Farewell house of Versace, the Gold Coast has outgrown your ostentatious opulence
I got a phone call from a mate this week.
He lives in Brisbane. Drops into the Gold Coast for the odd visit. A day trip here. A long weekend there. He tends to take notice whenever my beloved home town gets a mention in the news.
“I see the House of Versace is bailing on the Gold Coast,” he chided of the global fashion house’s decision to not renew its branding of the luxury Palazzo Versace hotel after almost 25 years.
“Not a good sign. The glory days might be over. No more glitz and glamour for the Gold Coast.”
My response? To shake my head at how clueless some people are. Seriously, if you think the Palazzo Versace is the jewel in the Gold Coast’s crown, there’s every chance you’ve been living under the same rock as my mate.
Don’t get me wrong – the Palazzo Versace was the right hotel for the right city when it opened in September 2000.
Flamboyant, ostentatious, over-the-top – choose your own adjective. It was filled with thousands of Medusa tiles, mountains of marble and a main chandelier previously owned by Gianni Versace, not to mention a stream of mega stars who have soaked up its self-proclaimed six-star luxury. Bono. Beyoncé. Jay-Z. Pamela Anderson. Even a Dogg named Snoop.
It was a fantasy destination, a kaleidoscope of colour, a multimillion-dollar venture that promised to “bring Europe to the Gold Coast”.
“It really was something,” says the renowned Gold Coast social columnist Regina King, who has spent countless days and nights inside the city’s top venues.
“To walk into that foyer and see all the tiles and the crystal chandelier from Milan hanging above the room was amazing. It was luxurious and suited the Gold Coast of the early 2000s but, let’s be honest, Versace was an 80s, 90s and 00s brand that is just not as
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