Sydney's Porter House Hotel: New hotel is full of character

What Sydney, like most other Australian capitals, needs is not so much more hotels but better and more inspiring ones; hotels with a true sense of place, rather than someone else's place, drawing in locals as well as tourists.

On that criteria, the city's newest establishment, the 122-room Porter House Hotel, already seems to be succeeding, after having opened in spring this year.

While international tourists are sluggish to return, locals are embracing these bold new designer digs only footsteps from Hyde Park, military green these days courtesy of Sydney's incessant rain, and its overlooked gem, the Art Deco-style Anzac Memorial.

Located on an otherwise bland section of Castlereagh Street in the central CBD and a member of Accor's MGallery international brand of character-rich hotels, the Angelo Candelapas-designed Porter House is a winning example of "heritage meets modernity".

The Porter House, after all, consists of the first 10 floors of a striking 36-storey tower with distinctive hooded windows which adjoins a carefully restored 1870s heritage-listed building, complete with restored original commercial signwriting on its exposed walls from its foundation years.

It hosts bars, restaurants and The Porter House's intimate reception area, reached from a laneway off the main street that's lined with found colonial artefacts from the site and specially-commissioned artwork.

The heritage building began life as the Dixson & Sons tobacco factory and warehouse with the hotel's signature (strictly non-smoking) restaurant bearing the same name while at a street level Henry's Bread & Wine is a more laidback cafe-cum-wine bar (oh, and a budding florist, as well).

On the way is another venue within the heritage wing - upscale cocktail bar Spice Trader. . It should prove popular with the area's non-WFH crowd as well as house guests revelling in one Sydney place bearing a true sense of place.