Striking good looks, top-notch dining and a stand-out spa mean even the skeptics will be wooed by Hotel Chadstone, whether they like shopping or not…

“I only drink champagne on two occasions. When I am in love, and when I am not.” These words from Coco Chanel certainly ring true when you’re a guest of the new Hotel Chadstone Melbourne. The quote is printed on a coaster, which sits under a complimentary bottle of sparkling water on the bedside table in my Deluxe Suite, and by the time I spot it I’m already two glasses of bubbles in. How did they know? Clearly, I’ve been set up – lured into a state of uninhibited self-indulgence by the room’s luxurious ambience. Or, it could just be that as a female in my early 30s, I am the ideal clientele for Hotel Chadstone. In fact, the property has has been entirely designed with women in mind.

In the room there’s a plush king size bed fit for a queen, a Chromecast-enabled Smart TV, a bluetooth speaker, gourmet mini-bar and a Nespresso machine solidifying the hotel’s five star tag. But there’s also a bathroom the size of a studio apartment with not only double basins and a freestanding tub, but a dressing table with a velvet stool and a makeup mirror as well as designer Balmain amenities that most women would swoon over (although the fact that the products are unsustainable minis doesn’t go unnoticed). They’ve really thought this through. The palette, too, is unashamedly feminine with a soothing wash of soft pink, grey, gold and white.

But it’s not all marshmallows and musk sticks at Hotel Chadstone, and thank goodness for that. The interior throughout the hotel sidesteps saccharine style with all the class you’d expect from a design-focused brand like MGallery by Sofitel (a part of Accor Hotels), and a global architecture firm like dwp. The emphasis, instead, is elegantly art deco, and it’s not hard to see where the $130 million it took to build the hotel, went.

Sexy, dark wood panelling, wallpapered walls, textured glass, tonnes of granite and marble of every colour imaginable, curated artworks and just the right amount of glamorous gold detailing; there are so many tactile qualities to the hotel I want to get all touchy-feely with everything I see. And the curves – oh, the curves! Who needs right angles? Not Hotel Chadstone.

Arched doorways, globe lamps, round tables, circular sofas… even my suite’s floor-to-ceiling windows are impressively convex, so that the outside of the building slightly resembles a woman’s figure. The view over the parking lot might leave a little to be desired, but then we are in the suburbs.