Check it out: QT Bondi, Sydney

Hit the beach in style at an apartment hotel on Australia’s most famous stretch of sand.

QT Bondi, Sydney.

QT Hotels & Resorts has begun a busy year of expansion (stay tuned for new properties in Wellington and Melbourne) with an apartment hotel on Sydney’s most famous beach.

Forming part of the glamorous Pacific Bondi Beach redevelopment of the prime Swiss Grand Hotel site, the QT Bondi features 69 “surfer chic” studios and apartments conceived by QT design collaborator Nic Graham with contemporary works by artist Shaun Gladwell.

Bright white walls, timber floors and limited bursts of colour work to combine urban cool with a relaxed beachside mood. Guestrooms feature top-of-the-line finishes — subway tiles, ceramic baths and Malin + Goetz unguents in the bathrooms — with cushions and collateral by graphic designer Fabio Ongarato. The hotel offers most five-star trimmings (daily room servicing, concierge desk, 24-hour reception, free Wi-Fi) but no in-house restaurant.

Instead, all apartments feature a kitchenette and as part of the hotel’s philosophy of supporting the local community, management has formed strong alignments with a host of Bondi restaurants, bars and boutiques. Staff “uniforms”, designed by Janet Hine, continue the beach theme with jackets fashioned from a wetsuit-type material. About 75 per cent of rooms have balconies; the atrium rooms have large sliding windows and, while views are restricted to occasional ocean glimpses, everyone is a flip-flop’s toss from the beach.

DON’T MISS:Hitting that surf. Beginners can book a lesson with Let’s Go Surfing.

DINING IN:Stock up on healthy essentials at Bondi Wholefoods. The Pacific Bondi development will soon include a Woolworths concept store and several restaurants and bars.

DINING OUT: A host of great restaurants are located within easy walking distance. Check out Drake Eatery, A Tavola, North Bondi Fish and Sean’s Panorma. Concierge Alex Robertson suggests the Shakshouka Middle-Eastern breakfast at Trio Bondi Beach; for lunch, the raw cosmic salad with ocean trout at Porch & Parlour; and for dinner, scallops and barramundi at Brown Sugar.

ASK THE CONCIERGE: For cocktails it’s hard to beat Icebergs Dining Room & Bar; try the No. 711, Mezcal with mandarin, lime and agave syrup. If ice cream is more your speed, it has to be Messina, soon to launch a flavour for QT.

CHECKING IN: From $280 a night. More: qtbondi.com.au.

ALSO TRY: The Miami Beach Edition; Boca Chica, Acapulco; QT Gold Coast.