From the lounge space on the 21st floor of the Sheraton Grand Hyde Park, the Sydney evening stretches out below me in intricate detail. Above the commuters walking home through the park, the fig tree canopies stretch like cities of leaves, and the towers of Kings Cross blink to life as the stone spires of the cathedral are cast in a buttery glow. Beyond the Woolloomooloo Finger Wharves that push their historic silhouettes into the harbour, the banks of the eastern suburbs greet the water – green meeting blue – and the ocean horizon cuts a deep navy line into the sky. Sydney’s most iconic landmarks – the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge – might be out of sight, but there’s so much in this view that speaks to the fabric of the city, from a hotel situated deep within its buzzing heart.
The Sheraton Grand Hyde Park is a hotel whose name reflects its offering: it’s opulent and old-school in the very best way. And though it would be easy for this hotel to rest on its laurels – with its super-central location guaranteeing its popularity – the team manages to deliver something that’s at once intimate and awe-inspiring. With 588 rooms and 48 suites stretching above the city for 22 expansive floors, this is a hotel that reminds you that you’re in one of the world’s major cities.
Arriving into the grand, gold-trimmed lobby, you’ll be struck instantly by its scale. Marble pillars stretch up into the ceiling and a thick, slowly-sloping staircase wraps up the west side towards the mezzanine level, where you’ll find the hotel’s award-winning restaurant. In a timeless gem of a hotel, Sydney Common – the vast, light-flooded restaurant on the first floor – is a modern Australian restaurant that’s up there with Sydney’s best. If you arrive around late afternoon, it’s worth heading straight here – happy hour runs from 4.30pm until 6.30pm Tuesday through Friday, with $8 Martinis and $12 Negronis setting the tone for what’s to come.
With head chef Jamie Robertson on the pans, and a supremely friendly and well-informed team (led by restaurant manager James Curtis and the delightful assistant restaurant manager Ernesto) delivering on-point service with charm, Sydney Common is very much a destination in itself. After happy hour, sit down at a table by the window and let the team order for you – the signature starter is the umami doughnut with truffle-spiked Comté, and the woodfired king prawns are unmissable. If you’re in the mood for an after dinner drink, one of Sydney’s most reliably fun underground bars – Ramblin Rascal – is just a minute’s walk down the street, but staying at Sydney Common with a round of Fernet Branca isn’t a bad idea either.
The key hack to making the most of a stay at the Sheraton Grand – besides getting to Sydney Common in time for happy hour – is booking a park-facing room. Not only does this afford you prime people-watching position, but it also means you can watch the sun rise over the city without leaving bed. With morning warmth flooding the room, we decided to make the most of it, and jogged through the city down to the Botanic Garden, whose shaded pathways were dense with subtropical scents. The route along the water and past the Opera House was an easy thirty-minute jog, and we made it back just as the rooftop terrace was heating up with the promise of summer. The 22nd floor is the hotel’s wellness space, with the rooftop terrace connecting directly to the heated swimming pool that lives beneath a domed glass roof. It’s up here that you’ll also find a 24-hour gym with on-site personal trainers, a sauna and steam room and one of Sydney’s very best spas – with a range of restorative massage treatments and bespoke facials inspired by the seasons. If we’d had the time, this would have been where we spent our day, but – unlike the family frolicing in the pool – we were not on holiday.
Downstairs at breakfast, we were presented with a buffet of dreams – with everything from congee to croissants presented in an abundant, seemingly endless feast. We ordered juice from the juice bar and omlettes from the omlette station, and if we'd wanted to stay here until afternoon tea, our teddy bear picnics could have come true (the hotel has partnered with Build-A-Bear for the ultimate high tea takeover). As it was, we had work to do, but within the centre of the city, there are really few better places to call your office for the day.
If you’re visiting the Sheraton Grand for work, you’ll want access to the executive lounge: the park-facing space on the 21st floor, with soft drinks, cakes and coffee on tap, a gloriously extensive canapé selection available every evening, and those ridiculously good views I mentioned earlier.
Although the hotel would work well as a holiday base – in the heart of Sydney’s buzzing city centre, a short walk from the world-famous Circular Quay and within an easy journey from many of the city’s beaches – I think its offering as a business hotel is its calling card. The exectutive lounge is a dream office space, the rooms are spacious and decorated with a tasteful grandeur, and the constant hum of the park through the hotel’s floor-to-ceiling windows gives you the sense that you’re part of Sydney's story.
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