QT SYDNEY
If you loathe beige hotels, you’ll love the QT. From door staf wearing fiery red
wigs and leather, to the video installations at reception and walls of suitcases
in the lobby, the QT is one big performance. There are nods to the building’s
former life – part State Theatre, part Gowings Department Store – in sleek,
pinstriped staf uniforms. Rooms and corridors can be dark but strategically
placed mirrors and lighting render them dramatic, and furnishings are bright
and modern. Remnant Art Deco features, including floorboards and stairwell
signage to the now-defunct dressmakers’ workshop, lend character. There may
be QTs popping up everywhere but the Sydney flagship works hard to feel
unique.49 Market St, Sydney, (02) 8262 0000, qthotelsandresorts.comGet wrapped at the retro-
styled subterranean spa and
unwind in the steam room. Or submit
to a straight-edge shave in the barber
shop next door.
A stone’s throw from Pitt
Street Mall, the Queen Victoria
Building and the Westfield shopping
maze, it doesn’t get more central
than this if you’re after a Sydney
retail fix.
Breakfast in Gowings Bar
& Grill is à la carte; don’t
miss the huevos rancheros, a soft
tortilla with beans, avocado mousse,
coriander, lime and an egg. At lunch
and dinner, chef Grant King’s lengthy
menu covers all bases, from oysters
and snapper ceviche to 270-day
Scotch fillet from the grill.
In the restaurant bar or the
more glamorous Gilt Lounge,
the drinks list is impressive,
particularly for spirits and cocktails
(2002 Louis Roederer Cristal Rosé,
anyone?). Highlights from the playful
minibar include quality booze,
a beard-trimming kit, a domino
set and a bow tie.WHERECBD.COST
From $320, without
breakfast.AT A GLANCE
200 rooms and suites,
adjoining rooms; bars,
restaurant, café, day
spa, barber shop, gym,
steam room, paid valet
parking.IN ROOMFree
WiFi, some baths and
balconies, cofee
machine, Malin + Goetz
toiletries.BEST ROOMS
Two apartment-sized
QT suites have plenty
of oak-panelled space
and balconies guarded
by gargoyles.Pier One Bar.QT Executive King room.PIER ONE SYDNEY HARBOUR
The glass of bubbles ofered on arrival
mirrors the sparkling harbour view that
dominates the lobby and bar, the water
so close you could cast a fishing line
while lounging with drinks at the bar’s
booths and cabanas lining the pier.
The location is hard to beat: part of the
Walsh Bay arts precinct, with the bridge
looming overhead and much of the
harbour’s water traic bobbing past.
Make the most of it by taking breakfast
with views at The Gantry’s waterside
tables, or settle later pier-side with a
burger or ribs from the food truck on
site. Inside, the handsome industrial
bones of this old finger wharf set
a nautical vibe in white, light-filled,
unfussy rooms with city or (more)
harbour views.11 Hickson Rd,
Walsh Bay, (02) 8298 9999,
pieronesydneyharbour.com.auAs one of only two wharf hotels
in the city, there are few more
spectacular or afordable places to
stay and play by the harbour. Plan a
day around it: start with a waterfront
walk or jog from your room, stroll to
Circular Quay for a ferry (anywhere),
and return to your pier for sundowners.
Conveniently, there’s a water-taxi
rank out the front.
Not close enough to the water?
Dive in from the hotel’s private
Astro-turfed pontoon, where an adults-
only bar and plunge pool operate in
summer (November-February).
The busy breakfast bufet ($38)
is good without being stellar,
and includes an egg station and good
barista-made cofee.Thingsget more
interesting in lunch, pre-show and
tasting menus, whichshowcase
produce such as Flinders Island
wallaby and Robbins Island wagyu.
If you can resist the siren call
of a pier-side tipple, the minibar
stocks four pre-mixed cocktails by
Melbourne’s Everleigh Bottling Co.WHEREWalsh Bay, on the CBD fringe.COSTFrom $299, without breakfast.AT A GLANCE189 rooms and suites,
adjoining rooms; bar, restaurant, food truck, gym, paid valet and self-parking, pets welcome.IN ROOMFree WiFi,
some baths and balconies, some cofee machines, pillow menu, Appelles toiletries.BEST ROOM The Admiral Suite
has a wraparound balcony with views of the bridge, the Opera House and Luna Park.162 GOURMET TRAVELLER