Oxford House Hotel Paddington
Shaped around a bright courtyard and shimmering pool, this Paddington hotel is an oasis of elegance and tranquility.
Is this Florida or southern California? Nope, not even close. On Sydney’s Oxford St strip, just east of Darlinghurst, a new hotel embodies a resort vibe that is at once dislocating but great fun. Previously the modest 20-room Arts Hotel, between Berkelouw Books and an art deco pub, the recently reconfigured 56-room Oxford House is shaped around an inner courtyard with a heated pool plus a dining and bar area nicely shaded by potted palms and big cream-coloured umbrellas.
Tom de Plater, principal designer at Public Hospitality, says the courtyard and rear accommodation block date back to the original construction, “some time between 1965 and 1971”. The late-mid-century look of that era is now refreshed with an aesthetic of “lightness, consistency and restraint”. If guests didn’t have to arrive straight off a traffic-heavy thoroughfare, it wouldn’t be such a stretch to imagine you’d landed in, say, Miami or Palm Springs. And let’s dispense with the hotel’s formal name. It’s simply OH, don’t you know.
There is an admirable focus at OH on comfort and all the accoutrements once only associated with five-star brands. In particular, the artwork, curated by George Gorrow, is diverse and consistently apposite. Gorrow, co-founder of Ksubi fashion brand, was also behind the look of recently revamped The Strand Hotel in Darlinghurst, a Public Hospitality stablemate project and another of Sydney’s smart new inner-city lodgings. Gorrow sourced pieces from, among others, China Heights Gallery in Surry Hills.
A jacquard wall-hanging by Kitty Callaghan titled Venus is a showstopper in the OH all-day diner. A neighbourhood hit, the venue opens on to the pavement and offers flexible dishes designed to share, such as delicious salt cod croquettes with gentleman’s relish, as well as substantial mains. Waiter Nico from Santiago is a star, as are front desk staff dressed in loose tops and pants, looking rather like spa attendants. There may be no massages or windchimes, but it’s all very soothing.
Guestroom accessories and amenities are best in class, from sage-coloured robes by Double Rainbouu (its store is at 100 Oxford St) to good-smelling Grown Alchemist unguents, Marc Newson crockery to Marshall speakers shaped like transistor radios. The predominant palette is leaf green and autumnal and my Oxford Terrace Suite chamber, No 206, has a lounge area and two caramel-tiled ensuites, one with shower and the other a craftily concealed “powder room”.
There has been a lot of tucking and folding to house requisite amenities but the spatial flow is good, even though traffic noise along Oxford St starts around 6am and double curtains don’t soften the noise. The narrow balcony overlooks the strip, with its eclectic mix of neighbourhood shops, and the window in the lounge has views one level down to the sparkling blue pool.
The suite’s entry hall helps define a sense of spaciousness, highlighted by a wonderfully intricate oil-based monochromatic linocut by Zephyr Larkin. Full marks for the piles of art books, too, from Herzog to Hirst, contemporary interiors to Japanese gardens.
This emphasis on visuals is a treat but the morning meal is less satisfying, despite the convivial courtyard and excellent coffee. All across the hotel the slogan is OH, YES. But when I eschew the OH-Omelette and ask for Vegemite with my toast, there’s none to be had. Where are we, then? Florida? California? There is only one possible response. OH, NO!
In the know
Oxford House is at 21 Oxford St, Paddington. Rooms from standard streetside Iona ($229) up various categories to Oxford Terrace Suite (from $449). Main restaurant and pool bar, diner and courtyard are open to non-guests. The hotel is well located for access to the Sydney CBD and Hyde Park plus east to AAMI Stadium, Woollahra boutiques, Centennial Park, Bondi Junction and beaches.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of Oxford House.