After dazzling Ibiza and Cannes, this superstar hotel has opened in Australia

It's an epic coup for the coast, as Burleigh Heads scores the first Mondrian Hotel in Australia. The original, designed by Philippe Starck, opened in 1996 in West Hollywood and fast became the favoured location for extravagant after-parties and poolside rendezvous for the beau monde. Today, the group has expanded the brand to places such as Ibiza, Cannes, Hong Kong and Doha. The Mondrian Gold Coast opened in June this year.

There's something universal about Burleigh. Just a short walk from the Mondrian, you can be eating fish and chips at the surf club or watching lawn bowls with a beer at the bowlo. Alternatively, you can shop at upmarket James Street boutiques or drink and dine at some of the Gold Coast's most celebrated restaurants and rooftop bars. And, just across The Esplanade, beyond the Norfolk pines, the star attraction, the legendary Burleigh Beach.

The building of the two 24-level glass towers was not without controversy, with locals concerned that it could signal the start of a Surfers Paradise-style building boom. They seem to have been mollified, however, by Mondrian's understated exterior and the connection to the neighbourhood, with its beach-facing open frontage adding a popular takeaway coffee space and a new restaurant to the locale. Inside, the public areas have soaring ceilings and a nature-reflective palette of sage, sand and rust. Bespoke furniture and cabinetry are sculptural, and light pours through floor-to-ceiling glass. Fabric and finishes are in wood, leather, velvet and stone, and staff are stylishly dressed in linen pant suits or flowy silk "pajamas". The effect is Hollywood hedonism meets Burleigh's barefoot luxury lifestyle.

There are 208 rooms, from studios and suites to two or three-bedroom beach houses plus an ultra-premium Sky House. All are unusually spacious. I'm in a Beach View Suite, where gauzy curtains can be opened with a flick of a button, revealing a cinematic panorama of sand and sea.

The design scheme is reflective of the rest of the hotel: neutrals and natural fabrics. There's a generously sized bathroom with a separate toilet, a balcony off the bedroom, and the living area has a large-screen TV and a curvaceous velvet couch.

The open-plan kitchen features prestigious appliances and a generously sized fridge. It feels more luxe beach apartment than a hotel suite.

LiTO on the ground floor has an all-day Italian menu that meanders from breakfasts to long lunches and relaxed dinners, with appetisers like fritto misto or king fish crudo, house-made pasta and mains from earth and sea, given a smoky kiss over the charcoal grill. Haven, on the third, takes it up a notch, with Beluga caviar, line-caught reef fish, or you can choose southern rock lobster or mud crab from the tank. Both dining venues are glamorous and buzzy.

The Haven Pool Club has an outdoor pool with sun loungers and cabanas for group socialising. Enjoy the DJ sets with a rosella daiquiri, have a dip in the pool, take in the view, or soak in one of the spa-sized magnesium pools. On the first floor is a gym and the CIEL Spa, with treatments from facials to a "dry float" experience and, because this is the Gold Coast, minor cosmetic procedures.

Location! It's one of the few places on the Goldie you could easily holiday without a car.

The writer was a guest of the hotel