Ace Hotel Sydney

It’s a well-known fact that January is one of the best times of year to visit Sydney: Australian summer is fully at its peak, and the promise of endlessly sunshine-y days stretch out before you. With this in mind, Mr Smith and I decided to book a city jaunt to Sydney to kick off the new year, in hot pursuit of sun-soaked beaches after a long and dreary winter. No January blues here… unless, of course, you’re counting the shifting, sparkly waves at Bondi Beach.

We chose to bed down at Ace Hotel Sydney during our week in the city. A sharp, stylish addition to the Surry Hills neighborhood, the hotel occupies a former brick factory on one of the neighborhood’s main thoroughfares. There’s an industrial feel throughout: vast swathes of concrete and exposed brick around each corner, and a lobby that's all sunken leather sofas and soft, architectural lighting. There might be 255 rooms here, but it feels more boutique hotel than it does a big, bustling operation. The hotel façade may be a handsome front of brick and shiny glass, but there’s nothing showy about it: it’s a quietly confident stay in an already very cool neighbourhood — and with the Ace group as custodians of the building, we knew we’d be in good hands.

Upstairs to the bedrooms, which are spacious and flooded with natural light thanks to double-height ceilings and glossy floor-to-ceiling windows, with views of the Sydney skyline beyond. Staying faithful to the building’s industrial make-up, there are plenty of raw materials on display: timber and concrete surfaces, offset by an earthy palette of greys and greens. Compact bathrooms flow directly into the bedrooms; rooms are functional but feel comfortable and stylish. 

We opted for a Medium Plus room, which offered a good ratio of sprawling to just enough suitcase space for our week-long stay. A marshmallow-soft bed took centre stage with a flatscreen TV plonked directly opposite, and a pistachio-green sofa wrapping around the far wall, which was ideal for flopping on after days spent wracking up our step count around the city. Sweet touches were the minibar (stocked with a range of locally made artisanal treats), the vinyl player with a curated selection of records, and the handy booklet of local recommendations that was certainly worth flicking through.

As first-time visitors to the city, we wanted to be close to all of the action, and Ace’s location on the cusp of Surry Hills and the CBD placed us in an ideal spot for exploring both neighbourhoods. A smorgasbord of thrills fanned out from our doorstep, mostly of the culinary variety. Many of Surry Hill’s best bars and restaurants are within each reach, but there were plenty of excuses not to stray very far, since there was lots to enjoy inside the hotel. 

Mornings began with leisurely breakfasts at Loam, the hotel’s all-day dining spot: smoked-salmon potato rosti if we were feeling naughty, or avocado and almond flatbreads for something more nourishing. Breakfast here rolls into lunch and then dinner, with an atlas-spanning menu encompassing flavours from the Med to Malaysia. Afterwards, we’d spill into the lobby, where you can rub shoulders with Sydney locals at any time of day: freelancers tap away on laptops all afternoon, before the space fills up around cocktail hour. There’s an all-day menu of nibbles, along with DJ nights most weekends, and a retro photobooth for piling into and documenting the evening after one too many cocktails. Meanwhile, for something quick, the hotel’s coffee shop Good Chemistry is the ideal spot to swing by for a perfectly poured flat white and a freshly baked madeleine. 

But it’s rooftop perch Kiln that is undoubtedly the hotel’s showstopper. Headed up by the acclaimed chef Beau Clugston, of Noma fame, it’s the kind of place where locals consistently hanker after a reservation — luckily, a few tables are always ringed off for hotel residents. The space is a stylish melange of stone and marble, and the menu proudly champions Australian produce. We slurped down just-caught oysters and nibbled kangaroo tartare — all beautifully and colourfully presented — before smugly rolling ourselves downstairs to bed. We worked it off the next morning at the hotel’s moderately sized gym.

Between all the wining, dining and exploring, a week here flew by much too fast. With its prime location bridging Surry Hills and the Sydney CBD, the hotel was the ideal crash pad for us first-time visitors. I’ll be back next time I’m in the city.