Brisbane, Australia

The Inchcolm

Price per night from$161.76

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (inclusive of taxes and fees) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (AUD239.00), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

The Inchcolm Photos

Style

Red brick and rock ’n’ roll

Setting

To your health

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Housed in a one-time Brisbane medical centre, the Inchcolm brings an Eighties vibe to a Thirties setting, with rock-star portraits, floral walls and memorabilia-filled cabinets of curiosities. It’s on the edge of the Central Business District, but you’ll have easy access to the Gold Coast beaches, koala sanctuaries and every other good-life Australian cliché. The restaurant – styled like a pre-war Parisian salon – adds a little Asian artistry to its dishes: expect to rub shoulders with locals as well as fellow guests, all queuing up to admire the Années-folles–accented setting and creative cuisine.

Smith Extra

Get this when you book through us:

A martini each at The Inchcolm Bar between 5.30pm and 6.30pm.

Facilities

Photos The Inchcolm facilities

Need to know

Rooms

50, including two suites.

Check–Out

11am. Earliest check-in, 3pm.

More details

Rates don’t usually include breakfast.

Also

The building started life as the home and hospital of a bagpipe-and-kilt–loving army surgeon in 1880, who named it after the isle of Inchcolm in the Firth of Forth.

At the hotel

Free WiFi throughout, bicycles to borrow. In rooms: Apple TV, iPad, iPod dock, air-conditioning, minibar, tea and coffee, and Biology bath products.

Our favourite rooms

Only a handful of rooms have a bath tub, so if that’s a dealbreaker, specify when you book. The split-level I Lofts are on the top floor, which means they have far-reaching city views (helpfully showcased through floor-to-ceiling windows). Four-poster fans should request a Thomson Suite.

Poolside

None, but guests can access the pools at selected neighbouring hotels; ditto for a local gym.

Packing tips

This is Brisbane, where the mercury rarely dips below 21° Celsius, so bring appropriate Aussie-life attire (swimwear, sunhats and shorts).

Also

The hotel isn’t easily navigable for wheelchair users.

Pet‐friendly

Diminutive dogs under 18kg are welcome in Medium Suites and the I Loft for $80 a night. There's no extra charge for registered assistance dogs. See more pet-friendly hotels in Brisbane.

Children

All ages are welcome, but there are no special amenities for children.

Food and Drink

Photos The Inchcolm food and drink

Top Table

The private corner tables are the most romantic.

Dress Code

Aim for rock-star style, to match the portraits lining the walls.

Hotel restaurant

Salon de Co is modelled on its Parisian counterparts, with parquet floors, elegant chairs, statement art and black window frames. The menu has the occasional Asian flourish, along with classic combinations such as lamb with cauliflower and romesco. Breakfast is a spread of house-made muesli, fruit and yoghurt, with à la carte options like eggs Benedict made to order. The restaurant regularly gets booked up, so be sure to reserve your table in good time.

Hotel bar

The bar has been imagined as a Hemingway-frequented haunt, with accents from the Twenties, Thirties and Forties throughout. Pitch up with your Moleskine for a creativity-inducing cocktail (order the cheese and charcuterie board if you’re in for the long haul).

Last orders

Breakfast is served from 6am until 10am on weekdays, and 7am to 11am at weekends (scaling back to 7am to 10am on public holidays). Lunch hours are 11am until 3pm, and dinner is between 6pm and 11pm. The bar opens at 5pm and calls time at 11pm.

Room service

Available around the clock.

Location

Photos The Inchcolm location
Address
The Inchcolm
73 Wickham Terrace
Spring Hill
4000
Australia

This outpost is in the heart of the Queensland’s capital, Brisbane.

Planes

The city’s international airport is 14 kilometres away; allow 20 minutes for the car journey. Hotel transfers cost AU$40 and the concierge can arrange taxis.

Trains

Brisbane’s Central Station is a five-minute walk from the hotel. From here, trains depart for other Australian cities, but don’t expect the journey time to be short (it’s 14 hours and 35 minutes down the coast to Sydney).

Automobiles

The central city setting means you won’t need your own set of wheels, but do hire one if you want to get out to the Gold Coast (an hour’s drive south). Valet parking costs AU$45 a night.

Worth getting out of bed for

Mainline the free sweets in the lounge, check out the Bowie and Prince portraits lining the walls… or borrow a hotel bike to explore the city on two wheels. Once you’ve ticked off each of those in-house activities, head out to meet modern masters at the twinned Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art (neatly portmanteau’d into QAGOMA) on Stanley Place; or, make the most of this perma-sunny city and visit outdoor gallery The Pillars Project, where a series of concrete canvases form the backdrop for some sizeable street art. Thirsty? Watch the fermentation happen with a tour of the Brisbane Brewing Co on Boundary Street and stockpile bottles of BPA to take home; if you prefer books to beer, check out the unique stock on sale at Archives Fine Books on Charlotte Street. If you’re a first-timer in town, you have to give a koala a hug: you can make it happen at the Lone Pine sanctuary, the biggest and oldest such institution in the world, though you’ll be lucky to find a conscious creature – this cuddly, eucalyptus-loving marsupial averages 22 hours of sleep a day.

Local restaurants

For a brunch with a Middle Eastern flavour (labneh, dukkah, sumac, shakshuka), head to Naïm on Collingwood Street in Paddington; or, get your coffee and avo fix at Pourboy on Grey Street, where the classic brunch menu has a few surprises (chicken korma, pork ragu). Down the same road, Julius Pizzeria serves wood-fired doughy discs in a hipster-pleasing, warehouse-style setting (exposed bricks: check). Or take your tastebuds on a trip to Indochina at Libertine, an opulent French-Vietnamese restaurant in a listed barracks building on Petrie Terrace.

Local bars

For cocktails (and great coffee), track down John Mills Himself in a heritage warehouse building on Charlotte Street that dates back to 1919 (in case you’re wondering, John Mills was a printer).

Reviews

Photos The Inchcolm reviews

Anonymous review

By Mr & Mrs Smith

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this boutique hotel in Australia and unpacked their cuddly toy koalas, a full account of their city break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside the Inchcolm in Brisbane…

The Inchcolm began life in 1930 as somewhere you wouldn’t want to check in: a hospital. Today, the scalpels are long gone, adding the requisite wall of silver eggs that appears in all its outposts, as well as handmade floral wallpaper and parquet floors. Original Thirties features fhave been lovingly restored, of course, including the wood panelling at the entrance and the vintage lift with its grills intact. But the Eighties are alive and well here: in the rock-star renderings as well as the array of old-school of toys and music memorabilia. The restaurant is styled on a writerly Parisian salon – it’s dimly lit after dark and looks like just the type of place at which Hemingway might have pitched up for a daiquiri. Despite it’s nostalgic allure, we think Inchcolm’s best is yet to come.

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Price per night from $161.76

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