WEST HOTEL SYDNEY
The grace notes in this new-build hotel by Hilton’s Curio Collection are botanical: a striking white-waratah motif in the lobby, a garden atrium, leaf-patterned carpets and native flowers throughout. The all-day streetfront restaurant is named after a botanist, First Fleeter Daniel Solander, and the bar mixes botanicalleaning cocktails. On the CBD’s western edge and close to Barangaroo, the hotel has a façade clad in geometric wall panels that create the look of a faceted jewel, and these panels frame big windows in 182 jewel-toned rooms and suites. Smart touches include a gym full of natural light and, in rooms, backlit bedheads, ceiling-mounted Bluetooth speakers, and sound-proofing that ensures it’s as quiet as a rainforest. 65 Sussex St, Sydney, (02) 8297 6500, westhotel.com.au Inhale fresh air and disconnect from the city over a meal or drinks in the atrium “jungle”, a clever use of vertical space and natural light between towers.
Attention to small details is impressive. Light switches have USB ports. The light over the clothes rail is shaped like a bird. And there’s a (free) muesli bar and bag of popcorn with machine-made coffee in rooms. All-day dining in Solander, a good-looking room with marble parquet floors and velvet-upholstered chairs, starts with a small, well-chosen breakfast buffet ($28) including chia puddings, and apple and wheatgrass presses. Or settle in with a full breakfast ($39) starring a textbook eggs Benedict.
The jade-green terrazzo bar and backlit wall glow like jewels from the streetfront. Cocktails take the hotel’s botanical theme literally, with house-made bitters, infused spirits and syrups in the rather ambitious likes of Beetroot Mojitos and Nettle Gimlets.