#tabdownunder

Earlier this Summer I was in Australia for Australian Bridal Fashion Week. And for part of my time in fabulous Sydney, I stayed at the InterContinental Sydney. One of the first things you’ll notice about this gorgeous hotel is the location - with views of the Botanical Gardens, and the world famous Sydney Opera House and harbor a quick 5 minute walk away. The hotel is also five minutes away from the Circular Quay train stop - making it perfect for tourists and sightseers!

What’s unique about the InterContinental Sydney is the fact that this luxe hotel now occupies the historic New South Wales treasury building from the 19th century. The exterior still retains its old world charm while in the lobby bar and adjoining atrums, some of the original interior brick walls can still be seen. It’s a true combination of an old world charm lobby bar juxtaposed against a sleek contemporary lobby and entrance.

As expected, guest rooms are well appointed with plush bedding, and expansive views of the Sydney CBD (which conveniently includes the Opera House, harbor and botanical garden depending on your hotel room. Meanwhile, the InterContinental Sydney is home to sumptuous dining experiences including The Meat & Wine Company just off the lobby which emphasizes Australia’s world star steaks and 117 Dining, an award winning restaurant which focuses on fusion tastes and flavors through carefully crafted and gorgeously plated dishes. I had the chance to eat at both of these restaurants and can attest to the fresh foods, sumptuous flavors and five star service!

And for bridal couples, the InterContinental Sydney is a popular location because of their InterContinental Club floor which offers patio and balcony views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. And for brides to be...there’s a Vera Wang bridal salon inside the hotel just off the lobby! But more on the InterContinental’s wedding and honeymoon offerings in another post!

Last month I spent a few days at the Radisson Blu Plaza in Sydney who was gracious enough to host me for part of my #TABDownUnder trip to attend Australian Bridal Fashion Week. And while I was there I truly got to enjoy the honeymoon experience even though I was there scoping out new trends in bridal fashion! The Radisson Blu Sydney has a package to put newlyweds (or vacationing couples) in the mood for luxurious romance - the Celebrations package.

The Celebrations package offers a comprehensive experience from the moment you check in with a bottle of French Champagne and chocolate covered strawberries delivered to your room on your first day. Enjoy cozy bedding and perfectly picked pillows (as you can request a variety of pillows to suit your needs) to keep you and your honey in your Deluxe King Room for most of your stay.

And to really up the ante,  enjoy the cozy pairs of exclusive (and only available at The Radisson) collection of Papinelle Pajamas in sumptuous silk for ladies and cozy supima cotton for him. Papinelle is an Aussie designer who has teamed up with The Radisson to create these unique PJs, and although they come complimentary with the Celebrations package, other guests also have the option to purchase a pair.

P.S. The team at the Radisson Blu Plaza gifted a pair of these awesome jammies to the hubby and I - and they really are that luxurious! Paired with the bottle of Champagne, you should absolutely be able to conjure up a bit of romance! ~_^

Last month I headed to Sydney for Austraian Bridal Fashion Week and one of the hotels that was kind enough to act as a travel sponsor was the Radisson Blu Plaza Sydney. Located in the outskirts of Circular Quay and roughly a 10 minute walk to the Sydney Opera House, this five star hotel should be on your shortlist for a gorgeous destination wedding or posh honeymoon hotel.

The Radisson Blu Plaza now sits in the historic Sydney Morning Herald building. The exterior structure retains the original architectural elegance from its construction during the Roaring Twenties but has been completely renovated to offer a modern luxe vibe from The Fax Bar (a swanky lobby bar), the four event spaces, to the business class lounge and the guest rooms. The guest floors are as equally plush as the lobby, featuring vintage photos from the building’s former life as newspaper headquarters.

The five star experience begins the minute you enter the hotel as the bell service and concierge greet you. I can personally attest to how hard the team works to keep guests happy as I arrived very early and exhausted (around 10AM) after a red eye flight from LA and they worked hard to make a guest room available by 11:30 rather than making me wait until 2PM to check in. Contemporary fans will love the guest rooms as they’re equal parts primary colors, sleek silhouettes and marble baths. Something I thought was pretty awesome, you can call housekeeping to request to have your pillows changed out for something firmer, softer, memory foam or down filled to meet your support needs.

Some key highlights for the Radisson Blu Plaza include the High Tea offering (briefly mentioned in a previous article) which is served in the Lady Fairfax Room (where breakfast is also served daily). This hotel’s High Tea is rated the best in Sydney so consider it a must-do! Like I mentioned previously...do not come all the way to Australia and pass on High Tea! But this hotel also offers a complete health and spa area with a gym, heated indoor pool and the Tanatcha spa offering everything from couples massages to deep tissue treatments. I highly recommend it as the hubby and I each had a chance to have a teaser 30 minute session and after dealing with heavy luggage, that massage was a life saver! 

The Radisson Blu Plaza Sydney also offers wedding, bridal and couples packages which are perfect for honeymooners or vow renewal guests. Stay tuned for more details on nuptials and bridal offerings!

