When you enter the Emporium Hotel on Brisbane’s Southbank, with its red neon signage, glossy marble floor and glittering spiral staircase, you’d be forgiven for thinking that sustainability might not have been top of the designer’s agenda. But you’d be wrong.

The Emporium Hotel was the first in Australia to receive EarthCheck Design Certification for integrating eco-principles into the design, layout and building materials of the hotel. EarthCheck is a leading scientific benchmarking, certification and advisory group for travel and tourism. Achieving EarthCheck Design Certification places the Emporium Hotel in a unique group of sustainable buildings that are certified to the internationally recognised EarthCheck Building Planning and Design Standard.

The EarthCheck standards are based on social and environmental principles, and are structured to help tourism projects become not only great places to visit and work in but also improve the quality of life of local communities. As the world’s leading environmental certification program for the travel and tourism industry, EarthCheck is against the idea of implementing ‘half measures’, and works tirelessly for the health of our planet.

A Luxurious Stay

Built as part of the $600-million-dollar Southpoint precinct, Emporium is an iconic modernist structure in one of Brisbane’s busiest parts of town. From the entrance, to lifts with full LED illuminated walls and the iconic rooftop bar, every part of this hotel exudes a type of luxury that is more common in L.A. than Queensland.

The Emporium is an all-suite hotel and there are 143 superbly decorated suites in six categories and over 21 levels. All suites have the latest in-room automation and entertainment technology, inclusive of Bose audio systems and a high definition 55-inch mirror-finish television.

The lead-in Vista Suites (from $195AUD) enjoy tranquil suburban views over West End and Highgate Hill, and out to Mount Coot-tha and the hinterland. The ensuite bathrooms combine luxury with functionality and privacy switch glass, white marble, double vanities, a glass-enclosed monsoon shower and premium bathing amenities.

For a resort-style stay the Poolside Cabana Suites (from $599AUD) are located metres from the hotel’s spectacular 23m infinity edge rooftop pool. For the ultimate after-pool activity, these suites include a spectacular handmade bronze bar with seating for three people, a full-bottle Eurocave wine fridge, mini-bar and cocktail making kit.

At the very top end, the Frangipani Suite (from $2749AUD) boasts a formal entry, elegant living room, karaoke room, full size bar, double-sided fireplace and balcony with unparalleled views of South Bank Parklands, the Brisbane River and city. The ensuite features a free-standing bath with a city outlook, a double marble shower with rain shower heads, a 32inch mirror television and a white marble double vanity.

An Entertainment Destination

While the surrounding Southbank has plenty to offer in terms of bars and dining, some of the best venues in the area can be found within the Emporium Hotel. For breakfast, lunch or high tea, the French-inspired Belle Époque is the go-to place for freshly-baked pastries made by Brisbane’s only full-time hotel pastry team. After dark, follow the spiral staircase from the hotel lobby and you’ll find yourself transported to the golden jazz era of the 1920s at the Piano Bar.

But the premium destination is the hotel’s rooftop bar and restaurant the Terrace. It’s here that you’ll find the city’s coolest residents and well as hotel guests sipping cocktails under the retractable glass roof or basking in subtropical sunshine while soaking in the unrivalled views across Brisbane.

Where?

Address: 267 Grey Street, South Brisbane QLD

Website: www.emporiumhotels.com.au