If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.
Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (AUD545.45), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.
Pay attention, there’s a test at the end. Now, let’s learn what happens when a dynamic hotel group takes over the Sydney Department of Education’s beautiful Edwardian Baroque building – Capella Sydney (opening in March) is set to teach everyone a thing or two about how to elevate hospitality. Set just steps from the Opera House, lively Circular Quay and Royal Botanic Garden, it has suites with a history degree, a chef schooled in age-old cookery techniques, a spa with all the spoils in a former art gallery and indoor-outdoor bars with all the exciting buzz of a ‘hometime’ bell. So class, pens out – where are you staying on your next Sydney city break? Answers on a postcard please…
10am, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm.
Prices
Double rooms from £310.30 (AU$600), including tax at 10 per cent.
More details
Rates include a choice-laden buffet breakfast and your choice of hot dishes.
Also
For guests with mobility issues, public areas are accessible and some Premier Kings and Deluxe Suites have been specially adapted.
At the hotel
Spa with a Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room; 24-hour fitness centre; guests-only lounge; yoga platform; free-to-use bicycles; concierge; laundry service (guests get five items pressed for free a stay); free WiFi. In rooms: 55-inch TV with streaming services; LG soundbar; Bose speaker; Nespresso coffee machine; tablet with lighting, climate and curtain controls; minibar with local products and free soft drinks; wine fridge; bathrobes and slippers; Dyson hairdryer; turndown service; and Haeckels bath products.
Our favourite rooms
The vintage hotel proudly wears its new glass box of a ninth-floor addition like a modernist pill-box hat. And, so it should, because the suites at this level have iconic Sydney skyline views. And you’ll get separate living and dining spaces, sleek finishes… Rooms in all categories have been luxuriously outfitted in restful shades – with polished walnut, stone and marble accentss, custom Frette linens, Haeckels’ lotions and potions – most benefiting from the original building’s arched windows and carved cornices, but our hat tip goes to the vast Capella Suite, which also has an aspect of the Royal Botanic Garden from its bedroom and a fireplace.
Poolside
There are two pools in the hotel spa (open to guests only) – one long and lap-ready, with light flooding in through the ceiling, day-beds along the side and Baroque detailing. The second is the ‘vitality’ pool, which means bubbles.
Spa
The hotel’s early-19th-century sandstone building may have been the seat of governmental offices (not sexy), but it was more cultured than corporate – so much so that it had its own gallery on the sixth floor, today the Auriga Spa. Here beneath the glow of original copper-lined lanterns, the kind of art practised is more fragrant massages solo or as a twosome, healing rituals, and spells in both the sauna and steam room. For more active pursuits, assume positions on the yoga platform or take on the fitness room’s Technogym gear.
Packing tips
Bring finery fit for the modern age.
Also
Big birthdays, weddings and the like can be held in the dashingly handsome event spaces – all carved woods and marble columns.
Children
Yes, Capella Sydney’s building once held the Department of Education but the curriculum isn’t geared towards school-agers. But, if you do bring the kids, most rooms sleep three (extra bed free for under-12s), and babysitting can be booked on request.
Aperture’s art-filled courtyard is a rather romantic spot, with light-flooded tables in the shade of weeping fig trees and by a towering vertical garden.
Dress Code
Make like mufti day, but well-mannered. Now’s the time for that ‘where can I actually wear this?’ vintage piece.
Hotel restaurant
Following the teachings of savvy Edwardians – but more for technical sophistication than survival cuisine – ground-floor eatery Brasserie 1930 will cure, smoke, ferment, preserve and pickle to create a unique menu filled with produce from farmers and growers who only dabble in small batches. Anchored to the Young Street shoulder of the hotel, the restaurant will have a lively atmosphere and feel classically cosmopolitan, with marble chequerboard flooring, leather banquettes and starburst chandeliers affixed to high ceilings.
Hotel bar
Scot George McRae was a prolific architect, responsible for some of Sydney’s most beautiful historic buildings (the Town Hall, Corn Exchange, Parcel Post Office), and in the Department of Education building he went for full Florentine flourishes, leaning into the Baroque. And this Edwardian grandeur and glamour has been honoured here, with chandeliers casting a soft glow and intimate banquettes, where you can drink classic cocktails and fine wines. And at the core of the building is a light-flooded courtyard and the Aperture bar, where a soaring green wall is carpeted in native flora, hanging lights are dressed as blooms and a range of artworks includes a kinetic sculpture by Amsterdam’s Studio Drift, making it one of the prettiest spaces in the hotel.
Last orders
In the brasserie, breakfast is from 6am to 10am, lunch from noon to 3pm and dinner from 6pm to 10pm. Afternoon tea at Aperture is from 2pm to 5.30pm.
Capella Sydney is in an early-19th-century Edwardian Baroque building (the former Department of Education), set at the buzzy intersection of Bridge, Young and Loftus streets, close to Circular Quay and the Opera House.
Planes
Well-connected hub Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport is just a 25-minute drive from the hotel.
Trains
Circular Quay Station is an elevated-railway stop just a five-minute walk from the hotel; it has a direct connection to the airport and sits on the City Circle line, which can zip you all around the city.
Automobiles
You’re dead-centre in Sydney, so easily within walking distance of important sights and the buzz of Circular Quay. If you want to explore the further reaches of the city, a car may come in handy, but otherwise you can make do with the Metro. There’s no car park on the property, but Wilson Parking is just next door. Valet parking is charged at AU$120 for 24 hours.
