Must-see hotels in Sydney

  • QT Sydney

    City Centre & Haymarket

    Fun, sexy and relaxed, this ultra-theatrical, effortlessly cool hotel is located in the historic State Theatre complex. Art deco eccentricity is…

  • Cockatoo Island

    Sydney

    Waking up on an island in the middle of the harbour is an extraordinary Sydney experience. Bring a tent (or just sleeping bags) or 'glamp' in a two-person…

  • Mandelbaum House

    Newtown & the Inner West

    One of the University of Sydney's residential colleges, this sweet spot makes a great place to stay in summer. It's a small, genuinely friendly place with…

  • Sydney Harbour YHA

    Circular Quay & The Rocks

    Any qualms about the unhostel-like prices will be shelved the moment you head up to the ample rooftop space of this sprawling, modern hostel and see the…

  • Paramount House Hotel

    Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

    When reception has a rack of shirts for sale and a beer tap it's not a standard hotel. Rooms are striking, with distressed walls, quirky features and…

  • Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel

    Sydney

    Often filled with wedding parties, or Watsons Bay locals who are renovating, this personable hotel is a great place to slip into the barefoot-millionaire…

  • ADGE Boutique Apartment Hotel

    Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

    Modern, catchy and bold, ADGE puts a clever, upbeat twist on the ubiquitous serviced apartment experience. The idiosyncratic but extremely comfortable two…

  • Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo

    Kings Cross & Potts Point

    Superbly set in Woolloomooloo Wharf, this excellent smart-casual hotel has extremely friendly young staff and very likeable features. 'Superoo' rooms are…

  • Sydney Central YHA

    City Centre & Haymarket

    By Central Station, this 565-bed mega-hostel has brilliant facilities, including a travel agent, help with organising working holidays, workspaces for…

  • QT Bondi

    Sydney

    Colourful, chic and appropriately beachy, this apartment hotel is steps from the sand and offers a very appealing combination of facilities, location and…

  • Baxley Bondi

    Sydney

    Halfway between the beach and Bondi Junction train station (10 to 15 minutes' walk to either) this pleasantly scented guesthouse is great value. Rooms are…

  • Spicers

    Kings Cross & Potts Point

    This expert conversion of three Victorian-era terraces adds a touch of class to leafy Victoria Street. The charming front rooms have original features and…

  • Little Albion

    Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

    This boutique hotel combines an attractive heritage building with a more modern development to great design success. Rooms range from compact 'crash pads'…

  • Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour

    Darling Harbour & Pyrmont

    In a heritage-listed wool store, this stylish gem combines industrial minimalism with the warmth of ironbark-wood beams, luxury appointments and engaged…

  • Railway Square YHA

    City Centre & Haymarket

    A lovely piece of industrial renovation has converted Central Station's former parcel shed into a really appealing and relaxing hostel, in a great…

  • Bondi Beach House

    Sydney

    In a tranquil pocket behind Campbell Pde, this charming place offers a homey atmosphere decorated in beachy-botanical style with rustic-chic furnishings…

  • Q Station

    Manly

    Hidden away in shrubland rolling down to a beautiful harbour beach, the former quarantine station offers a wide variety of accommodation. Minibuses…

  • Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour

    Circular Quay & The Rocks

    With the Opera House as its neighbour, the building complex known locally as 'The Toaster' has a scorching-hot location. These large, well-equipped and…

  • Primus Hotel Sydney

    City Centre & Haymarket

    In the former Water Board building, this slick conversion has magnificent lobby space with red pillars and glorious art deco details. There's space to…

  • Old Clare Hotel

    Newtown & the Inner West

    A sensitive brewery-office conversion is now a 69-room hotel in a primo Chippendale location. Rooms are well back from noisy Broadway, high-ceilinged and…

  • Establishment Hotel

    City Centre & Haymarket

    In a discreet laneway, this designer boutique hotel in a refurbished 19th-century warehouse evokes Asia with its incense aromas and dark-wood fittings…

  • Sir Stamford

    Circular Quay & The Rocks

    With an old-fashioned ambience a world away from the city-slicker styling of most Sydney hotels, Sir Stamford leaves a grand first impression with its…

  • Dive Hotel

    Sydney

    In a cracking location right across the road from the beach, this relaxed, family-run affair is, thankfully, very inaccurately named. Simple, likeable…

  • Lane Cove River Tourist Park

    Sydney

    Have a back-to-nature experience in the heart of suburbia, staying in this campsite at Lane Cove National Park, 14km northwest of the CBD. There are…

  • Harbour Rocks Hotel

    Circular Quay & The Rocks

    This deluxe boutique hotel on the site of Sydney's first hospital has undergone a chic and sympathetic transformation from colonial warehouse and workers'…

  • Mad Monkey Backpackers

    Newtown & the Inner West

    There's a lot to like about this friendly, well-equipped hostel in a top location. Dorms are tight but have very decent mattresses, while bathrooms are…

  • Langham

    Circular Quay & The Rocks

    This opulent hotel eschews excessive glitz in favour of an antique ambience. It's a true five-star stay, featuring an afternoon turn-down service, an in…

  • Manly Bunkhouse

    Manly

    An easy walk from the beach, this laid-back hostel has a distinct surf vibe. High-ceilinged en-suite dorms have modern furnishings, plenty of room to move…

  • Bondi Backpackers

    Sydney

    Wake up to a view of Australia's most famous beach, grab your free surfboard, cross the road and jump into the waves…you're in backpacker dreamland, right…

  • Blue Parrot Backpackers

    Kings Cross & Potts Point

    This colourful hostel is the antithesis of some of the backpacker barns around the Cross, offering a warm, personal experience that feels more like a…

  • Park Hyatt

    Circular Quay & The Rocks

    At Sydney's most expensive hotel the impeccable service and facilities are second to none, as is the location on the waterfront promenade. With full…

  • 101 Addison Road

    Manly

    This sumptuously decorated 1880s cottage is perched on a quiet street close to the beach and ferry wharf. The delightful host Jill only takes bookings for…

  • Mrs Banks

    Sydney

    A very cute conversion of a centenarian former Commonwealth Bank branch, this boutique hotel has 30 rooms that look very sleek in shades of grey and black…

  • Big Hostel

    Surry Hills & Darlinghurst

    A bright and breezy, no-frills hostel with a rooftop terrace and a crowded but decent communal area and 24-hour kitchen. Dorms do the job, with lockers,…

  • The Basin Campground

    Sydney

    With its sparkling waterfront, grassy sites and fab amenities, the Basin is a very popular national park campsite. Drinking water, flush toilets,…

  • Glenferrie Lodge

    Sydney

    Set in a grand 19th-century house in a peaceful Kirribilli location very close to the ferry (or a pleasant stroll to the city across the bridge), this…

  • Urban Hotel

    Newtown & the Inner West

    A couple of minutes' walk from Newtown station and surrounded by great bars and eats, this casual hotel in a former RSL Club offers edgy industrial-styled…

  • Adina Apartments Bondi Beach

    Sydney

    Smartly appointed and just a barefoot dash to the surf, this is a fine Bondi base on a street packed with restaurants. The apartments all have balconies…

  • Pier One

    Circular Quay & The Rocks

    Offering a stunning location that's harbourside but away from the Circular Quay crowds, this ocupies one of the Walsh Bay piers with the Harbour Bridge…

  • St Paul's Serviced Apartments

    Newtown & the Inner West

    Get your Harry Potter on at Sydney University's first college (dating from 1857), featuring gracious sandstone buildings and well-tended gardens. Single…