Elite Traveler January-February 2016

95 elite traveler JAN/FEB 2016

THE DETAILS Stay: At the Platinum Suite in The Lyall Hotel and Spa in leafy South Yarra. It comes with two bedrooms, a butler and valet parking around the clock. Owner Rowena Thomas is a natural-born hostess, so welcoming that I find it hard to tear myself away. This was also Novak Djokovic’s resting spot before the Australian Tennis Open in 2011. An excellent investment, as it turned out – he won. Eat: At Heston Blumenthal’s Dinner, his first permanent classic outside the UK. It is one of 100 restaurants to have opened in the city in the last year. Scott Pickett, Melbourne's chef of the year in 2014, works comparable magic with his new eight-course degustation menu at Estelle international visitors at the Royal Melbourne, $280, no carts, Mondays to Fridays; Kingston Heath, $245, carts $30, must be pre-booked and only with medical exemption certificate Mondays and Fridays only; Peninsula Kingswood, $95, carts $32. And after the golf? Melbourne would like the world to know it is ready to supplant Sydney as Australia's capital of style, so there is shopping aplenty. Afterwards head to St Jerome's hotel and take afternoon tea on the landscaped artificial grass. Fly: If you decide to leave your jet at home, Etihad’s The Residence service is the next best thing. The package includes limo collection from home, private airport entrance, plus your own Savoy-trained butler on hand throughout. Cabins come with a double bed and en suite bathroom, plus dinner is served on fine china at a proper table. Return flight from New York to Melbourne priced from $78,200 DIRECTORY Royal Melbourne Golf Club royalmelbourne.com.au Kingston Heath Golf Club kingstonheath.com.au Peninsula Kingswood Country Golf Club peninsulagolf.com.au The Lyall Hotel thelyall.com St Jerome's stjeromesthehotel.com.au Dinner dinnerbyheston.com.au Estelle by Scott Pickett estellebysp.com in edgy Northcote. Play: Green fees for