Luxe living ... de Russie Suites lobby. Photo: Justin WastnageThe article below by Alexandra Smith originally appeared in The Sydney Morning Herald's Traveller.
You can read the article in it original form here.
Hotel review: De Russie suites, Orange, NSW
Alexandra Smith finds pregnancy is no impediment to enjoying a wine region.
Initially I suspect my husband might have scored the better deal when he insisted we spend my last child-free birthday in one of the best wine regions in central-western NSW.
To make the most of Orange's famed cellar doors, he needs a designated driver and what better person for that job than his heavily pregnant wife? After all, I have grown accustomed to my new role as taxi driver.
I must admit, my reluctance is shortlived when we are blessed with an unseasonably warm weekend as we arrive in Orange and simultaneously discover the birthplace of Banjo Paterson is not just about wine and fruit. Or homely B&Bs or ageing motor inns, for that matter.
On a tree-lined street a block back from the main drag, the de Russie Suites is a chic apartment hotel clearly designed to impress the urbanites and appears to be succeeding, judging by the flash European cars in the car park.
The polished concrete exterior resembles architecture from the Stalin era but, once we're inside, the piped lounge music and upholstered chairs arranged by a fire create a soft landing. In the true country way, our welcome is warm.
We have booked the Blue Room, the hotel's version of the penthouse: spacious, opulent and impressive by most standards. We are greeted by a huge bunch of flowers on a pedestal in the lounge room. Once we peer around the imposing arrangement, we find the Blue Room, or 303 as it is also known, is stylishly decorated with a Tuscan influence.
On the four-seater dining table is a bottle of sparkling wine, two Belgian chocolates and a card wishing me a happy birthday. My husband has obviously given the heads-up to management and it's a sweet touch, even if I can't enjoy the bubbles.
The self-contained room, which gets its name from its striking cobalt-blue feature wall, has a separate bedroom with an austere four-poster bed covered in decorative pillows bearing portraits of queens.
The faces do not belong to the British monarchy; my husband convinces me they are probably the wife and daughter of William I of Orange, the Dutch renegade prince who led the war against Spain and reunited the Netherlands.
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