Little Albion Guest house, Surry Hills, Sydney
This bijou venue blurs the lines.
Petite urban neighbourhood properties such as Little Albion Guest House typically aim for a combination of hotel and home. It’s something the big players can hardly promise; most of us would struggle to find comparisons with our own residences when holed up in, say, a five-star tower or a gleaming estate of villas and pools. The claim of making guests feel at home in standard chain hotels is as old as time and about as relevant.
But that has changed since the neighbourhood accommodation concept has gained traction in places that are in a process of rejuvenation from down-at-heel to designer swank. Take Sydney’s Surry Hills: this borough on the CBD’s southern fringe is hot to trot, with warehouses and Victorian terraces being transformed as bijou housing and lofts, restaurants, cafes, galleries and boutiques. As Surry Hills becomes a creative hub, the hip crowd increasingly wants to stay there, close to the buzz but within cooee of the CBD.
Officially opened in July after three years in the making, the 35-room Little Albion Guest House is a cool character, helmed by unflappable hotelier Wendy Morris, late of Spicers Potts Point, another great example of the neighbourhood genre. She has a long association with 8Hotels, the new property’s developer, whose interior designers for this latest project, Connie Alessi of Archemy and Cressida Kennedy of Space Control, have channelled features of 1920s and 1970s style across decor that boldly brings together the curves of art deco and the colour clashes of the disco era.
This 1903-built former convent has been reworked by the principal of Terence Yong Architecture and Chris Haughton of Shed Architects, incorporating the addition of a sharply angled rear extension of glass, steel and white-glazed bricks that juts over a narrow courtyard.
The guestroom categories more or less deliver what they say on the label, from Crash Pad, Cosy and Classic to Sweet, Master and Big Albion, with tariffs and space rising accordingly. Those Big Albions, I can report, deliver all the goods, with parquet flooring, Sputnik-like chrome light fittings, richly textured paisley curtains, contemporary four-posters and gold-tiled showers for extra disco dazzle.
Due to the constraints of converting the tight angles and irregular spaces of a listed building, no two chambers are the same. So you might score a cushioned window-seat overlooking the stained-glass windows of the deconsecrated church next door, merry pink or midnight blue velvet tub armchairs, a custom-made wooden headboard or a framed image by fashion photographer Nicholas Samartis. But all include adjustable tubular bedside lights, polished brass detailing, Moroccan bathroom tiles, lovely Molton Brown toiletries, talc-soft bed linen and big towels. And do check the stairs on the Albion Street side for the seven commissioned portraits by Ann Cape of early Surry Hills underworld characters such as Tilly Devine and Kate Leigh.
As well as the formal frontage on Albion Street there’s a laneway entry on Little Albion Street, which leads across a paved terrace to a seating area with a ’70s-inspired walnut-panelled conversation pit and cosy reception. It’s this latter back end, as it were, that is the hub, with jazzy tracks playing at just the right level, well-stocked honour bar and gourmet nibbles, and bistro nook for continental breakfast with espressos from a DIY machine. Take the glass lift to the fifth floor and chill on the north-facing rooftop terrace, with its olive trees in tubs and prettily flowering pot-plants. This is the ideal spot to take up an evening drink in warm weather, perhaps a pre-mixed Negroni by Everleigh Bottling Co, from the honour bar.
It all feels very “non-hotel”, more like a grand home you’re staying in, so there has to be comparison with Airbnb – but 8Hotels is onto that, and Little Albion Guest House is one of the first properties of its kind to list individual guestrooms, all numbered and pictured, and with floor plan size, on the website. So, here you have neighbourhood cred, Wendy as the most charming host imaginable, and no pot luck involved to nab the right boudoir.
Perfect for: Fans of Airbnb looking for next-level digs; cool corporates; dog-owners (there are pooch-friendly ground-floor rooms with small courtyards).
Must do: Go for a morning walk, or a swim in the outdoor heated pool at nearby Prince Alfred Park; this 7.5ha expanse is the green-shaded heart of Surry Hills.
Dining: Wendy and team have lots of recommendations, all within a stroll. Try Poly at Paramount House Hotel for share plates, Chin Chin for new-wave Asian, or Baccomatto Osteria for pasta and creamy desserts like Nonna used to make. Best coffee in the ’hood is at Reuben Hills, diagonally opposite on Albion Street.
Bottom line: Crashpads from about $240
Wine: All Saints Estate Muscadelles
The All Saints story began in 1864 with two Scottish engineers, George Sutherland Smith and John Banks.
Sailing close to a cliche
It feels a little dirty walking into a pub before noon, but at Totti’s in Bondi, my advice is to get in early.