Hotel of the Year

PARAMOUNT HOUSE HOTEL, SYDNEY, NSW

Old meets new. Bold meets beautiful. Cool meets class. And good taste trumps all. The one-time Pacific HQ of Paramount Pictures has emerged as the country’s most exciting hotel of 2018. A fouryear renovation of the 1940s landmark has created a 29-room inn of poise and style, but also fun and games. In other words, Paramount House gets the balance of work and play just right. In-room virtues include pure linen bedding, potted plants, indoor-outdoor spaces and cut-above minibars featuring charcuterie from LP’s Quality Meats, cheeses from Formaggi Ocello and wines by maverick makers William Downie and Tom Shobbrook.

Soak in Japanese-style wooden tubs or under terrazzo-tiled showers, or plan a chilli-fired night out at Longrain or Chin Chin nearby. Paramount House is a hub as much as a hotel, surrounded by like-minded projects and tapping into the on-trend notion that hotels should be the conduit to a city’s cultural life. The hotel shares its space with the bustling Paramount Coffee Project, a café that takes its coffee seriously; a co-working office; the pint-sized Golden Age Cinema and Bar; and even a regular growers’ market. Stretch out with a yoga class or meditation session on the roof terrace of the new Paramount Recreation Club, and fuel up at its kiosk. Or head downstairs to Poly, the highly anticipated restaurant and bar by Ester’s Mat Lindsay ( GT’s 2018 chef of the year), which was taking shape as we went to print. Welcome to the neighbourhood. paramounthousehotel.com Finalists: Jackalope, Mornington Peninsula, Vic; Macq01, Hobart, Tas