The last few years have seen some great new additions to the Sydney hotel scene. From eco friendly designer boutique hotels to international luxury brands making their mark in Australia for the first time, we now have even more memorable ways to stay.
Along with the new Sydney hotels that are opening in 2025, we’re sharing some of the best new additions from the last couple of years for those who haven’t been back to the harbour city for a wee while.
Ready to see where you could be checking in next? Let’s go…
The Old Clare Hotel, Chippendale
While it’s not new as such, The Old Clare Hotel has earned a spot in this story because in 2025, it’s going to feel like a new one.
This stylish hotel in Sydney’s Chippendale is one of those places I’ve enjoyed many drinks and bites to eat with friends in the bar before, and the last time I was in Sydney I had a chance to stay upstairs for the first time too.
It’s an exciting time for The Old Clare, which will soon be revealing some fresh looks and feels as part of its new chapter with Ode Hotels. This newly launched boutique hotel collection by EVT Hotels & Resorts already has three special properties with the Harbour Rocks Hotel in Sydney and The Inchcolm in Brisbane joining the Old Clare as the original three Ode Hotels.
After landing at Sydney Airport I hopped on the train to Central Station and walked around 600m to the Old Clare. After checking in I smiled at the carpet kangaroo in the walkthrough area as I made my way to the lift and up to my room.
The hotel has 69 rooms across two heritage buildings, with a range of styles and layouts including a two level Chippendale Loft and four suites. I’m in one of the Abercrombie Rooms, which are around 72m2 and have vintage designer furniture, super king size beds and open plan bathrooms with freestanding bathtubs, along with separate rain and hand showers.
After a long flight a long soak in my big tub was just the tonic, and I loved freshening up with the LaGaia Unedited products too.
As I’d just come back from Japan I didn’t pack my swimmers for the trip as any water time would be swimmers-free onsen time. When I went up to look at the rooftop pool I was kicking myself, but I decided to enjoy the space with a glass of bubbles and a magazine instead.
When it was time for dinner there was no need to leave my hotel. If I’d been staying from Wednesday to Saturday I would have booked a table at The Old Clare’s hatted restaurant, Longshore, where executive chef Jarrod Walsh has a focus on sustainable seafood. As I was staying on a Monday I dined in the gastropub style Clare Bar and dined on a seriously delicious yellow fin tuna crudo toast with kimchi, green onion, soy and sesame followed by a chicken schnitty. And in the morning at my TOCH Bar breakfast I barely managed to resist the cinnamon waffles before going for another classic with a tasty smashed avocado toast.
During my stay I had a chance to chat to Group General Manager, Joel Gordon about his plans for this beautiful hotel including some new things to watch out for on the food and drinks front. I won’t give away any surprises but will say that I’m looking forward to walking back through those doors in 2025 to see – and taste – some of those changes.
The Eve Hotel Sydney
My old shopping centre the Surry Hills Village has been given a mega makeover that has felt so exciting my friend Scott and I went to the opening day of the new Coles. For reals.
So you can imagine how excited I am about the opening of The EVE Hotel Sydney which will be the jewel in the Wunderlich Lane precinct’s crown.
The EVE is part of the TFE Hotels family and has now announced that its opening date will be the 13th of February 2025. When I just happen to be in Sydney so you can be sure I’ll be popping in to take a look.
The hotel’s design by SJB’s Adam Haddow, 360 Degrees’ Daniel Baffsky, and Interior Architect George Levissianis includes vaulted ceilings, immersive art installations, and a rooftop garden with a 20 metre pool and views over Surry Hills and Redfern. That tempting pool photo with the cabanas at the top of this story? This is where you’ll find that scene.
The hotel’s Bar Julius, created by Liquid & Larder, looks set to be a welcome addition to the Surry Hills and Redfern bar and restaurant scene.
I have a feeling I’m not the only one looking forward to trying a Crystal Mimosa and their signature Bar Julius Negroni that has been created in collaboration with local distiller Archie Rose.
