Paramount House Hotel, Surry Hills review: Sydney hotel resurrected from a film studio's offices

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Paramount House Hotel, Surry Hills review: Sydney hotel resurrected from a film studio's offices

By Riley Wilson
Updated
The beautifully restored building stands out with herringbone screens, for balcony privacy.

The beautifully restored building stands out with herringbone screens, for balcony privacy.Credit: Katherine Lu

THE PLACE

Opened in 2018, Paramount House Hotel was a phoenix-like exercise. Rising from the bones of the former Paramount Pictures offices, the 29-room hotel pairs elevated eclecticism with an unmistakable coolness, resulting in a uniquely Sydney experience. The ghosts are encouraged, with the former courtyard now a central lobby and the popcorn still popping in the basement theatrette.

LOCATION

The sumptuous Mack Daddy suite.

The sumptuous Mack Daddy suite.Credit: Nikki To

Everything is within walking distance. In the heart of bubbling Surry Hills, the hotel is about 15 minutes from anything you could possibly want to do: the colour of Oxford Street and Darlinghurst, the speed of Haymarket, the shopping and eating of Crown Street and greater Surry Hills, or the sprawl of the CBD. It's situated directly between Central and Museum stations, a 10-minute walk from each, and on a variety of bus lines, putting the rest of Sydney within arm's reach.

THE LOOK

If you, like me, rock up to the lobby (which the hotel shares with Paramount Coffee Project) with a sheen of Sydney humidity across your forehead, fear not: there's sparkling water on tap at check in. And sparkling mint tea by Love Tea. And golden ale.

Ensuites are stocked with Aesop bath products.

Ensuites are stocked with Aesop bath products.Credit: Tom Ross

The hotel exists within the art deco structure of the former commercial offices of Paramount Pictures, built in 1940 by architecture firm Herbert, Wilson & Pynor. The highly intentional, double-height lobby is capped with a glass ceiling, and filled with potted plants, comfortable seating areas and art curated by local China Heights gallery.

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Golden Age Cinema, a bar and 56-seater theatrette that used to house Paramount's screening rooms, is in the basement. Palm Springs-esque Paramount Recreation Club claims the rooftop, with a small gym, an outdoor kiosk and potted palms, and regular public events.

THE ROOM

My two-night stay is spent in a Mack Daddy suite, with a balcony overlooking the glorious Mark Foys building and interior design featuring as much rust-coloured linen as is possible in good taste. The king-size bed is separated from the spacious "living room" by a floor-to-ceiling sliding door that feels unnecessary but sumptuous. Your coffee cups? Handmade by Brisbane's Commons Ceramics and best filled with Reuben Hills instant coffee.

The room feels like the lovechild of a New York industrial loft, an art gallery and the city apartment of your most hip friend, and yet it's extremely Sydney. Pride of place is apparent throughout Paramount House and it extends here, with Aesop bath products and a minibar stocked with Australian brands. The bathroom, with walls made from slightly-too-transparent obscure glass, boasts a Japanese-style rectangular bathtub and brass rain-head shower. The bed is covered in boldly toned Cultiver linen sheets and a Merino wool blanket made from upcycled cuttings that would've ended up on the factory floor. A huge tapestry of a shark overlooks the bed and herringbone concrete tiles match the herringbone-screened balcony, which means you've got your privacy from city residents. The result is the feeling that maybe you're not in a hotel at all; for a few nights, you're a local.

THE FOOD

Paramount Coffee Project opens at 7.30am and it's bustling until 4pm. A steady run of batch brews and flat whites stream out to travellers, local creatives and business people talking shop. Natural woods, concrete and exposed ductwork set the scene for a thoroughly modern meal: eggs poached in habanero salsa, served with labneh and pork sausage from Chippendale's LP's Quality Meats. Upmarket wine bar Poly is on the lower level, but Paramount is within walking distance of a cornucopia of divine eateries.

STEPPING OUT

The hotel is smack-bang in the middle of the best of Surry Hills' dining and retail-therapy spots. Oxford Street and its plethora of night-time events and live music is over the hill; the CBD and associated theatres is on the other corner.

THE VERDICT

Paramount House Hotel is an exceptionally successful fusion of concept, style, intention and execution. The result is a sophisticated stay in a bustling pocket of Sydney, the hotel a destination and experience that surprises and inspires.

THE DETAILS

Rooms from $250 a night. 80 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, NSW, 2010. See paramounthousehotel.com

HIGHLIGHT

The constantly delighting details hidden in the bones of the Paramount precinct.

LOWLIGHT

There are no private spaces for guests, besides rooms, so if you want to head up to the rooftop in your robe with a coffee, you have to walk past the throngs of hip young things on the ground floor.

OUR RATING

★★★★½

The writer stayed as a guest of Paramount House Hotel and Destination NSW.

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