Melbourne, Australia, 2012. The most exclusive experience in Crown Towers can be found in the new palatial villas that are positioned on the top floors of the hotel and offer guests the epitome of world- class accommodation. Crown Towers’ villas have recently been extensively refurbished. The villas are ideal for the most discerning guest and are popular with those seeking the ultimate in privacy.
Located on the hotel’s uppermost floors, each villa has the character of a penthouse residence. The villas are attended by a service-oriented team of butlers, on call 24-hours, and are accessible by three private express lifts. There are 32 villas in total including one Chairman’s Villa, four Presidential Villas, 16 Crystal Villas and 11 Deluxe Villas.
The Villas at Crown Towers
The Villas at Crown Towers have been designed by Sydney-based interior designer, Blainey North & Associates.
Crown Towers has invested over $20 million AUD to create the ultimate villa accommodation experience for its guests. On average, $810 000.00 AUD was spent to elevate each villa to a level offering guests the best possible experience from a design, technology and service perspective.
This transformation was achieved without any major structural changes to the existing villas that were opened in May 1997 and that were recognised at the time for setting a new benchmark for luxury accommodation in Australia. Now, Crown Towers is further raising the bar for luxury accommodation in the Southern Hemisphere.
To create an instant feeling of familiarity and belonging, each villa features its own repetitive motif. Each motif can be seen replicated, exaggerated or showcased in a myriad of executions from any of the villas’ custom-designed carpets, expertly crafted joinery, furniture, soft furnishings or hardware. The layering effect helps create a luxurious ambience.
A consistent application and layering of visual details throughout the villas results in a unified and sophisticated product that exceeds guests’ expectations.
“By varying each villa’s design, we are able to provide a series of different experiences and also appeal to each guests’ specific preferences,” commented Crown’s Group Executive General Manager Hotels & Retail, Peter Crinis. “Crown Towers has successfully created a residential guest experience within a hotel. Paired with the discreet and expert service for which Crown Towers is renowned and Crown’s new guest offering including Crown Towers new Crystal Club and Crown’s new Club 23, new additions including Bistro Guillaume and The Waiting Room and our stable of award-winning restaurants, it’s a winning combination,” added Crinis.
Every element of the villas from carpets and cushions to furniture and light fittings have been custom- designed in Australia and made and imported from overseas.
A notable design piece that features in many of the villas is the Charles and Ray Eames $7500.00 desk chair, which is commonly referred to as the “Time Life Executive Chair.” There are 21 of these chairs located on level 32 and above.
In addition, Crown Towers used a world-renowned carpenter based in Heidelberg, Victoria to make a custom-built concealed cabinet. This carpenter supplies architects and designers around the world and is a leader in his field.
All Presidential villas and the Chairman’s villa feature custom-made pillow top mattresses and bed bases that are larger than a traditional king size bed and made up with custom-made linen and pillows. All cushions and pillows are filled with 100% down.
All Axminster carped has been hand-carved with a razor blade. It takes 6 weeks to make 2000 square metres of carpet.
“Excellent craftsmanship, bespoke, hand-crafted elements and the use of unusual, unique materials or combinations of materials such as metal inlays on furniture are the hallmarks of the new villas at Crown Towers,” says interior designer, Blainey North. “While the villas are unmistakably modern in design, the use of labour intensive techniques and expert craftsmanship is a tribute and in some ways, a return to art nouveau and the arts and craft era of the last century,” explained North.
Technology
All of the premium villas feature a “fingertip convenience” remote control. This remote control is no ordinary universal remote control. Not only can guests open and close windows, shades, turn music and entertainment on and off, the remote control is also available in 6 languages and can control the television, I-POD, DVD, lights, curtains, blinds, laptop and even Karaoke.
The Crown Towers customised remote control is an icon based remote control that is intuitive and customer focussed.
New state-of-the-art speakers have been installed throughout the villas at Crown Towers. All villas feature 52 inch LCD televisions.
In total over $1 million AUD was invested to ensure that all of the villas at Crown Towers provided guests with the best audio-visual experience possible.
All villas on level 32 and above feature integrated convenience charge points in both the bedroom and study area. These charge points are ideal for charging laptops and mobile telephones.
In addition, the Crystal Villas, Presidential Villas and Chairman’s Villa feature remote control $7500.00 toilets imported from Japan. The remote control can be used to warm the toilet seat, flush, dry and put the toilet seat up or down.
