Must-see hotels in Sydney

  • Top Choice
    QT Sydney

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

  • Top Choice
    Cockatoo Island

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Mandelbaum House

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Sydney Harbour YHA

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Paramount House Hotel

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel

    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…

  • Top Choice
    ADGE Boutique Apartment Hotel

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

  • Top Choice
    Ovolo Hotel Woolloomooloo

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

  • Top Choice
    Sydney Central YHA

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

  • Top Choice
    QT Bondi

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

  • Top Choice
    Baxley Bondi

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Spicers

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Little Albion

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

  • Top Choice
    Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour

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

  • Top Choice
    Railway Square YHA

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

  • Top Choice
    Bondi Beach House

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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…