I’m a Sydneysider from Marrickville in Sydney’s inner west, and although I go through Penrith regularly on my way to stay in the Blue Mountains, I’ve never thought to stop there and make Penrith the actual long-weekend destination. But as a Time Out Editor whose job it is to explore and eat my way around all of Sydney, I decided it was about time I spent more than a day in this Western Sydney hub on the edge of our huge city. The fact that Penrith is now home to a lush new hotel also helped push me in the direction of Penrith.
The Pullman is Penrith’s first five-star hotel, and it’s located in the Panthers precinct, right across from the sprawling Leagues Club with its many restaurants as bars, as well as indoor flying centre iFLY, and an Aqua Golf driving range (more on that later) – plenty for me and my family to do right there on the hotel's doorstep, let alone everything else nearby.
I was expecting the Pullman Penrith to be comfortable and have all the amenities you’d expect from a five-star hotel – I didn’t expect it to be so elegant, though. As you enter the lobby, striking and colourful artworks and installations line parts of the walls and ceilings – it feels more Melbourne than Western Sydney.
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We’re offered a glass of Champagne and juices after check-in, which we enjoy on a lounge at a marble table while we decide where to go for lunch. We settle on a restaurant at the Panthers club across the road, and we’re glad we do, because after our meal, we head to the lawn out back and watch the footy on the big screens as the kids run around on the grass before sunset. It’s a nice spot to sit in the last sunshine of the day. As we walk across the road back to the Pullman, the light is hitting the curved hotel in such a beautiful way that it shines gold, and I’m already starting to develop a little crush on this pocket of Western Sydney.
Our room is big and comfortable with luxe trimmings, and it would be easy to settle in here for room service for the night. But we’ve heard great things about Marcel Bar & Bistro – the hotel's restaurant – so we take the lift there for dinner. Hotel restaurants can be hit and miss, but this one is a hit. We work our way through the Grande Tasting Menu ($110 per person), starting with oysters, moving onto a generous antipasto and charcuterie board, a range of delicious starters and sides, a flat-iron steak with red wine jus for main, and a sweet potato crème brûlée for dessert. The cocktails are up there with the best I’ve had in recent times. Once again, it's all a little unexpected – I didn't think I'd be fine-dining in Penrith.
Next day, after a lovely big buffet breakfast at Marcel, we cross the avenue to try out indoor skydiving at iFLY – something you should try at least once in your life, especially if you’re not up for the real thing. After a tutorial from our instructor, we have a couple of goes of literally flying above the air that’s shooting up beneath us. We come out on a high, ready for lunch.
We head down the road into Penrith town, and come across pink-hued Mexican restaurant Checho’s, where we order an array of birria-style tacos, before heading back to the Panthers for more footy – it’s footy finals season, after all.
That night we happen to luck upon a fairly new Indian restaurant in town, Punjabi Paradise, where we savour some of the best curries we’ve eaten in a long time. Even my spice-sensitive son gets stuck into them, following each mouthful of curry with a sip of mango lassi so he can keep going. We've never seen him do this before.
Next day, we play a round of Aqua Golf – it’s a driving range where you hit the balls into water instead of onto grass. The deal is that if you hit certain targets (some near, some far) in the water, you take home cash prizes – an element that we find does add extra thrill to the driving-range experience.
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We get in the car to head home, but stop off for lunch on the way at The Orchard, which is like Penrith’s version of The Grounds of Alexandria. It’s a big, grassy property with pathways leading to various mini venues and charming sitting areas, both outdoors and indoors. We sit under the shade of a coral-coloured umbrella in the sunshine and feast on delicious Korean fried chicken bowls, with tomato rice, crispy kale, a gooey egg and big dollop of mashed avo. What an unexpected treat.
The whole experience here in Penrith has been unexpected – packed with action, atmosphere, luxury and a whole lot of delicious food. We'll be back.
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