New steam showers and soaking bathtubs have been installed in villas on level 32 and above. The bathtubs have been custom-built to Crown’s exacting standards and specifications and include a water- saving self-cleaning automated feature that reduces the amount of water required to wash the bathtub from 500 litres to just 50 litres.
Artwork
Over $1 million AUD has been invested on artwork for the hotel’s 32 villas. Over 20 artists are showcased throughout the villas. Over 90% of the artwork is Australian and includes both photographic prints and a range of paintings and etchings.
Chairman’s Villa
The Chairman’s Villa is arguably the penultimate accommodation villa in the Southern Hemisphere. Spanning 1090 square metres, the villa is opulent, luxurious and decadent as its moniker suggests.
At the villa’s entrance, a dramatic gallery space made from French panelling with contrasting black leather insets had been created.
The entry acts as a visual axis and best showcases the sheer scale of the space.
The Chairman’s Villa’s motif is a modern geometric pattern that is easily identified and echoed in the villa’s furniture, joinery, lighting and soft furnishings.
The layering of detail upon detail creates a feeling of complete luxury and decadence. Strong accents of red and fuschia contrast with the villa’s neutral palette.
Soft and relaxing tones were deliberately used in the villa’s bedrooms in an effort to emulate sleeping on a cloud.
The clean lines of the master bedhead were inspired by lines found on a luxury super-yacht.
In the guest bedroom, antique bronze laser cut screens with mirror backing create a decorative window and act as a backdrop to each of the beds.
The Chairman’s Villa features a dining room table that seats 14 guests.
Custom-designed ultra-high backed chairs are regal and add a contemporary edge. An oversized television is discreetly hidden behind artworks.
A decadent bar area, complete with inset bevelled mirror panels bring an element of glitz and glamour to the space. Bar accessories are from Italian luxury goods manufacturer, Arca while the bar’s stools have been inspired by the interiors of high-end luxury sports cars.
The villa’s living room is nothing short of monumental in scale and includes a study. In addition, the villa features a massage room engulfed in soft satin curtained walls as well as a mirrored gym with high-gloss timber veneer and leather furniture that combine to create the most stylish of private gymnasiums.
Artwork in the Chairman’s Villa includes an oil on canvas by Marie Hagarty and a pigment print entitled “Naturalism, #2” by Chris Fortescue.
The Chairman’s Villa is available on application (POA).
Presidential Villas
With the exception of the Chairman’s Villa, the four Presidential Villas are the pinnacle of accommodation in Australia.
The villas feature a classical scheme of dark, glossy timber veneers, gold accents and white leather upholstered bevelled wall panels that unite to create a welcoming space in which to relax.
The villas’ repetitive motif is a square within a square and can be spotted on wall panels, within metal detail trims on all of the villas’ furniture, within the carpet, furniture handles and soft furnishings.
Strong red accents add a touch of vibrancy to an otherwise neutral palette.
An opulent living area is made complete with an oversized coffee table made from individual bevelled panels inlaid with a metal tray.
Each living area is also equipped with a private bar with a series of metal trimmed panels and mirrored shelves. A dining room sits 8 guests and boasts stunning views of the city’s skyline.
A custom-designed round mirror is located on either side of the bedroom’s white leather upholstered bedhead. The mirrors add softness while at the same time are reminiscent of one of last century’s most decadent ocean-liners. In contrast to the bedroom’s softer elements, oversized dark, glossy timber bedside tables anchor the space. When elevated, an integrated television can face either the master bed or private sitting area. Put simply, the “pop up” television is discreetly housed in a metal-trimmed custom-made cabinet when not in use.
Artwork includes a limited edition of the meditative “Study of a Horse: Equs Caballus” from Beverley Veasey’s 2006 Natural History collection.
Presidential Villas are available on application (POA).
Crystal Villas
Crown Towers’ new Crystal villas have been inspired by four of the world’s most famous and design- driven cities, New York, Miami, Milan and London.
Guests stepping over the marble threshold into the Crystal villas are instantly transported into a luxurious Manhattan penthouse.
Luxury is conveyed through layers of texture and minute attention to detail including piping and fine metal trims that combined define the edges of furniture, bedhead, wall panels, velvet soft furnishings and buttery cream carpet alike.
In the bedroom, contrasting piping on the walls is inverted on the bedhead. This juxtaposition of distressed cream leather and black velvet create a welcoming and inviting environment.
The refined neutral colours filter into the make up area’s stools and the ottoman placed at the end of the bed which are upholstered in a decadent crocodile print leather from Brunschwig and Fils.