The Sydney Opera House is probably one of the most iconic architectural structures in the world. I was so excited that both of my hotels for the Sydney portion of my trip were within walking distance to the opera house. And even better - my room at the InterContinental gave me a view of the Sydney Opera House with the Botanical Gardens in the background. Anyway, while in Sydney we took a guided tour of the opera house - which I highly recommend. And for those of you who follow my Instagram (@theantibridezilla) you know that i took a lot of pictures of the opera house. It’s so gorgeous because it dominates the harbor and is the perfect backdrop for wedding photos.

The tour lasts about an hour but gives you a great overview of the backstory behind the design and construction (which is actually quite complex). You’re also able to tour a variety of performance spaces such as the main stage where symphonies and concerts take place as well as a side performance space which tends to hold more avant garde style shows. Unfortunately there was a copyrighted show booked in the smaller performance space so I couldn’t take any pictures. But I did sneak a picture of the Sydney Orchestra practicing in the main performance hall. However, I did get to see the orchestra practicing which was quite amazing.

Destination Style - ABFW ‘16: Tavi Couture - Sheer Elegance

On my first full day in Australia, we spent some time museum hopping before I headed for High Tea at the Radisson Blu Sydney. A short walk from the Radisson is the Museum of Sydney which gives you a pretty thorough yet brief overview of the history of Sydney and New South Wales. If you’re a history fan (like me) and come from a country that never seems to stress any history except generic US and European history (like the US) then this is a must see to give you a crash course on New South Wales which was the first British colony in Australia. The Museum of Sydney is built on the ruins of New South Wales’ first governor’s house and includes some excavated ruins from the former site. An added bonus is that right now the museum is undergoing renovations so access is free to everything except their Lego exhibit featuring Sydney landmarks brought to scale through the marvel of Legos.

But the highlight for me was the PowerHouse Museum which is further into town in the Inner West district. The PowerHouse Museum is massive and really brings together an eclectic mix of history, conceptual art and vignettes. Right now there are two fashion focused exhibits that are a must see if you love fashion - Collette Dinnigan Unlaced and Isabella Blow: A Fashionable Life. Both exhibits provide a detailed review of two unique fashion icons - Colette Dinnigan an Aussie fashion designer and Isabella Blow a magazine editor credited with discovering numerous models and designer extraordinaire Alexander McQueen.

The Isabella Blow exhibit features some of her most memorable fashions including a variety of ornate headpieces that she wore to special events. My personal favorites were the Tartan plaid racy two piece and her matador inspired suit in the top image.

So, my first day in Sydney was an early one with a 6:30AM arrival into Sydney’s airport. After a slightly confusing trip through immigration and customs, we were finally on our way. The very first thing I did once we had our luggage was pick up our wifi hotspot device. Now, if you’ve ever traveled overseas, you know that international data or calling fees can skyrocket out of control and leave you with a painful bill when you return home. So, something I’ve started doing over the years is renting a wifi device. Thanks to apps like WhatsApp, Skype, Viber and LINE, you can make calls over wifi as well as use all your apps. Whether it’s an unlimited daily data plan or a preset MB/GB limit, steady consistent and cheap access to wifi is a must for me. For this trip, I was provided wifi by POCWifi and the very cool thing about this one is that I’m able to use it in Australia and New Zealand. And for added convenience, I could pick it up at the Sydney airport and drop it off in Auckland in the airport at the end of my trip - it doesn’t get any easier than that.

Anyway, traveling from the airport to the actual city center is extremely easy to do. There’s an airport train that is also part of the city metro which takes you right into the heart of the city. If you know you’re going to spend time in the city, don’t buy a paper ticket - opt for the Opal card which can be reused by topping it up at the metro fare machines. In less than 30 minutes we reached Wynward, which was the station closest to our first hotel of the trip, the Radisson Blu Plaza Sydney. It turns out that our first hotel (and also our second which you’ll learn more about later) is just off Circluar Quay which is where the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the iconic Sydney Opera House are located. Because we were a bit early for check-in, we had about an hour or so to waste before we could access our room. After a quick 5 - 10 minute walk, we were at the harbor and looking at the amazing Sydney Opera House. Literally, it was probably one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had as traveling to Sydney has been on my bucket list since forever!

The views at Circular Quay are breathtaking, making it completely understandable why it’s one of the most popular wedding districts in Sydney. Literally in a 10 block radius you have Park Hyatt Sydney, Shangri-La, InterContinental (my next hotel stay), the Marriott, Radisson Blu Plaza, the Westin, the Sofitel and a host of other 4 and 5 star hotels - all boasting views of the harbor. But more on this later! I would also add, although it’s technically winter right now in Australia, this is the mildest winter I’ve ever experienced! Everyone had me convinced that it was going to be a blistery and cold trip - like a Northern US winter. Currently, it’s in the 60s and often it’s warm enough that even a light jacket feels like you’re wearing too many layers.

Anyway, after strolling through Circular Quay we headed back to the Radisson to check into our room for much needed showers and a nap! I am definitely in love with my room, which was upgraded to a Business Class Suite with city views. And of course, the complimentary champagne and super cozy silk PJs (an exclusive collaboration between local loungewear brand Papinelle and the Radisson) didn’t hurt in helping me to feel right at home! Of course, I’ll be sharing more details about the Radisson and their bridal and honeymoon offerings in a later post!