We arrived on sunny Saturday afternoon, and found it easily as it’s right off the main road of Canberra
Avenue, in the gorgeous suburb of Kingston. There’s a car park underneath the hotel which is free for guests – you just have to collect a ticket and then exchange it at the check-in desk for a different one. We got the elevator up to the lobby, and very quickly checked-in and headed up to our room.
We had a
Luxe One-Bedroom Apartment with twin beds, which was HUGE! There was more than enough room for the two of us, with an open-plan living area, dining room and kitchen, a balcony overlooking the stunning mountains, and then a separate bedroom and bathroom.
The furnishings were in a quirky retro style, and effortlessly cool with brightly coloured cushions in the living room, and a classy white and purple themed bedroom. The balcony had taken some inspiration from home and interiors bloggers and Pinterest-users, with rose gold wired chairs and a table. The apartment had everything we could possibly need, from a well-equipped kitchen, to the gorgeous organic bathroom amenities!
We dropped our bags and then headed out to explore Parliament House, and when we returned got showered and changed for dinner. Downstairs is
Joe’s Bar and
Agostini’s restaurant. We started with a cocktail and the most incredible melted-cheese popcorn in Joe’s, and sat there sipping on our drinks whilst swooning over the decor.
The contemporary design of the hotel follows through to the bar and restaurant, with both Joe’s and Agostini’s filled with beautiful prints, rich colours, and swanky presentation. We settled into our seats in Agostini’s and perused the menu, drooling over the wide-range of dishes and finding it incredibly difficult to decide what to have.
We decided to cover all bases, so we started with the Burrata Con Tartufo ($14), and Pork Meatballs ($22). The presentation of the burrata was pretty impressive, with a glass dome filled with smoke being removed to reveal the burrata and tomatoes. The smokey effect on the burrata was a little unusual, but tasty nonetheless. The meatballs were divine.
We then moved on to the homemade Lasagne ($25), and the humungous Capricciosa pizza ($25). It was delicious Italian comfort food, and even Nikki was impressed (she’s Italian and *very* hard to please when it comes to Italian food)!
And finally we chose the Tiramisu ($12) and the Gioielli Dolci ($12) for dessert. I don’t know coffee so Nikki had the Tiramisu all to herself, but she wolfed it down so it must have been good! My Gioielli Dolci was the perfect end to such a heavy meal, it was quite a light dessert and a concoction of Moscato jelly cubes with almond meal cake, chantilly cream, and fresh figs.
Overall we found the food to be well priced and of a high quality, and I’d definitely recommend it to anyone after great Italian food in Canberra!
Our entire experience at
East Hotel was wonderful, and we loved every second of our stay there. It was also very easy to get around Canberra in the car from there (Canberra is similar to
Perth in that it’s a terrible city for public transport and walking, you really do need a car). Also a huge thank you to the awesome staff who made our stay so lovely!
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*Our stay and meal were provided complimentary, however all views are my own.
Catherine Lux
Catherine Lux is a veteran travel blogger by night and the Head of SEO at Havas Media Group by day. Originally from Surrey, she spent four years living in Australia (2007-2009, and 2016-2018), and now lives in London. An ex-party girl sometimes prone to relapses, she loves nothing more than sharing her fine dining and luxury travel experiences with her loyal readers.
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