Worth getting out of bed for
The team at Capella Sydney are currently fine-tuning their guest experiences. However, we have no doubt you’ll make great use of your assigned ‘Capella culturist’, whose extensive local knowledge and ability to make things happen ensure they are safe hands for your itinerary. This might include foraging expeditions with First Australians, luxury harbour cruises or tickets for sport and theatre events. But, even without their help you’ll find plenty to do – the historic Sandstone Precinct is close to all the postcard-bagging sights of Sydney: the Opera House and Harbour Bridge (which the daring can climb); the Royal Botanic Garden; buzzy Darling Harbour; the Sydney Tower Eye; the Rocks… Both the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales are well-filled with fascinating pieces spanning Australia’s creative history; and the National Gallery has fine examples of First Nations’ distinctive art style. Circular Quay is a lively hangout from which cruises launch; but if it’s beaches and a bit of fresh air you’re after, head south to do the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk (on Fridays and Sundays, bands soundtrack swims at the Bondi Icebergs Pool), or head north to Manly. As the sun starts to set, decide if you’re in the mood for an indie flick at indie Golden Age Cinema, shows and shenanigans at the Meraki Arts Bar, or live music in industrial surrounds at the Oxford Art Factory – there are no wrong choices.
Local restaurants
Sydneysiders are a voracious lot when it comes to eating – deciding where to go in the city’s sonic-boom of a dining scene requires military-style manoeuvring and possibly some kind of spreadsheet, so we’ve narrowed down a few failsafes in Capella Sydney’s ’hood. First up, Quay, which – of course – sits on the waterfront; but it doesn’t rest on its Sydney Opera House-admiring setting, serving a multi-course adventure of a menu through smoked-eel cream and caviar, crayfish in umami custard and anjelica broth, or duck with morello cherry, kampot pepper and black garlic. It’s the date-night sweet spot. Ragazzi Wine and Pasta is still a cool, design-forward venue (we like the ‘portal’ through to the bar), but stays firm on its mission statement; of the pastas, you might get gigli with kangaroo sausage and macadamia or cavatelli with octopus and salsa verde; and the wines are reliably good and Italian. At Dawes Point, in the industrial beauty of a building that was the Saatchi & Saatchi garage, Hickson House Distilling Co has the sort of menu that’ll soak up its immense collection of whiskies and gins, many house-made. A slab of sirloin with pale-ale Béarnaise, porchetta with roasted apple in a juniper jus, or barramundi with lemon-myrtle beurre blanc will tastily temper any excesses. Another eatery with a front-row Opera House seat, fittingly named Aria does full-throated flavour: spanner crab with kombu and nectarine, quail with pumpkin and white soy, and cherry soufflé with pistachio and vanilla.
Local cafés
To see another side of the Opera House, take a morning stroll over Harbour Bridge to Celsius Coffee Co, which juts out into Kirribilli Wharf. Its house blends pass muster for Sydney’s high bar, but it also lures the punters in with Japanese milk buns stuffed with smoked bacon, Swiss cheese and garlic-lemon aioli; or twists on eggs Benedict with brisket and yuzu hollandaise. And, we love Artistry Gardens’ exposed brick, floral floor tiles and leafy terrace; but especially for its breakfasts of honey-coconut granola, mushroom toast with ricotta and harissa butter, or a smoked-ocean-trout scramble.
Local bars
So, you’ve chosen where to eat for the night, but now you have another Herculean task – where to get sloshed (or lightly toasted). The answer – for the first option – is Cantina OK! Dubbed a ‘micro mezcal mecca’, this teeny drinkery is alleged to have the best margarita in Sydney; but don’t sleep on its other sippers – we rather like the Fortuna OK! with mezcal, pandan, oats and dragonfruit. And the mixologists at Fifties-style drinkery Maybe Sammy don’t dither about when it comes to top-form drinks. A long list of awards can attest to their skill, and their premium pours of sazeracs and Rob Roys, martini trolley and mini versions of classics attest to their sense of occasion. And for drinks with a view, head high up into the sci-fi-esque retro-futurist interiors of Bar 83 atop Sydney Tower.
Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this erudite Edwardian hotel close to Circular Quay and their caffeine buzz has worn off, a full account of their swept-off-their-feet break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Capella Sydney…
Class – some have it, some earn it – but one thing’s for sure, it’s something Sydney’s former Department of Education – now home to really-too-cool-for-school stay Capella Sydney (due to open this March) knows all about. Built by Scot architect George McRae to resemble a Baroque Florentine palazzo (because, why not?) awash with pillars, pediments and carved coats of arms, it’s been kept just as grand within, with marbles and mirrors, polished walnut wood, huge modern chandeliers, and restored coffered ceilings and intricate cornicing. The former art gallery is now an expansive wellness space, upper-floor suites gaze out over the Sydney skyline and Royal Botanic Garden, and the ground floor is fully dedicated to socialising, adding some green with a flowering, art-clad courtyard; and keeping Edwardian splendour alive in the bar and brasserie. And, aside from being placed in one of the city’s most iconic spots – just steps from the Opera House and Circular Quay – guests are served with bygone grace, with a dedicated concierge to arrange unique itineraries, and thoughtful luxurious touches (free-to-borrow bikes, Frette linens, Haeckels bath products…). Yes, here, under the Capella group’s guidance, class is definitely in.
