In Melbourne‘s fashionable South Yarra, Lyall Hotel and Spa is a classy cocktail of sleek rooms, sensual day spa and chic bistro-cum-bar. It’s the go-to destination for a swathe of stars – Gwen Stefani and Paris Hilton included – as well as savvy magazine editors, who we’re sure adore the within-walking-distance designer label boutiques. Style [...]
If you’re planning your diary and looking for things to do in Melbourne, take a peek at the Malthouse Theatre’s sensational season opener, The Wild Duck. Running from 17 February to 17 March, this cutting-edge play has picked up a slew of awards, including three Helpmanns and four Sydney Theatre Awards (that’s serious stuff down [...]
Think you know your coffee? Tell us where to find the best coffee in Australia for your chance to win a copy of new book Coffee Trails by Toby Smith. Not only does this java master sport our favourite name, his cool cafés in Sydney and hip espresso bars in Melbourne make our mornings much [...]
Check out Smith’s style-savvy selection of Melbourne day trips, including our top five art galleries within easy reach of the city. Base yourself in a boutique hotel in Melbourne, then mission out to rural Victoria to slake your culture lust. Alluring architecture and design, gorgeous gardens, enticing vineyards and cool cafés await, as well as [...]
And they’re off! The Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival is underway, with all eyes on the major prize, the Melbourne Cup on 1 November. Saddle up for our guide to the big-ticket races and boldly bright fashions… THE FIXTURES They don’t call it the ‘race that stops a nation’ for nothing: on the first Tuesday in November, [...]
Sorry London lovelies, but as you dig around for your winter coat, down-under Smiths are getting set for a scorching summer in St Kilda, Melbourne. This seaside suburb beckons with a host of hot new places to eat, drink and play. Make a weekend of it and stay at St Kilda boutique hotel The Prince, [...]
For an indulgent minibreak, a Daylesford escape in Victoria’s Spa Country delivers the goods: fabulous food, stress-melting mineral springs and a host of boutique holiday houses. FEAST A brisk walk up Wombat Hill, through Daylesford’s blissful Botanic Gardens, brings you to Wombat Hill House (pictured above), the latest venture from Alla Wolf-Tasker of Lake House [...]
With the State of Design Festival currently serving up a stylish smorgasbord of events in Melbourne until 31 July, we’re celebrating the best design stores in town. Our top tip for a one-stop shop is fast-gentrifying Gertrude Street in inner-city north’s grunge-cool Fitzroy, the ideal stamping ground for local or visiting design fans alike. You’ll [...]
Bean there, done that? You haven’t earned your caffeinated stripes until you’ve toured Melbourne’s best cafés. Like Seattle and Milan, this is a city obsessed with sourcing the perfect cup of coffee, with baristas roasting, grinding, blending, brewing and pouring as if their beards depended on it (the Victorian gent-meets-outlaw-Ned Kelly look is big here [...]
Many of Australia‘s blockbuster art exhibitions kick off from June to October, when the southern winter makes cosy gallery-hopping an ideal date for culture-vultures. So why not time a stylish city break around one of this season’s best art shows? Segueing swiftly from sketch pads to crash pads, Smith (of course) has plenty of boutique [...]
