Greg Fleming checks in to Mornington Peninsula's award-winning, boutique hotel Jackalope.
Location: About an hour and a half's drive south of Melbourne. The 45-room Jackalope is named after a mythical creature — part antelope, part jack rabbit — envisioned in black by the imposing Emily Floyd sculpture at the entrance. It combines cutting-edge design (the antelope side) with a sexy sense of fun (cue the jack rabbit).
Jackalope only opened in April but has already won this year's Gourmet Traveller Australian Hotel of the Year. Its young designer, Louis Li, has described the hotel as "an interplay between the ideal and the surreal" all set on a stunning 11ha site.
And that's as good a description as any. Get ready for faceless sculptures, neon-lit corridors, edgy furniture art pieces (oh and there's a gold spade in the garden); all reflecting the hotel's theme of alchemy.
Facilities: Probably easier to list what this hotel hasn't got — no gym — but who needs a gym when you have all this space? It does have a private vineyard, a working winery, two restaurants (the high-end Doot Doot Doot and the more casual Rare Hare overseen by Kiwi executive chef Guy Stanaway), a yoga lawn, conference facilities, vege garden, infinity pool with a spa plunge pool, small spa, and the futuristic Flaggerdoot bar, complete with pool table and a cool cocktail menu.
