Ace Hotel Sydney

Sydney has no shortage of hotels with polished lobbies and forgettable souls. Ace Hotel Sydney chose a different route. Opened in 2022 as the brand’s first address in the Southern Hemisphere, it arrived in Surry Hills, a neighbourhood that went from gritty warehouses and working class terraces to one of the city’s sharpest districts for food, fashion and coffee opinions.

The building stands on the former Tyne House site, once tied to brickworks and industry, which explains why the hotel feels solid and grounded rather than decorative. Interiors by Flack Studio lean into timber, concrete, ceramics and rich fabrics. Rooms feel considered, tactile and urban. Some entry categories are compact, so size seekers should book accordingly, but even the smaller rooms have personality many larger hotels never achieve.

The lobby is rarely sleepy. Like the best Ace hotels, it behaves as a local clubhouse where residents meet, work, flirt and pretend they are writing screenplays. That matters. A hotel with locals inside usually has real pulse.

Then there is Kiln, the rooftop restaurant, where chef Beau Clugston gives serious attention to Australian produce while the skyline stretches around you. Sydney is famous for harbour views, yet this angle can be more satisfying: less postcard, more living city. Downstairs, Loam keeps the daily rhythm moving from coffee to late bites.

Service is warm and relaxed, not ceremonial. There are grander addresses in town, and quieter ones too. But few places capture contemporary Sydney so clearly. Stay here if you want design with backbone, a neighbourhood with energy, and a hotel that feels connected to the city rather than sealed off from it.