HOTELS & HOT TUBS
Three funky Sydney hotels to check out
Once a carbon copy of all things Brit, it is intriguing to see Australia develop an identity of its own. And in the field of design, its hotels are leading the pack. Here are three millennial concept-hotels that are certain to intrigue and impress.
PARAMOUNT HOUSE HOTEL
Imagine a hotel reception that you must walk through a crowded coffee shop to reach. And when at the elevator, you wait alongside trendy millennials going up to the speciality bakery, or to the gym upstairs.
That’s Paramount House Hotel in Surry Hills for you. Housed in a building constructed in 1940 for the Paramount Picture Studios, the hotel feels like it’s a hub for creative professionals, and you must walk through their jumble of ideas to get to your room.
The suites are even more interesting. With the exception of a tiny WC that has an enclosed room, the basin, tub and towel rack merges with the sitting area and balcony, with a staircase taking you up to your sleeping area.
Unlike tightly tucked-in sheets that hotels love, this one has breathable linens from a local Australian brand in pink and grey, making it fun and comfy. Only discomfort: bathing in the tub in full view of the person you’re sharing your room with.
Then again, aren’t body issues so last generation?
OLD CLARE HOTEL
Imagine the double bed in your hotel room being surrounded by a semicircular sofa that sticks to the walls of the room. This is the Old Clare Hotel that’s situated close to the Sydney
Central Station, bang opposite the Sydney University of Tech and a stone’s throw from ChinaTown.
A carpeted kangaroo sculpture welcomes you, and old-fashioned barber’s chairs are strewn around the public areas, resembling chairs that may be used for electrocution. Thankfully, the rooms are large with just one oddity: the tub in the middle!
Of note is the breakfast that has no buffet, okay-ish coffee, but a black pudding on the menu of the half a dozen dishes available to choose from. There’s also a food gully just outside in case pig’s blood isn't your thing…
“THE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART IS FREE, AND ITS ROOFTOP CAFE SERVES UP VIEWS OF THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE ALONGSIDE GREAT COFFEE”
ACE HOTEL
This is the newest of the three, and is the first Ace Hotel in the South Hemisphere. The funky, inclusivity-led chain has pulled out the stops for their first hotel in Australia, where they took an old eightstoreyed building and built on top of it.
The result: funky rooms (a few with tubs outside), window-facing sofas, environment-friendly material and messaging, and a no-judgment environment. This is the philosophy most old chains are trying hard to understand.
The community coffee shop on the ground floor was quiet, as the hotel was new, but has the potential to become a buzzy hotspot for casual meetings and cool rendezvous. that carries its young in a pouch. Australia is where a whole variety of species originated. The zoo is a place to see odd endemic an d enigmatic creatures, like the Tasmanian Devil that sidles out during feeding time.
After a few days, I take an hour-long flight to Byron Bay. It is there, from the lighthouse with ocean all around, that I see the whale. She is slicing through the ocean below, on her way home. Much like I need to be.
Shoba Narayan is an author, columnist, journalist and content creator who has been writing about travel, food, wine and culture for 30 years