The Eve Hotel Sydney and has announced a Reveal launch package of overnight accommodation, a signature cocktail for two at Bar Julius and a bespoke EVE gift to take home. Rates start at $519 and you’ll need to book through The EVE by the 1st of June 2025 to enjoy that one.
25hours Hotel The Olympia, Paddington
As someone who remembers good times in Sydney’s Grand Pacific Blue Room, and who loved staying at the 25hours Hotel Bikini Berlin the news that the club’s old site was being turned into Australia’s first 25hours Hotel was good news indeed.
25hours Hotel The Olympia will transform the heritage listed 1-11 Oxford Street site into a 109-room hotel with a ground floor café and rooftop bar. The hotel is scheduled to open in mid 2025 and will include nods to the West Olympia Theatre that first started showing movies in the space more than a hundred years ago.
I’ll be keeping an eye on this one and can’t wait to share a first hand account of what’s behind those new doors.
Hotel Indigo Sydney Potts Point
I love hotels that embrace a sense of place and at the new Hotel Indigo Sydney Potts Point that’s happening big time. No two Hotel Indigos in the world are the same as they love to tap into the history and energy of their neighbourhood, which in this case includes days gone by in Kings Cross.
The hotel is found just behind the Coca-Cola sign in Kings Cross and in the lobby and the rooms there are lots of nods to people who have lived and worked in the neighbourhood over the years including actors like Cate Blanchett who have taken the stage at Griffin Theatre Company productions and singers including Jimmy Barnes who rocked the cross in the good old days.
There are 105 pet friendly rooms with harbour or city views including some with private terraces. My King Suite was lovely inside with a big comfy king bed, a freestanding bathtub and shower, cute robes by Aussie label Bambury, full size Biology amenities and a tempting minibar with delicious cookies and sweet along with wine and mini bottles of cocktails, while my terrace had a perfect view of a mural I love, Still Thriving by Dylan Mooney.
As someone who remembers the original Sweethearts Café in the Cross I love the little history lesson that comes with the breakfast menu beside the bed, and there are Spotify playlists of songs inspired by the area with a Bluetooth speaker so you can really feel that vibe as you step back in time.
Some suites also come with record players and vinyl, and there’s another turntable in the lobby café where you can choose a record from the vintage vinyl collection to spin. The lobby also has something that made me look twice. My books! Yes, both of the books I wrote with Vincent Rommelaere from Australia Unseen were on the shelf and I loved seeing them in such good company.
The hotel’s Luc-san restaurant by chef Luke Mangan is an unexpected and delicious French Izakaya treat. If you want to stay in, you can order room service from Luc-San and also get bottled cocktails including Cherry Blossom Martinis sent up from their bar. But I highly recommend heading downstairs and enjoying the atmosphere in the restaurant as well as the flavours.
Luke also oversees the X Café in the lobby where you can enjoy a decadent or healthy breakfast before heading out into the day.
Adina Apartment Hotel Sydney Chippendale
When I shared some videos from this stay my on Instagram stories a friend reached out to tell me they had to check Google maps to make sure that I was really in Sydney’s Chippendale. And I don’t blame him.
Between the palm trees, white walls, terrazzo tiles and all that space it’s a little hard to believe that this is found in the inner suburb but I can happily report that it’s true.
The Adina Apartment Hotel Sydney Chippendale has 42 apartment style rooms that feel like coming home to your own inner Sydney pad. There are studio rooms up to three bedroom apartments, all with fully equipped kitchens with two-burner stovetops, ovens and microwaves, and every room has a balcony too. The one, two and three bedroom apartments also come with washers and dryers.
My one bedroom apartment had Smart TVs in the living area and another one in the bedroom so I could use Chromecast to watch the shows from my device on the bigger screen.
