in-house restaurant Circa.
The temptation cruelly laid in my path by the hotel's neighbouring gourmet bakery, Il Fornaio, where cake- making is an art and calorie intake is unavoidable. If you see tousle-haired and sleepy-eyed people in there ordering almond croissants and double espressos there's a very good chance they are guests at The Prince whose partners have begged them to nip out and get breakfast.
Achingly hip. Perfect for anyone who works in the creative arts or who is an insurance salesperson but would like to pretend they work in the creative arts. Above all it's fun. It's different. It breaks some hotel rules. It's theatrical and dramatic and superbly designed and decorated.
The Prince, 2 Acland Street, St Kilda, Victoria 3182, Australia, +61 3 9536 1111. Doubles start from Dh600. @email:www.theprince.com.au