Psychedelic chic at a $65m Sydney hotel
This new hotel in hip and happening Surry Hills channels a ’60s meets ’70s vibe with zap-pow explosions of colour.
Psychedelic chic? Could that be a new design “thing”? I am channelling a ’60s-meets-’70s vibe (and happily so) at ADGE Hotel + Residences in Sydney’s Surry Hills, newly converted from an apartment property to a hybrid hotel managed by La Vie Hospitality Group. The colour-bombing starts in the lobby and continues to the lifts with terrazzo-patterned floors and backlit walls of bold pop art. Zoom up to the accommodation levels and each guestroom category presents a zap-pow explosion of primary hues and shiny surfaces. Carpet patterns whirl and swirl, gold and purple hues dazzle, the pendant lights are groovy and shaped like a series of vases. The shower is a cute buttercup-yellow moulded pod that would not look out of place on a cruise ship.
But there is more to this vision than wild ideas. Interior design firm SJB has taken considerable inspiration for the decor from the heritage fashion and design houses of Europe. I see references to those decorative 1970s Qantas cabin crew uniforms by Pucci and the modular shapes and glossy surfaces of Pierre Cardin’s homewares. Despite all the dramatic hues and textures, the chambers are not too tricked-up and feature all the contemporary necessities, from Nespresso machine and junior-sized SMEG fridge to sweet-smelling lavender-based amenities from vegan maker Apothicals by Damana.
There’s a big TV, high-speed wi-fi, intuitive reading lights, open clothes-hanging unit, and the tiny ensuite has clearly been conceived by an origami master who’s somehow tucked all the requirements around that bulbous shower arrangement. There’s barely room to flick a towel but you’d be here for a fun time, not a long time, and all is (very) close to hand. My corner king guestroom, 1001 on level 10, has two distinct aspects. Straight ahead to the north is the harbour, past a frankly ugly tower of apartments where windows light up and go dark as if on a director’s cue. There’s a Hitchcockian voyeurism and lack of modesty about it all that’s slightly disconcerting. I close that set of curtains and turn my attention to the east. This demure angle, with a lower and more textured outlook, skims the rooftops of Darlinghurst and up to Kings Cross. The urban skyline is surprisingly varied. There are newish low-level apartment blocks with top-storey pools and big pots of pandanus and cactus, the sloped lines of semi-detached cottages, and classic Victorian terraces with pocket-sized rooftop gardens, all flourishing and some seemingly accessed by ladders or steep steps. Building cranes perch like giant wading birds. Seagulls are high and swift on the wing.
The 93-room property, with an additional 12 two-bedroom serviced residences featuring wraparound balconies and ideal for families, was relaunched in August and sits beside the Cambridge Hotel at the northern end of Riley St. The pair will form part of a $65m transformation of the inner-urban site when the Cambridge Hotel renovation is completed next year, adding 137 guestrooms and an Italian restaurant. Meantime, the enormous lobby, which will be shared with the Cambridge, is a welcoming space with vertical gardens and vivid decor pops. Also on this ground level is a new outlet for Surry Hills cult cafe-diner Soul Deli, where the pretty lights, mustard-and-pink colour scheme and paintings by contemporary Korean artists are very “now”. It dishes up a terrific breakfast menu with Korean twists, including six Soul Bowl combos rich with pickles and fermented flavours. Smashed avocado on sourdough with (non-fiery) white kimchi, poached eggs, herb salad and lemon nails the cross-cultural combo. Or go for K-street toast and make it K-pow with extra kimchi. Hot in the city? For sure.
In the know
ADGE Hotel + Residences hosts the eight-seater Raita Noda Chef’s Kitchen on the ground level, hailed as Sydney’s smallest Japanese restaurant. The omakase (chef’s selection) 10-course set menu is $230 a person. Dinner only, Monday-Saturday; licensed. Bookings essential. Rooms from $199 a night; two-bedroom residences from $499. B&B packages featuring hot breakfast at Soul Deli from $249.
Susan Kurosawa was a guest of ADGE Hotel + Residences.
