This was published 1 year ago
Hotel review: InterContinental Sydney's impressive $120 million makeover
Killer view-infused Aster, a pricey new bar on the 32nd floor.
CHECK-IN
The language around the nature of hotel renovations can leave one in a fix. When is a "full refurbishment" really a spruce-up on the cheap? Is an "exciting makeover" the same as a "complete revitalisation"? And what, pray tell, does a "glamover" actually mean? You'd be amazed (maybe not), too, how little return hotels and resorts can receive from the millions invested into hotel renos in a giddily high cost Australia. However, the $120 million said to have been poured into a reborn 509-room InterContinental Sydney - set on the harbour end of stately Macquarie Street, close to the Opera House and straight across from the Royal Botanic Gardens - is near enough to the real deal.
THE LOOK
The perfect spot to linger over a book or drink as you soak up your harbour, park or city view.
The cookie cutter has too often been the Australian hotel designer's main tool of choice. But in this case, interior design powerhouse Woods Bagot has admirably striven to celebrate and highlight the hotel's location. Hues of subtropical Sydney blues and greens, consequently, flow throughout the hotel, often in ingenious and organic ways. However, the cash-rich brief was a challenging one. It involved the modernisation of an 1980s' high-rise hotel combined with the first three levels of the heritage-listed, 171-year-old sandstone Treasury Building with a courtyard encased by an imposing glass roof. A bold Woods Bagot chose to slap a sleek though attention-grabbing illuminated bar right in the midst of it. It somehow succeeds, along with the reception area's easily-overlooked green-streaked limestone feature wall fronted by striking reception desks crafted from spotted gum.
THE ROOM
Unlike most modern-day fully glazed hotels, the InterContinental Sydney tower, a product of its era, is bereft of floor to ceiling windows, but in my suite, with its beige-free blue and green palette, the designers have compensated for this by including nest-like chaise lounges directly under the old-style window, creating the perfect, and perfectly sunny, spot to linger over a book or drink as you soak up your harbour, park or city view. Expect all of the five-star in-room accoutrements from the regulation coffee machine (can we have a milk frother, as well, pretty please?) to a well and jazzily stocked mini-bar.
The InterContinental Sydney's renovation reportedly cost $120 million.
FOOD + DRINK
Interestingly, the new InterContinental Sydney doesn't appear to have succumbed to the often loss-leading let's-try-for-a-hat restaurant trap that's befallen other Sydney hotels. But food and plonk flows freely everywhere, beginning with the relatively low-key Treasury, all the way to killer view-infused Aster, a pricey new bar on the 32nd floor as well as the exclusive for houseguests Club InterContinental Lounge, relocated one level below. Breakfast is served in the attractive Cafe Opera redesigned space, now known as The Conservatory. But, like me, you may wish to banish the at times gluttonous hotel buffet and head outside to discover a cool and more languid cafe such as nearby Bar Mammoni at the nearby Quay Quarter Lanes precinct.
OUT + ABOUT
All of the usual Sydney harbourside iconic enticements (you know 'em and we've run out of space to list 'em) are within an easy and pleasant stroll of the hotel. However, one other noteworthy attraction to visit, is the newly-opened Sydney Modern, the showy new standalone exhibition space at the Art Gallery of NSW. It's a 15 minute walk (longer if you prefer to dawdle) via the adjacent Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain, resplendent from the recent incessant rains.
THE VERDICT
The InterContinental Sydney's impressive makeover, albeit with the odd corners cut, ranks as one of the harbour city's most considered, sensitive and sophisticated five-star hotel refurbishments and a model for future such projects.
ESSENTIALS
Rates start from $348 per night for a king class room; 117 Macquarie Street, Sydney. Ph: 02-9253 9000; see sydney.intercontinental.com; ihg.com
OUR SCORE OUT OF FIVE
★★★★½
HIGHLIGHT
The hotel's cleverly reimagined and rearranged top levels, complete with swimming pool, finally fully exploit the space's panoramic city and harbour view potential.
LOWLIGHT
The hotel's transformation doesn't seem to have reached the somewhat scrappy guest elevators which feature some unbecoming stick-on signage during my stay.
The writer stayed as a guest of InterContinental Sydney.
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