There’s a neighbourhood map with a QR code that opens a guide to all of the places that you can explore nearby including great food options. There are more than 40 places to eat within walking distance of the hotel, and one of Australia’s best food tour operators Mia Cucina has put together a Google map for hotel guests to make it nice and easy to find the one they want.
Or you can enjoy staying in with some local dishes delivered to your door. I’d just landed back in the country after a busy trip so as much as I was tempted to go exploring, I decided to order an Angry Tony’s pizza and a red wine, pop on an episode of Schitt’s Creek and have an early night.
While I could have had breakfast in bed, in the morning I went to the Terra Cotta Roasters café downstairs for a morning burger and coffee before it was time to pack my bags and be on my way.
Moxy Sydney Airport
A few years ago I had the chance to be one of the first people to stay in the Moxy East Village in New York and immediately felt the ‘oh yes’ that comes when you find a hotel that feels right up your alley.
When Australia’s first Moxy hotel opened near Sydney airport I knew where I wanted to stay before my next flight, and as I accepted a welcome cocktail with my room key in the hotel lobby that doubles as a bar those oh yes feelings were back.
At Moxy hotels they know how to make the most of their common spaces, and love to tempt people out of their rooms to mingle with fellow travellers. The Canadian interior design studio MAED. COLLECTIVE have created a shared Living Room with reclaimed vintage lounge chairs, a 1970s photo booth and Skee-Ball game, and spaces including The Record Room that can be a meeting space one minute and an event venue the next.
Upstairs there’s a gleaming laundry with an eye catching, or is that candy, image of a shirtless tattooed man doing a bit of ironing, while the gym has a hopscotch court on the floor alongside the pink weights and workout equipment including stationary and ‘take me off the wall and go for a real ride’ bikes.
The Moxy Sydney Airport has 301 rooms including king and queen options, along with twins and quad bunk beds for families and frugal friends. All rooms have an unusual space saving twist on bathrooms with toilets and showers behind a textured glass wall, and hand poured cement sinks on the other, shared part of the room, side.
If you want to dine or work in your room there are folding furniture chairs and a table doubling as an art installation on the wall alongside a 55-inch flat screen TV. But why stay in when you can meet new travel friends downstairs? Or just enjoy people watching while sipping a ‘Gateway to Play’ gin collaboration between Moxy Airport and Archie Rose Distillers (that’s with apple, native thyme and Dorrigo pepperleaf botanicals for the gin lovers out there) and nibbling the sinfully good Loaded Dough Not Fries with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream.
At the end of the night I had to remind myself I was an easy airport shuttle from my flight the next day rather than at a buzzing new Sydney hotel in the city. A whole lot of fun and super airport convenient to boot is an oh yes combination in this gal’s book.
W Sydney, Darling Harbour
Sydney is now home to the world’s biggest W Hotel after the W Sydney opened its doors. The $1 billion hotel has 588 rooms, including 162 suites, a 30-metre, open air infinity pool on the 29th floor, a rooftop bar and W’s signature Living Room Bar, an AWAY Spa that also has another bar, and a state-of-the-art FIT gym.
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And with 1300 square meters of event space across eight rooms, as well as floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the harbour from the Great Room, the W Sydney is bound to become a new hot spot for Sydney events.
ADGE Hotel + Residences, Surry Hills
“I can see you wearing my hotel carpet and looking fabulous in it.” As soon as I stepped into my room at ADGE Hotel + Residences I was sending that message with a photo to my friend Athena and seeing her rocking this pattern oh so clearly. Inspired by the Italian fashion houses of the 1950s and ‘60s the rooms are packed with personality, and the style love continues in the hallways which look like they’ve sprung out of a tattoo studio and the industrial lobby with pops of colours in fun chairs.
The ADGE is on Riley Street, Surry Hills, a street I used to live on in my early Sydney days and is next door to an old hotel I’ve stayed in too. The Cambridge Hotel that I knew is currently undergoing a massive overhaul before it becomes part of the $65 million ADGE upgrade. When the renovations are complete, the two sections will share the communal lobby and there’ll be 242 rooms to choose from, but for now there are 93, including the one I called home for the night, 501.
