Sydney’s new, old hotels give guests an experience of the city’s past, while pampering them in modern luxury
- Former government buildings in Sydney’s CBD have been turned into heritage hotels, mixing original features with modern fittings and artworks
- Visit the Capella Sydney with its nods to indigenous culture, the InterContinental Hotel, and the Kimpton Margot in the old Sydney Water Board building
Flying into Sydney, the Harbour Bridge and its neighbour, the Opera House, glint in the sunlight. The glitterati are swanning about on yachts. But in the blocks behind the aquatic wonderland, you’ll find there is history, as well as glitz, in this Australian city.
Some of that history is ugly. In 1788, the British seized the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and the reconciliation process continues today. Some, though, has an attractive side.
In the 150 years post-invasion, impressive sandstone and granite buildings were constructed by the government, edifices that are now a treasured, if sometimes neglected, part of Australia’s heritage.
Recently, hotel chains have taken a defibrillator to some of these dusty sandstone relics, creating stand-out new old hotels.
Capella Sydney opened on March 15, the first hotel outside Asia for the Singaporean-owned brand. The 192-room hotel occupies two joined Edwardian-Baroque buildings that formerly belonged to the Department of Education, completed in 1915, and the Department of Agriculture, built in 1930.
The Capella’s main entrance is the original marble entryway to the newer building. Here, four brass-framed directory boards now present works by Indigenous Australian artist Judy Watson.