Treasury Hotel
Brisbane
Working gas lit street lamps still frame the entrances to this Edwardian Baroque building housing the Treasury Brisbane Hotel and inside, no two heritage guest rooms are the same. This is a legacy of the building’s history as the Land Administration building, which was built between 1901 and 1905 as a warren of government offices and the Queensland National Art Gallery which took up a wing on the third floor until 1930.
Guests who stay here are treated to not just the most central location in town but a hushed interior that is almost entirely preserved in its Edwardian splendour from the early Queensland timbers such as black bean, cedar, maple and silky oak, allegorical stained glass, lofty ornamental plaster ceilings, grand staircases and wrought iron balconies on rooms overlooking the interior courtyard.
The best rooms to nab, if available, are the enormous west-facing suites on the fourth floor, which overlook the historic Queen’s Park below from their roomy colonnaded balconies. Meantime, keen casino goers can elect to stay in the rooms within the Casino building opposite.
Amenities within include a fully-equipped gymnasium, restaurants and the richly atmospheric Ryan’s on the Park bar.
Valet parking is available at the adjacent underground station for a fee.
A 5-minute stroll away is the Cultural Centre with the theatres of QPAC, the museum and art galleries including GOMA as well as South Bank, the main shopping hubs of the city, and the George Street collection of heritage buildings.