No harbour views, but new $300 million Sydney hotel gets perfect score
CHECK-IN
Chatting with a staffer at the new $300 million Capella Sydney, I predict that once guests filter through in numbers, they will be wholly impressed by this uncommonly refined five-star hotel. He agrees, but a little forlornly points to Capella’s relative deficit of harbour views when compared to its direct five-star Sydney competitors.
Capella Sydney, just off Farrer Place, is an Edwardian baroque-style former home to the NSW Department of Education.Credit: Timothy Kaye
But, oh, what of the unmatched views you get within the hotel itself? The early 20th-century sandstone building was formerly home to the NSW Department of Education, and the high-end Singapore-based Capella Hotels and Resorts group looks as if it has spared absolutely nothing in its careful and cultivated reimagining of the property.
THE LOOK
Grand heritage chic. No one does hotels these days quite as well or as assuredly as the leading Asian luxury hotel brands, with extreme attention to detail evident throughout the art-studded interior, including much-discussed works by Indigenous artist Judy Watson set inside the building’s original brass-framed entrance directory boards.
The Aperture.
There is sensitivity, too, applied to the precious heritage values of this richly detailed former government building, all combining to provide a new and welcome benchmark for Sydney’s international five-stars which, truth be told, haven’t always met the expectations of discerning overseas visitors.
THE ROOM
Rooms are superbly appointed.
The quality of the public areas, including an exceedingly comfortable guest lounge space, extends seamlessly to the 192 guestrooms. My superbly appointed, 77-square-metre Skyline Suite, is more a Skyline “Glimpses” Suite with tight side views of the Harbour Bridge and berthed cruise ships. Fully visible outside the suite, however, is the somewhat eccentric dome and clock tower-studded rooftop of the adjacent Department of Lands late 19th-century building. It is being restored by Pontiac, Capella’s developer arm, and when finished it will house eateries, bars and boutiques. My softly toned suite, like its counterparts, features more curated artwork, posh furnishings, coffee table books and cosy beds dressed in Italian Frette linen.
FOOD + DRINK
Whole roasted duck to share.Credit: James Brickwood
Already the recipient of two hats from the Good Food Guide, the hotel’s beautifully outfitted signature restaurant, Brasserie 1930, is run by the Bentley Restaurant Group. It’s now open just five nights a week, something that may disappoint out-of-town guests. For a more casual mood, proceed to the Aperture, set in the building’s former - and reportedly once grungy - quadrangle. Now enclosed by a sleek glass roof, the highlight of this rejuvenated space is a slightly gimmicky yet ultimately delightful kinetic art installation by Drift, the Dutch art studio. Suspended below the ceiling, electronically operated artificial flowers gently open and close above diners. Nearby, the plush McRae Bar, named after the building’s architect, is adorned in arresting geometric murals by Indigenous artist Otis Hope Carey as well as an eclectic display of objects d’art, much of it from the collections of Capella’s discerning billionaire owners.
OUT + ABOUT
Capella Sydney is the latest piece in the rejuvenation and enlivening of the Circular Quay end of the CBD with the impressive Quay Quarter Lanes dining precinct having opened last year with Sydney Place, further towards George Street, also featuring a network of alleys, still under construction. All in all, the best of Sydney is right out the front door, but there should be enough to keep you amused within the hotel itself, including an indoor rooftop pool reached through a pair of incongruous though adorable heritage timber and brass-handled doors.
THE VERDICT
A major new tourism and architectural asset, Capella Sydney hotel joins Crown Sydney - with which it shares a similar, giddily high, nightly tariff - as arguably one of the city’s two genuine five-star plus international hotels.
ESSENTIALS
Rates from $800 a night. 24 Loftus Street, Sydney NSW. Ph: (02) 9071 5000. See capellahotels.com
Anthony Dennis stayed as a guest of Capella Sydney
OUR SCORE OUT OF FIVE
★★★★★
HIGHLIGHT
The world-class interior design and amenities throughout the hotel more than compensate for the general absence of views.
LOWLIGHT
Leave your wheels behind if you can. Valet parking at Capella Sydney costs a whopping $120 a day (is that a record?)
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