Brisbane’s Gourmet Bar is somewhat of an Australian first for the Accor international hotel brand. While technically the third Gourmet Bar to be unveiled in Australia, following on from the Novotel Darling Harbour Sydney and the Novotel Barossa Valley Resort, Brisbane’s new $350,000 outlet, in fact, spearheads a new generation of revised and refined Gourmet Bar concept venues that prioritise shared drinking and dining spaces at Novotel locations around the world.

Transforming the old to new within the hospitality industry has become second nature to the services provided by STUDIO del CASTILLO. “We are delighted to have been on board since the early beginnings of this new brand standard,” says director Penny del Castillo. “Our design brief was to create a relaxed destination ‘drinking and eating’ venue within the successful business hotel. It needed to be a crowd-pleaser intended to generate revenue from outside the hotels’ own four walls and encompass the essence of healthy living while promoting a highly social and interactive vibe.”

Novotel Australia’s newest venue boasts a relaxed modern, urban décor and design. Interior finish highlights boast such elements as Maximum Stone porcelain benchtops, Passo hand-tufted & carved floor rugs, Phillip Jefferies timber veneer wallpaper and the pièce de résistance, a Christopher Boots pendant light which truly lifts the standard of the previously dated setting. Behind the bar, automated sliding cabinet doors and colour changing LED strip lights enhance the ambience as day moves to night and the head bartender can play to the crowd!

There were a series of challenges and restrictions which is to be expected with almost any renovation, particularly in a commercial hospitality situation! However, STUDIO del CASTILLO in conjunction with Fixed Group Builders rose to the occasion and delivered an outstanding result that is proving both functional for the operators and absolute “eye candy” to the patrons!