The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart opened in December 2021 and is the brand's first hotel in Australia. It has 152 rooms and sits at 12 Murray Street, behind Parliament House, as part of a 150 million dollar redevelopment of Parliament Square.
The hotel occupies three buildings that span about 180 years. A Georgian wing dates from the 1840s, an Art Deco block from the 1940s, and a contemporary pavilion was added in 2021.
Parliament Square lies a few minutes from Sullivan's Cove and the Salamanca waterfront, with Salamanca Market nearby. MONA is further out on the Derwent.
The site has a layered past. St Mary's Hospital for the poor opened here in 1847, and for more than a century the buildings housed State Government offices, among them the Lands and Survey department and the Printers Office.
The concept
Architects had to satisfy strict heritage rules while joining a 1940s Art Deco building and the former hospital to the new pavilion. The restoration firm JPDC was responsible for keeping the Georgian and Art Deco character, and the 2017 announcement said timber from the original buildings would be reused.
Traces of the earlier uses were kept on purpose. They include the wood-panelled boardroom of the old Hydro Electric Commission, a coal chute from the hospital and scribbles left on walls by former bureaucrats. Artefacts found during site work are displayed, among them a 1903 poster headed Persons Entitled to Vote, and the hotel runs a weekly guided tour.
Rooms vary with the building. Some have exposed brick and sandstone walls cut by convicts. Heritage rooms look over St David's Park, with high ceilings and, in some, original fireplaces. Art Deco rooms use curved and geometric lines, and the pavilion suites are contemporary, with a terrace facing the water. The Heritage Suite, in the Georgian section, has high ceilings, a separate lounge and a marble and brick bathroom with a freestanding tub. Toiletries are by Beauty and the Bees.
Dining & wellness
Peppina is the main restaurant, a 190-seat room serving classic Italian cooking with a Tasmanian slant at dinner, plus a breakfast buffet with a la carte dishes. It has a sommelier and offers breakfast cocktails. Room service is available.
The Deco Lounge serves high tea, by reservation only. Mary Mary is the cocktail bar, styled like a gentlemen's club in wood and leather, with sandstone walls. Its signature Orchard mixes vodka, salt, nutmeg and heritage apples.