My room has a pod bathroom that you can see out of but not into, and other welcome details including Smeg fridges, smart TVs, and windows that open for fresh air as well as the air con option on hot Sydney days and nights.
There are two ways to dine at ADGE. Sydney’s smallest Japanese restaurant, Raida Noda’s Chef Kitchen, and Korean inspired dishes from the acclaimed Soul Deli. While the fine dining Japanese is more of a special treat, Soul Deli is a great way to start the day and a cafe I’ll be coming back to even when I’m not sleeping upstairs.
202 Elizabeth, Surry Hills
Despite being a former Surry Hills resident, and despite the hotel’s name being its address, I’ll admit I couldn’t quite figure out where 202 Elizabeth was before I went to stay. Turns out the doorway to 202 Elizabeth is a blink and you miss it affair, but from the moment I walked through that door I knew I was in the right place.
202 Elizabeth is a 38-room boutique hotel that’s also known by those in the biz as ‘the impossible build’ thanks to the rather unusual challenges they faced. Landlocked on three sides and with busy Elizabeth Street out the front, traditional construction methods were off the table so they decided to build the hotel from the inside out.
Sydney based Alessi Design + Build constructed most of the hotel offsite and then pieced it together like a jigsaw puzzle with cranes. The hotel is entirely built out of carbon negative, cross laminted timber (CLT) and created zero waste during construction making it one of the most sustainably built hotels around.
Knowing the challenges they faced made me smile as I saw the exposed timber in the lift shaft and stairways, where it still smells like freshly cut wood too.
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202 Elizabeth is adults only and pet friendly, which means while fur babies are allowed, human ones need to wait until they’re 16 years and over.
Every room comes with a king sized bed, a complimentary mini bar with organic soft drinks and snacks, a rain shower with Hunter Lab amenities and striking wallpaper by Kingdom Home Design including roses, pineapples and palm frond designs.
I was lucky enough to stay in The Lizzy, the 40m2 suite on the top floor where I had not one but two walk in showers beside one another, a bathtub, a living area and loads of design touches I loved, down to the most elegant electric kettle I’ve ever seen in a hotel room.
Pet friendly rooms come with balconies and while The Lizzy may be balcony free if I wanted some fresh air I could relax in the courtyard out the back, or on the large rooftop with views over Surry Hills and towards Central Station’s clock tower.
202 Elizabeth may not have a restaurant but they can organise a delicious breakfast in bed and you’re only a short stroll from some great places to eat in Surry Hills and Thai Town.
Capella Sydney, CBD
A new addition to the Sydney luxury hotel scene, Capella Sydney opened its doors in March 2023 after a seven year restoration and renovation process.
The first Capella hotel in Australia occupies an entire, albeit smaller, city block and is just a short stroll away from Circular Quay and the Opera House. Capella Sydney has transformed the historic Lands and Education Buildings into 192 guestrooms and suites across nine levels, with Italian Frette linen and a bespoke collection of vegan, sustainable in-room amenities designed in partnership with Haeckels.
There’s a 20m indoor heated pool and a spa, Sandstone Spa and Fitness Centre, a rooftop harbour lounge, in-house restaurant, and gallery room for private events. The hotel’s restaurant Brasserie 1930 has already received two hats from the Good Food Guide and guests can take a more casual dining seat in Aperture in the building’s old quadrangle underneath the bespoke kinetic sculpture Meadow by Studio Drift.
Hotel Morris, CBD
Sydney’s newest oldest hotel originally opened back in 1929 and almost 100 years later has now been reborn as part of Accor’s Handwritten Collection.
The revamped Hotel Morris opened in February 2023 in an Art Deco building that for 34 years claimed the title of Australia’s tallest hotel.
