First stay at Josh Niland’s Saint Peter at The Grand National Hotel in Sydney
The award-winning restaurateur behind Saint Peter has finally opened his boutique accommodation and we were among the first guests to stay. Here is our review.
It has been six painstaking years in the making – with a pandemic thrown in the mix – but Australian restaurant pioneers Josh and Julie Niland have finally opened their boutique hotel at The Grand National Hotel in Paddington. Josh Niland has revolutionised the way we catch, see and eat fish by taking the same approach as we do to meat, using every last bit of the animal.
Their original restaurant, Saint Peter, opened in Paddington in 2016, was the only Australian mention on The World’s Best Restaurant List in 2024. The couple relocated the venue to the ground floor of The Grand National in September last year and it was hailed as faultless contemporary dining by critics; unlike anything on offer in the nation.
Travel + Luxury were among the first guests that stayed at the hotel. It officially opens to the public from January 31 and bookings can be made now.
Location
Tucked away on a quiet residential street in Paddington, in Sydney’s inner eastern suburbs, the entrance to the hotel is on Underwood Street, while the door to the casual bar and restaurant is on the corner. The Grand National Hotel was once a beloved pub and the original structure dates back to 1890. Building owner George Panklis approached the Nilands in 2018 with the idea of opening a restaurant and bar, a plan that evolved to include a boutique hotel.
First impressions
The lobby is small but elegant, with a reception desk, lift and staircase. The staff are almost joyous when they take my husband and I up to Level 2. “It has been six years but it has been worth the wait,” one staff member says. “And you are the first.” We reach our room and as he puts our bag away, he asks if we’d like a tour of the room’s facilities. When we reply yes, he says: “You have no idea how excited I am that you have said that. Now I can show you everything I have been working on.” The sense of excitement is contagious.
Design
Belinda Chippendale and Dimity Chitty of Sydney’s Studio Aquilo designed the restaurant, bar and hotel rooms with the help of the Nilands. The colour palette in the dining room reflects the Australian landscape but in the rooms, it is more elegant and refined, with an Art Deco feel. Reflecting Josh’s approach to using the best producers in the restaurant, the interior designers reached out to artisan suppliers such as Melbourne-based Bonny, which makes doona covers, Cole & Son for beautiful wallpapers, Catherine Martin for homewares and the Olsen Gallery for paintings and prints by Australian artists, including Ken Done.
Accommodation
We are staying in a 25sq m King Grand Suite, with a high king-size bed, velvet headboard and a cloud-like doona cover. Soft curtains shield against the light and neighbouring terraces and create a cocoon-like feeling. The only thing that can get me off that bed is exploring the generous mini-bar, which has complimentary food and non-alcoholic drinks. There are salted kettle chips from Melbourne brand Chappy’s, coconut ice and soft jellies from Brisbane’s Kellys Candy Co, peanuts from Chunky Dave’s, Mount Zero mixed olives along with chocolate from Victoria’s Hunted+Gathered. It could almost amount to a meal if it were not for the award-winning options downstairs.
The marble bathroom may be even more beautiful than the room, with extraordinary wallpaper that looks like a cross between a fishing net and applique. There is a rainwater shower and Aesop shampoo and shower gel makes the room smell as good as it looks. This is also unmistakably a Niland hotel, with Saint Peter Fish Fat Soap, Saint Peter mineral water in a sustainable bottle and even Saint Peter x Stitch Coffee filter coffee bag. There is a Samsung TV on the wall – which looks like a piece of art when it is turned off – and the lights, airconditioning and blackout blinds are all controlled from a central panel next to the bed.
Dining
Staying at The Grand National Hotel is all about the food. We head down to Saint Peter restaurant for our 7pm booking and are welcomed by attentive staff. We are seated at the corner table and Niland’s team immediately attend to our drinks and explain the philosophy behind Saint Peter. We are having the nine-course tasting menu with oysters from Tathra and Clyde River to kick it off. There is chilled tomato consomme, a charcuterie platter from Niland’s Fish Butchery in Waterloo, salt and vinegar line-caught blue mackerel with sourdough and cultured butter, and we haven’t even got to the mains.
Each dish is presented like a work of art, with a detailed explanation of where the produce came from and the method of cooking. It is an unforgettable dining experience worthy of all the awards it has achieved.
One of the main dishes – the hero ingredient being 11-day dry-aged yellowfin and albacore tuna – was inspired by concentric circles and is plated with eight or nine different vegetables. It looks too beautiful to eat. Niland may be known for his fish but the Meyer lemon meringue tart served as one of three desserts is equally memorable for its intense flavour. Staff roll a piece of burning charcoal over the top of the meringue at the table; there is an element of theatre throughout the courses. Niland himself makes his way to our table to explain one dish, as he does with all his guests.
The best part about staying at The Grand National Hotel is that after dinner there is no dragging yourself outside to catch an Uber. Within a few steps you’re in the lift and then lying on your bed, where staff have left two handmade shell-shaped chocolates. I convince myself I can squeeze one in. It is worth it but I’m so full of delicious food that I vow not to eat for a week.
Breakfast
This promise is thrown out the window at breakfast the next morning for this is not a normal hotel breakfast, this is breakfast by Josh Niland. The three-course meal starts with chilled coconut water and filter coffee and is served in the Saint Peter bar area (not open to the public for breakfast). The first course is a selection of summer fruits; cherries, mango, nectarines, apricots, plums and something called a Bayberry, which according to Niland, who serves us, “is only in season for half an hour and we bought it all”.
It has the texture of an orange but tastes like a strawberry. Marigold petals and goji berries are spooned over the mango and the platter is served with black fig and coconut Bircher muesli. Next up is marron with scrambled eggs and again the dish is a visual delight. A whole marron is perched on the egg with toast, its head filled with hollandaise sauce. I eat every last bit. The third course is a chocolate croissant from Nick Tabet of Kirrawee’s Thoroughbread Bakery and it is a crunchy, crispy buttery pleasure. This is the best hotel breakfast I have eaten and it’s worth staying at the hotel for this alone.
Pros
The accommodation at Grand National Hotel is a reflection of the Nilands’ approach to their restaurants and hospitality; meticulous attention to detail, care, patience and partnering with artisans who passionately believe in what they produce, whether it be oysters or chocolate or wallpaper. I’d liken it to Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons restaurant and hotel in Oxford or Alla Wolf-Tasker’s Lake House restaurant and accommodation in Daylesford. Staying overnight means you are in the capable hands of these visionary chefs for hours beyond dinner. It is an extension of the Saint Peter award-winning experience and should not be missed.
Cons
The King Grand room is not overly spacious and the lighting around the bathroom mirrors is not great when attempting to put on makeup.
Price
From $850 a night, twin-share, including breakfast, non-alcoholic minibar and snacks. The nine-course set menu at Saint Peter is $275 a person.
The Grand National Hotel by Saint Peter
Milanda Rout was a guest of Saint Peter.
More Coverage
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout