A nautical but nice makeover

SYDNEY'S Sebel Pier One has revamped its guestrooms in beach-shack style.

Sebel Pier One

WITH extensive views of Sydney Harbour's western reaches from lobby, public spaces and more than half its 160 guestrooms, Sebel Pier One trades on its maritime associations.

There is its unique setting, for a start, at Dawes Point on the tip of the Walsh Bay precinct, in the shadow of the southern end of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Occupying a one-time working finger wharf (the name was coined due to the slender and elongated nature of these wharfs), it was built in 1912 in a style perhaps best described as federation shipping shed.

The hotel has had various management incarnations since its restoration and repurposing by the Parkroyal group in 1999. The wharf was originally used for handling cargo and, from 1923 to 1963, the berthing of P&O liners, and this is where I landed from England as a child on the good ship Arcadia, amid a spider's web of streamers. Apparently I set foot in Sydney wound in strips of pink paper and promptly burst into tears.

But now the hotel has replaced its last-decade nautical navy guestroom decor with a beachy vibe that suggests Australian holiday shacks, albeit the minimalist variety with all the contemporary contrivances to hand. Melbourne-based furniture and interior design firm Hecker Guthrie has come up with a simple, virtually all-white design that even has a touch of the fashionable Hamptons about it.

There's tongue-and-groove limed timber panelling, pastel-painted cane chairs and tub seats in creamy slip-covers, bold blue cushions and the odd seaside reference that is suggestive, rather than exclamatory. The pier has a conservation listing so the designers had to work within heritage guidelines and existing retained features such as timber beams, steel trusses and column supports. Nails, hooks and other found objects uncovered during Pier One's 1990s reconstruction process are box-framed and displayed throughout the property.

Salty seadogs - at least the proper four-legged variety - should love this hotel. Doggy guests get a special bed and dinner from room service's canine menu and a Pet Care Service sitter, if needed, while their owners venture out or dine downstairs at Front Restaurant where executive chef Jonathan Bruell and his team turn out excellent fare with an appropriate emphasis on seafood (try the warm lobster tail with leeks and kipfler potatoes; if the weather is good, dine alfresco and watch the lively parade of ferries and water taxis). And don't pass up a Piertini from the cocktail list, best enjoyed in the lobby lounge as harbour waters lap beneath a glass-inset floor.

After a night in one of the newly dressed rooms, my only complaint is the hardness of the pillows. (After being unable to sleep for hours, I drove home and returned with my own -- that's how uniquely awful they are.) But since a complaint to management, I am hopeful a pillow menu of soft and firm options is in place.

What is certain is that during the Sydney Writers Festival (May 16-22), the seven winning entries from NSW poets on the theme of Sweet Dreams will be printed on Sebel Pier One's pillowslips, rotating during the event's seven nights. The poets were each invited to pen up to 10 lines and I'd be surprised if there were no references to harbours and piers. You could call it a creative use of white space.

Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Mirvac.

Checklist
Book via Sebel Pier One Sydney's website for guaranteed best rates and no booking fees. Packages with extras such as spa treatments and parking are best value. More: 1800 780 485; www.sebelpierone.com.au.