The pool at Brisbane’s Calile Hotel is a magical place to be at sunset. Children splash in the shallows while their parents watch on from the edges, legs swinging languidly in the water. Palm trees between cabanas cut tropical silhouettes against the sky and from the signature restaurant, Hellenika, which spills outdoors where candles glimmer, an ambrosial smokiness rises into the balmy evening amid animated chatter. Gaze upwards to the ‘gentle brutalist’ architecture of this spectacular urban resort and symmetrical rows of circular balconies appear like flourishes on a giant gateau, lush gardens sprouting from rooftops the verdant icing.
The Calile, in all its Palm Springs-esque glamour, is the centrepiece of lifestyle and retail hub the James Street Precinct, and captures the energy, innovation and creative buzz that flows through this pocket in