There are now 82 rooms in the boutique heritage listed hotel, and day to night dining options downstairs at Bar Morris where Italian inspired dishes can be enjoyed with Italian and Australian wines.
Kimpton Margot Sydney , CBD
When the boutique hotel pioneers Kimpton arrived in Australia we were among the first to see the Kimpton Margot Sydney.
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Every Kimpton hotel has its own unique identity and the Kimpton Margot Sydney is tapping into the artistic women who helped shape the Australian art scene in the 1930s. As well as setting the hotel in one of the city’s historic Art Deco buildings, the Kimpton Margot Sydney will also create an immersive art program with an eclectic lineup of local artists.
The Kimpton Margot Sydney features 172 luxury rooms and suites, a range of culinary experiences by one of Australia’s top chefs, Luke Mangan, a rooftop swimming pool, in-styled event spaces, and other hotel hallmarks.
Guests are treated to complimentary drinks in the bar from 5-6pm every night, can explore Sydney on two wheels on free Lekker bikes, and there’s no extra cost if you’d like to bring a four legged friend, with Kimpton’s ‘if it fits in the lift’ hotel pet policy extended to this new Sydney stay.
Even if you’re not staying in the hotel we can highly recommend treating yourself to a meal at Luke’s Kitchen or a cocktail in the bar. We were lucky enough to be in town for the first Bottomless Brunch and can happily report that every dish in the five course degustation was a hit. And at $99 it’s insanely good value, especially when you consider the free flowing sparkling Veuve D’Argent Blanc de Blanc Brut and Triennes Rosé Provence rosé.
For an extra treat, say yes when the bloody Mary trolley and the caviar trolley rolls around. This is one brunch you’ll be telling your friends about for weeks.
Aiden Darling Harbour
Set in a landmark 1930s Art Deco building the Aiden Darling Harbour officially opened its doors on the 1st of February 2022, and a couple of days later we were among the very first to stay.
There’s a lot to love in this new boutique hotel, including the gorgeous hand painted murals by award-winning artist in residence Jessica Le Clerc.
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On our sneak peek at the different room types we were able to see how every mural is different, with each of the artworks beside the bed featuring local native flowers. Those in internal rooms have something different. Rather than a mural on the wall they look out onto the hidden mural, a 25m high rainforest scene that’s all the more beautiful on a rainy day.
We also loved the sustainable touches including Moda bottles in the fridge that can be refilled with still or sparkling taps on every floor, and the way the air we were breathing in our room hadn’t been shared with other rooms thanks to the hotel’s state-of-the-art air-conditioning units and filters.
The Aiden Hotel also gets bonus points for having a steamer in every room, as well as a cupboard full of ironing boards and irons in the hallway for those who prefer to go old school when they tackle creases.
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The Wayfarer’s Bar & Cafe is a great spot to enjoy a locally brewed beer or a cocktail mixed with local spirits. You can also take the custom bottled cocktails to your room but personally we liked the extra touches in the bar when they added a salt rim and chilli to our Firecracker Margarita.
After opening with 42 guest rooms in February the Aiden will add another 46 rooms from April 2022, with the completed hotel having 88 compact rooms, some with access to an open-air private balcony with harbor and city skyline views. Just in time to become a new place to stay for Vivid Sydney.
Ace Hotel Sydney, Surry Hills
Australia also has its very first Ace Hotel, and as those who’ve stayed in their properties in other parts of the world know, that’s a pretty exciting thing. The Golden Age Group opened its first Australian property in Surry Hills and true to its brand, Ace Hotel Sydney taps into the culture, creativity, and energy of Surry Hills in collaboration with Flack Studio.
This new Sydney hotel features 264 luxury rooms, a communal lobby, a ground-floor cafe and restaurant, a gym for the health buffs, and a rooftop bar and restaurant looking out over the city.
So there we have the new Sydney hotels you need to know for 2025. What’s coming next? We look forward to stepping through those doors and sharing it with you.
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