'Like living in a six-star hotel': St Kilda penthouse with 'insane' views listed

There’s a star-studded list of people who have spent many months, if not years, living in a hotel, but it’s the late actor Kelly Preston who perhaps captured the experience best.

Preston and her husband, John Travolta, spent months at a time in Bermuda’s Pink Beach Club Hotel and are quoted in Christopher Heard’s book The Suite Life: The Magic and Mystery of Hotel Living.

“There’s a feeling of being taken care of in hotels that’s very comforting,” she said. “If you want absolute privacy, that’s what you can have, but anything you need or want can be arranged for you at a moment’s notice.”

For luxury developer Tim Gurner, living at Saint Moritz on The Esplanade in St Kilda has delivered on that very hotel-like premise, minus the hotel.

“Arriving and getting the valet to park my car; concierge at hand for everything from organising theatre tickets to delivery of parcels; able to go for a swim at 6am; workout in the gym, followed by sauna or steam,” he says.

“And then, in the evening, a drink at the champagne bar, or maybe grab a movie at the private cinema. The list is endless. It’s essentially like living in a six-star hotel.”

Gurner and his wife Aimee, an interior designer, live in a two-storey penthouse at Saint Moritz, having retained the apartment when the building launched.

They take full advantage of the on-site amenities, especially Samsara, an incredible health and wellness facility, and the full-time concierge and valet services.

“We like to think we thought about everything from the moment you get up until the moment you go to sleep,” Gurner says.

“Our whole focus is giving people the opportunity to live their best lives, and this is probably most relevant for busy professionals.

“We have a dedicated chairman’s lounge and individual strata-titled offices in a luxury corporate setting with meeting rooms and board rooms.

“It has been a game changer for many of our residents wanting the option to work from home, but not ‘at home’.

“[I love] getting the Saint Moritz chauffeur-driven car to the airport, knowing [the] concierge has arranged the finer details of my life, and being able to access the incredible, stress-busting wellness options.”

Gurner’s favourite treatment at Samsara is the cutting-edge cryotherapy, which he uses to recover from exercise and improve circulation.

“I was very proud to bring this to Samsara – this is wellness on another level,” he says.

Wellness is such a pivotal part of Gurner’s life he decided to complement the amenities of Samsara with his own private wellness features, installing a $120,000 infrared sauna in the main suite.

The penthouse’s lavish interiors were customised by the couple and make light work of matching up to the world’s finest accommodation.

From the marble-clad lift lobby entrance to the six-metre void framing the kitchen, living and dining zones, to the bespoke cabinetry and Venetian-polished plaster, no detail has been left to chance.

The penthouse fit-out includes $500,000 worth of Italian stone and a $500,000 helical staircase leading to the second storey.

“Aimee and I worked closely with our GURNER design team to create a residence that represents the most luxurious elements of modern life,” Gurner says.

And while the penthouse more than measures up when it comes to glamourous fixtures and fittings, it’s also a practical family home.

“We really focused functionally on making this a home, thinking through how it would work whether we were there just as a couple or with the children,” Gurner says.

“The zoned areas are perfect, with three open fires to add coziness. There is space to live and work for us all.”

He says the main suite separation creates a home within a home while remaining fully connected to the rest of the house as it looks down from the soaring void into the living spaces and across the bay.

“So, even though we have 500 square metres, there is this incredible connectivity throughout the whole of the space,” he says.

The expansive bay views are front and centre throughout the property, with sunset a favourite time of day for Gurner.

“The view is insane,” he says. “Looking across Melbourne yacht club down towards Port Melbourne and across the palm trees and [the] St Kilda clock tower onto the horizon and bay, the sky seemingly changing colour every few seconds … [we have] a front-row seat to some of the most breathtaking sunsets I have ever seen.”

This feature is part of a Domain Prestige Deluxe package.