Diamant Hotel Canberra, review: A modern marriage

Elicia Murray finds marble and leather suites have taken over an old haunt.

I've seen more male strippers than I care to remember. As a teenager waiting tables at Bobby McGee's theme restaurant in Canberra in the late 1990s, it was my job - when I wasn't dressed as Marilyn Monroe and singing Happy Birthday, Mr President to middle-aged birthday boys - to escort giggling hens into private rooms while a buffed-up fireman/policeman/cowboy stripped down to glittery smalls and did unseemly things with hot wax.

This is one of the reasons why, on the happy occasion of my own hen's night, I insist on none of the traditional trappings. No veil. No penis straws. And definitely no cowboys.

For old times' sake, though, it seems appropriate that the view from the balcony of my seventh-floor apartment in the suburb of Acton, between Civic and the north-western shore of Lake Burley Griffin, is of Rydges Lakeside, a high-rise hotel remembered by a generation of Canberrans as the former site of Bobby McGee's.

In the 1980s and '90s, this was a largely forgotten slice of the city. The area has since been given a stylish makeover and more apartments have been built to create a buzzy hub that includes the Diamant boutique hotel, as well as restaurants, bars and a beauty salon.

I'm staying in a two-bedroom apartment managed by the Diamant, in a newish block of mostly residential units. According to the hotel's website, these "grand residences" offer guests "cutting-edge furnished space with a selection of highly desirable pieces from Australian and international designers such as Grant Featherston and themes like Panton and mid-century modern".

I'm not quite sure which theme I'm surrounded by here. It's all thoroughly modern. In the main living space, black and white vinyl couches face a low entertainment unit with an oversized plasma TV and stereo, including an iPod dock. What I suspect to be woven fish traps hang from the ceiling. A shaggy apple-green rug breaks up all the black and white and there's a green runner on the four-seater table.

Separated from the dining area by a hefty marble slab is a narrow kitchen with a gas stove-top, full-sized oven, dishwasher and microwave.

There's more marble - much more marble - in the master bedroom, which has a king bed that can be separated into two singles. A generous en suite has marble floor-to-ceiling tiles, as well as twin sinks, a shower and deep tub. There are no doors and no walls separating the bedroom and en suite (except, mercifully, for a door on the toilet alcove). Call me old fashioned but I like walls and I don't really want to gaze into the bathtub as I'm lying on the bed. The second bedroom has a queen-sized bed and a window that doesn't quite block out traffic noise. There's another, smaller bathroom and a tiny laundry.