Hotel review: Crown Sydney’s six-star celebrity magnet
Yes, there’s all that troubling casino business, but right now, this is first and foremost a hotel and it has plenty of sparkle.
The sun is beaming down on the terrace of Woodcut restaurant at the new Crown Towers Sydney hotel. Fresh tiger prawns are perched prettily in ice on my table, and a juicy chicken fillet has arrived with a burst of barberries on top. But there are ominous clouds on the horizon. Just a few hours after lunch, Crown Resorts will be deemed unfit to operate a casino at its spectacular $2.2bn twisting tower on the water at Barangaroo. It may not be the ideal day to be a guest at the company’s shiny new hotel. Hold the champagne.
Or perhaps not. Since the property’s doors opened on December 28, local and interstate visitors have been sipping champers with hedonistic abandon in the eight food and beverage venues open so far. Unable to trot the globe, well-heeled Sydneysiders are apparently unfazed by the minimum $850 a night room tariff and have been popping in for staycations. Anyone who fancies a reservation at esteemed in-house Japanese eatery Nobu had better join the queue; it’s booked out until April. Yes, there was that troubling public inquiry into Crown’s gambling operations, but isn’t the food fabulous?
That’s not to minimise the seriousness of the practices brought to light by the probe, nor the uncertainty over the casino’s future. But right now, this is first and foremost a hotel and it is displaying its six sparkling stars proudly.
And there is rather a lot of sparkle. In the lobby, three reception desks stand like giant silver nuggets among acres of glossy marble and stone; more than 50 varieties, sourced from Italy, Greece, Turkey and China, were used throughout the Meyer Davis interiors. Twinkling glass lights hang like a row of tubular bells, and the carpet is flecked with gold. Lining the balustrade of a central staircase, which rises like a periscope to the fourth floor, are almost 400 vertical blades clad in thousands of Czech crystals and illuminated by LEDs.
The line-up of chefs is equally star-studded, with culinary ambassador Guillaume Brahimi and culinary director Sarah Briegel leading the charge. At the aforementioned Woodcut, award-winning dynamic duo Ross and Sunny Lusted (formerly of The Bridge Room) are working their magic with fire, steam, smoke and ice. In Italian eatery a’Mare, Alessandro Pavoni (Ormeggio) is bringing a generous helping of Puglia to town, with fresh pasta, seafood and the fluffiest focaccia imaginable. There’s a real sense of theatre as a basil, pine nut and macadamia pesto is pounded together in a giant marble mortar and pestle in front of diners. Served on trofie pasta, it’s delicious (the Bolognese, on the other hand, is over-salted).
COVID-19 has kept famed chef Nobu Matsuhisa from these shores but his eponymous restaurant is doing a roaring trade. Meanwhile, Meena Throngkumpola (Long Chim Sydney) is dishing up casual fare at 88 Noodle, and there’s all-day dining at the airy Epicurean. For drinks, grab coffee or cocktails at TWR (The Waiting Room), an elegant waterfront spot just off the lobby, or head to Teahouse, where guests sip lychee martinis and sit in oversized birdcages adorned with embroidered peacocks.
But what of the accommodation? The hotel has 327 guestrooms, all delivering harbour views and all, thanks to British architect Chris Wilkinson’s vision for his asymmetrical 275m-high creation, unique in layout. In addition there are 20 one and two-bedroom villas with butler service. Opening in April are the creme de la creme: two premium villas, one on the 68th floor with a private pool.
I’m staying in an Executive Opera Suite, a one-bedroom eyrie on the 25th floor. It would be an exceptional panorama of the harbour except the windows are awaiting a much-needed clean and the immediate outlook, for now, is of a construction site. Let’s turn our gaze instead to the rooms, which have a soothing palette of ocean blues, grey and blond timber. There’s space to sprawl on a curved couch or dine at a table for four. The king-size bed is dressed in silky-soft linen and technology is abundant: climate control for each room; multiple USB ports; a tablet to control curtains and lighting and access hotel services; and three TVs, including one facing the custom-made oval bath. The bathroom is slick, clad in black and white marble, with twin vanities, rain shower, Grown Alchemist amenitiesand separate Toto toilet with almost as many functions as the television.
For Crown guests, though, the place to be seen — “I’m a celebrity, get me into there” — is Level 5, where a stunning infinity pool with private cabanas and rows of sun lounges blends almost seamlessly with the water vistas. And the place to hide away? The spa, a fragrant haven of dusky pink, mauve and silver where La Prairie lotions and potions transport me into a state of Zen. Afterwards, in the Aqua Retreat I soak in the vitality pool, bake in the infrared sauna and wash my cares away in the experience shower.
Back in the lobby, the luxe fantasy is tempered by the realities of 2021. COVID wardens in high-vis vests are scanning temperatures and ensuring everyone completes their QR code check-in. Boofy, besuited security guards with earpieces patrol the entrances. The visitors, however, just keep coming through those revolving doors. Whatever the future holds for the casino side of the business, Crown Towers Sydney has a magnetic allure. Build it big and full of bling, and they will come. You can bet on that.
In the know
A Deluxe King guestroom at Crown Towers Sydney is $850 a night; Executive Opera Suite $1489. The hotel has packages available until December 24, including a Table for Two offer with accommodation in a Harbour or Opera King room, bottle of Piper Heidsieck, $250 dining credit and breakfast at Epicurean; from $1209.
Penny Hunter was a guest of Crown Sydney.
