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While Brad Pitt, Liam Hemsworth and Jacob Elordi are all undeniably thriving in the cheekbone arena, it takes more than symmetrical bone structure to make my heart do so much as a polite flutter. A jawline is lovely. A bicep is commendable. But talent? Talent is the thing that sends my pulse into a light jog.
If walls could talk, Mount Lofty House would have an accent, a martini in hand and several excellent stories about very glamorous guests.
On February 12, 2026, this grande dame of the Adelaide Hills marks 40 years of hotel operations with something suitably theatrical: the Iconic 40th Escape, a two-night celebration featuring 40 Signature Inclusions.
If you have ever stared at a degustation menu and thought, “Lovely. But could this involve the Sistine Chapel, a splash of Banksy and possibly a dramatic lighting cue?” then Sofitel Brisbane Central has read your mind and raised you seven masterpieces.
Good news for lovers of long lunches, beautiful buildings and the gentle thrill of a late checkout, Ardour Milton Park Bowral will officially reopen on Monday, February 2, 2026, ushering in a glamorous new chapter for one of the Southern Highlands’ most beloved estates. And to mark the occasion, it’s rolling out a rather lovely welcome for its very first guests.
Opera Australia’s revival of Hänsel & Gretel, originally staged by the late Elijah Moshinsky and now revived by Claudia Osborne, is a glorious sugar rush of spectacle and dessert-based anxiety.
Opening nights at the Opera in Sydney have changed, and I’m not sure whether to clutch my pearls or cheer. Gone are the black ties, the diamonds, the gowns that require industrial-strength shapewear and a spare inhaler.
The revitalisation of NSW’s Central Coast and the Gosford CBD has been quietly chugging along for some time now, steady rather than spectacular. But this month’s opening of a premium Voco hotel in Gosford’s first skyscrapers feels like the moment the engine finally changed gears. It is the region’s most decisive game changer to date, effectively ushering in a new era for the city an hour north of Sydney that has long promised more than it delivered.
Now why should newlyweds get exclusive rights to swanning about in luxury suites, clinking glasses of Champagne, and pretending they’ve never argued over the correct way to stack a dishwasher? Especially now that Australia’s marriage rate has taken a dramatic slide to a 20-year low, down from 7.1 per 1,000 people in 2004 to a rather sheepish 5.5 in 2023.
Slovenia, sitting pretty at number 12 on Abercrombie & Kent’s Top Places to Visit in 2026, is the travel equivalent of that impossibly stylish friend who never has lipstick on her teeth, even at midnight. While Italy is busy crowd-managing gondoliers and Austria is running out of Sound of Music hills to twirl on, Slovenia has been quietly perfecting the art of being fabulous without fuss.
But this is the magic of the InterCon Double Bay, you don’t have to care about rugby league to feel glamorous. Because here, it isn’t just NRL coaches and players gliding through the lobby. Oh no. The guest book reads like a Who’s Who of the 20th century. Princess Diana, David Bowie, U.S. Presidents, and our very own Bob Hawke, who famously jogged the nearby streets in budgie smugglers because why wear Lycra when you can wear less? It’s that kind of place.
But The Rusty Rabbit, newly hopped into Concord, has solved this existential crisis. This is not a café where vegetarians are forced into the culinary equivalent of sitting at the kiddies’ table with toast and butter. No, here you’re spoilt. Here, the meatless meals strut onto the stage, demand a round of applause, and frankly, steal the show. Of course there are plenty of meaty meals for the carnivores too.
So just when you thought your couch couldn’t possibly look any drabber, along comes Foxtel with the official trailer for Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays, premiering Thursday 11 September. And before you ask, yes, episodes will be dropping weekly because delayed gratification is still a thing in 2025.
