Saturday, January 29, 2011

Fresh Ayr

I AM sleeping in a hotel suite tonight that is, quite literally, bigger than the apartment I occupied in Brisbane for two years.

The bathroom alone is larger than my bedroom in Kangaroo Point, with a free-standing bath that's more spacious than my first car.

It's also considerably nicer than my little one-bedroom apartment in Brisbane, decorated like an elegant English manor house rather than an Ikea showroom.

I'm staying in the Ascot Suite at the Western House Hotel, which sits on the grounds of the Ayr Racecourse right beside the sweeping turn at the end of the front straight (above).

The building was constructed almost 100 years ago and served as the headquarters of the Western Meeting Club, owners of Ayr Racecourse, until it was turned into a hotel in 2003.

More than $6 million was spent on the renovation and now there are 10 luxury suites in Western House and another 39 rooms in the two courtyard buildings.

The Ascot Suite has a sunken lounge room with plump couches, a bedroom with a princess bed (below), a dressing room with a desk, and two big balconies that look over the racecourse.

Ayr Racecourse is home to the famed Scottish Grand National, and I'm told my suite goes for around $3000 on race day.


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