Hyatt Regency Darling Harbour
Hold court at this five-star Sydney stay, complete with butler service and a private bar.
Look due west as dusk falls and the lights of Darling Harbour are gently glowing. To the right, Sydney Harbour is easily spied and to the left is the oddly unattractive bulk of W Sydney hotel, wedged between two expressways and, as yet, failing to open, although October this year is mooted for the unveiling. Does it look like a giant running shoe, a snail or a crouched creature? Our little group can’t agree but then our idle chatter stops as our jaws drop.
The sun is setting in a deepening blaze of red and orange that could constitute all the tones of a paint chart. It’s a slow and gaudy spectacle. My friends Sally and Shane stop chatting about the good old days of their hospitality careers and my little granddaughter Mia pauses while making a dinosaur den out of upturned cushions. Other friends tucking into canapes on the open terrace are similarly quietened. All we can hear is a gentle clatter coming from the kitchen. It feels so homely that for a mad, deluded moment I imagine I actually live here, in a ninth-floor apartment with views and premium location worth many millions. And then a butler glides past with candle lanterns to light the six-seater shaded outdoor table and sitting area. Would we like more shiitake spring rolls and vegetable samosas with our sunset? Yes, we would.
Hyatt Regency has hit on a brilliant idea with its pair of Regency Terrace and Sydney Terrace Suites, designed with outdoor areas that are perfect for entertaining up to 12 guests apiece. The former offers 90sq m of accommodation territory and a 34sq m outdoor terrace. The latter is our overnight domain, with 160sq m of lodgings and the same sized terrace as the Regency layout. And so it is that we have gathered a group for a post-Christmas soiree and ordered catering from the hotel’s food and beverage department. There’s a bar set up and the butler’s pantry has a corridor entry for minimum disturbance. Even the arrival to “our pad” is eye-popping, through double security doors and a private corridor off which the terrace suite and two king-sized guestrooms are arrayed. It’s all very rock star but with all the required services on tap, including our own concierge.
Hyatt Regency Sydney is Australia’s largest upscale hotel, relaunched by Hyatt in 2016 with additional guestrooms and 17 suites, upping the inventory to 882, including a new tower. Its previous incarnations, as my cocktail party guests well remember, were as the Nikko and Four Points by Sheraton. But the property has achieved a more contemporary and appropriately maritime vibe since leading design firm Bates Smart revamped the look in 2021 with nautical colours, rounded mirrors that mimic portholes and rippling wave-like patterns in carpets. Touches such as fine bedlinen, Nespresso machines and excellent Hunter Lab bathroom amenities are present and correct.
In the hotel’s main areas, Sailmaker offers “seafarer” dinners and Mediterranean-style tapas Thursday to Sunday, and a daily buffet breakfast of generous proportions. Semi-alfresco Zephyr on level 12 is the hip and happening spot for elderflower martinis and smoked chilli margaritas. And then there’s easy access to all of Darling Harbour’s attractions plus CBD shopping and Chinatown. Mia the dinosaur hunter and amateur marine biologist has the Sharks exhibition at the Australian Museum in her sights and, in the absence of a triceratops, the Tasmanian devils and quokkas at WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo at Darling Harbour are fascinating substitutes. Then our family needs a little lie down before we return with a thud to Planet Earth.
In the know
Hyatt Regency Sydney is at 161 Sussex Street. Contact the hotel for Sydney Terrace Suite and Regency Terrace Suite rates for maximum of 12 persons; (02) 8099 1234. The Sharks exhibition at the Australian Museum runs to
April 23.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Hyatt Regency Sydney.