Dramatic black and white photographs by Simon Portbury and graphic photographic prints from David Stephenson’s Dome series feature throughout.
The villas alternate between a private dining room on levels 34 and 35 and a private gym on levels 32 and 33.
The hotel’s four villas inspired by Milan are both moody and masculine and feature a scheme rich in deep jewel tones of amethyst and ruby paired with anthracite and chocolate.
Silk velvets, suedes and snakeskin sit side by side while horsehair lampshades, sheer black curtains and crocodile skin shagreen printed leather add further textures to the dramatic ambience.
A contrasting velvet detail to the backs of the oversized curved back lounges in the living room is replicated on the dining room’s throne-like chairs.
Each villa boasts a full bar, a butler’s kitchen and a dining room for 8 guests. Each of the villas features a different dining room colour scheme expressed through the feature wall panels, mouldings, upholstery and artworks.
Mushroom-toned suede wallpaper features in the bedroom as well as a grey and black velvet bedhead. Hints of bright purple and crimson in the artwork and soft furnishings provide a vibrant contrast to the room’s deep mood.
The floor coverings are high-density hand-tufted carpets with hand- carved patterns.
Arresting face mounted lambda prints by Australian James McGrath, evocative photographs by David Stephenson and mixed media by Chinese artist, Hu Qin Wu complete and complement the villas’ aesthetic.
The villas inspired by Milan were designed to appeal to Crown Towers’ growing demand from countries including the United States and United Kingdom.
Inspired by some of Miami’s best-known Art Deco hotels, the Miami villas showcase bold geometric patterns, a witty mix of textures from distressed leathers to quilted velvets and custom-polished metals.
Silk Andrew Martin velvet cushions nestle on a backdrop of Jean de Merry upholstered lounges.
The villas’ entertaining area features the height of luxury with the bar adorned with buffalo horn and black lacquer Champagne buckets.
These villas’ repetitive emblem is a buckle detail which is executed throughout in every adaptation imaginable from the fronts of doors, to the back of bar stools to an exaggerated buckle strap spanning the full height of the velvet bedhead wall in distressed leather.
Fromental velvet wallpaper in the bedroom helps create what is arguably one of the world’s most decadent hotel bedrooms.
Emotive artwork, including an etching by Angela Hayson adds to the villas’ expertly executed presentation.
The London-inspired villas adopt a traditional English-style in both detailing and finishes.
Studwork and buttoning work its way into every last design detail from buttoning on the lounges to studwork on dining chairs and bar stools, around the inset leather wall panels in the bar and the free- standing screen in the bedroom.
The diagonal pattern that each of the button and stud details create is also replicated in the pattern of the carpet and in aged bronze metal handles throughout.
Each handle is then adorned with custom-made tassels in either red or blue which match the embroidered Fromental framed wall-hangings.
The oversized embroidered and hand-painted Fromental panels on silk background use either deep blues or red tones depending on each villa.
In both the master and guest bedrooms, the bedhead wall is covered in floor to ceiling Moore and Giles leather buttoned panels. The bedside table lamps are cast entirely from aged bronze and match the bronze studs that feature along the perimeter of the bedhead. The aged metal adds an industrial edge to the otherwise ultra-luxurious design.
Crystal Villas are available on application (POA).
Deluxe Villas
In addition to the Chairman’s Villa, Presidential Villa and Crystal Villas, Crown Towers has now unveiled new Deluxe Villas. Spread over level 30 and 31, the 11 new Deluxe Villas offer guests a premium guest experience in accommodation that is both intimate and spacious. There are five different floor plans for the Deluxe Villas, including both one bedroom and two bedroom options and two colour schemes, red and blue, from which to choose.
All furniture in the Deluxe Villas has been custom-made by Kingswood. The company is best known for making luxury furniture under license for Italy’s renowned Giorgio Armani.
The Deluxe Villas all showcase 52 inch LCD LED back-lit televisions.
The Deluxe Villas feature upholstered and studded cream leather walls and thick cream pile Axminster built carpet made from a custom-blend of 80% virgin wool carpet as well as pendant lights, new light fittings and an added feature mirror in the bathroom and new double showerheads in all bathrooms.
All 11 Deluxe Villas’ veneer has been re-stained by a world-class French polisher and feature lamps made in China by world-renowned lighting specialist, Ricardo.
The Deluxe Villas feature silver and grey tones with either sapphire or ruby like accents.
Deluxe villas are available on application.
Bookings for all of Crown Towers’ luxurious villas can be made by emailing villamanager@crownmelbourne.com.au
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