Park Hyatt Sydney

The Park Hyatt Sydney was already a very impressive luxury hotel, thanks in large part to its scenic and utterly central waterfront location (and to a management that’s not exactly new to the hospitality game). Now, after a very thorough renovation, it’s one for the ages — a ground-up redesign has totally transfigured this ‘90s-vintage hotel into a prototype for the high-gloss luxury hotel of the future.

Any hotelier would be glad to start with views like these, looking across Sydney Cove toward the Opera House. The original rooms and suites, now redesigned, do their level best to live up to their setting, but the most salient addition has to be the new fourth floor: what was previously the hotel’s rooftop is now home to a collection of rooftop suites, which count floor-to-ceiling windows among their considerable charms.

These spaces show there’s plenty of mileage still left in the Park Hyatt group’s Zen-inflected, neutral-toned style book. Of course this being the sort of hotel that it is, none of the rooms or suites are exactly rough going. Marble baths, modern electronics and a litany of lavish comforts are standard throughout the range — select based on your need for space, and how highly you value that opera-house view.

And if the waterfront setting and the physical luxury are the first two essential ingredients, surely the service is the third. The place is positively crawling with butlers, and in every staff interaction you’ll benefit from the unique combination of Park Hyatt professionalism and classic antipodean affability.

The restaurants and bar are first-class, as expected, and the location, practically under the Harbour Bridge, is right in the heart of the Rocks district, an easy walk from Circular Quay or the Wharf, with any number of restaurants, shops and bars within easy reach. The only downside, if you can call it that, is that like all things Park Hyatt, it comes at a price — proof, maybe, that not all the best things in life are free.

Travel advisory: Passport and visa requirements differ from country to country. Please check with your local authority before booking.