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HOTEL REVIEW


THIS PAGE: Palate, the two-tier restaurant at Saffire, offers spectacular panoramic views of the Hazard Mountains and is furnished with a contemporary, eclectic mix of designer furniture OPPOSITE PAGE: The resort’s twenty suites feature a colour palette drawn from the resort’s surroundings – soft grey, taupe, green and blue – with varying shades of orange, which pick up on the colours of lichen growing on the driftwood and rocks of the area’s beaches


pristine natural environment and enviable coastal setting, with the main building looking as if a giant stingray has just drifted out of the sea and gently settled on the island with suites cuddled quietly around its edges. Guests sweep up the driveway and enter Saffire down a catwalk-style entrance into the main building beneath the stingray-esque roof which is made from a polymer membrane over curved beams of endemic celery-top pine built in an arching ribbed structure. This three-storey building is the heart of the resort, with an all-glass front between guests and the panorama, a view that evokes an involuntary gasp once the Hazards Mountains and Great Oyster Bay are seen beyond. Around, are granite feature walls, gurgling ponds and local timber stairways, bringing the outside in and creating a very natural and organic feel. There’s certainly not a lobby as we know it and one of the first things to note is


074 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2010 WWW.SLEEPERMAGAZINE.COM


the inordinate amount of space per guest – considering there will only ever really be 40 guests rattling around and bearing in mind they’ll be out and about most of the time anyway, the open-plan space devoted to this “public area” is huge. Here, guests find Palate, the two-tier restaurant with tables staring out to that stunning view as diners feast on the local fare produced by chef Hugh Whitehouse; The Lounge, backed by a five-metre fireplace to cosy up next to with a book from the library, or a game to play while sitting on furniture inspired by 1950s design; and a three-room spa with locally-sourced ingredients for treatments. If there was ever a Bond villain who also doubled as an architect (it could happen), I reckon this would be their holiday home (do villains have holidays?). The architect of Saffire is in fact far from villainous


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