Hilton Sydney Is An Urban Oasis | Australian Traveller

Hilton is among the most iconic hotel names, and their Sydney outpost has asserted itself as a CBD landmark and culinary destination.

With handsome rooms, city views, world-class dining, and top-notch facilities, you can easily spend an entire weekend at the five-star Hilton Sydney without leaving. At forty-five floors tall, this sky-high escape stands proudly in the city as an urban oasis to work and unwind, whether you’re a business or leisure traveller.

Location

Hilton Sydney is a 20-minute cab ride from the airport. It’s located in the heart of Sydney on George Street and Pitt Street, making it a prime spot for discovering the city’s shops, major sites, and food destinations.

Opposite is the historic Queen Victoria Building (QVB), home to five levels of shopping. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a 20-minute walk away and Town Hall station is a one-minute walk away for those wanting to explore beyond the CBD, Circular Quay, and Darling Harbour.

Style and character

First built in 1974, the Hilton Sydney building received extensive remodelling by Johnson Pilton Walker architects who transformed it into a stylish, light-filled structure. The elegant facade takes cues from the QVB and surrounding sandstone buildings. Upon entering, guests are greeted by a dramatic 20-metre-high foyer with a 17-metre-high metal installation, by Australian artist Bronwyn Oliver. Understated luxury flows throughout the entire hotel.

The expansive 20-metre-high foyer. (Image: Hilton Sydney)

New York interior designer Tony Chi oversaw the fit-out of the hotel’s fine-dining restaurant, glass brasserie. The aptly named eatery boasts expansive ceilings, full-length windows that provide views of the QVB, floor-to-ceiling glass wine storage, and dark-panelled wooden furnishings, creating a refined yet welcoming aesthetic.

The metal installation by Australian artist Bronwyn Oliver greets you in the foyer. (Image: Hilton Sydney)

Facilities

Hilton Sydney ticks all the boxes when it comes to facilities. On-site you’ll find a luxurious spa and a conference centre. Alysium Spa’s menu includes hot-stone treatments, body wraps, scrubs, facial treatments and aromatherapy massages. For those who have travelled far, the JetLag treatment is designed to rejuvenate you for your holiday. Relax in the sauna and spa before or after whichever treatment you choose. Guests have access to Fitness First Pitt St. Platinum where you’ll find a lap pool and state-of-the-art gym equipment.

Those staying in one of the Executive Rooms or suites have access to the exclusive Executive Lounge where you can unwind and enjoy evening cocktails and nibbles.

Rooms

There are 587 sleek rooms and suites at Hilton Sydney which were refurbished in 2021. These range from intimate Hilton Guest Rooms to expansive Master Suites. Every accommodation features a neutral palette and modernist furnishings, king-size Hilton Serenity beds, a Nespresso coffee pod machine, smart TVs, and city views.

Admire the city views from the City View Suite’s living area. (Image: Hilton Sydney)

The Family Connecting Rooms combine two Guest Rooms and are convenient for those travelling with children or as a group. For those wanting a more luxe experience, the suites offer separate lounge areas to unwind, spa baths, dining tables, and plush robes.

Relax in one of the City Suites. (Image Hilton Sydney)

Food and drink

Breakfast, afternoon tea, and dinner are all served in the hotel’s stalwart restaurant, Glass Brasserie which is helmed by celebrated chef and restaurateur Luke Mangan. Buffet and à la carte options are available for breakfast, with generous continental and hot offerings.

Glass Brasserie boasts beautiful QVB views.

Book a table for dinner to enjoy the modern Australian menu that showcases the best of the country’s produce. Enjoy starters such as king brown mushroom skewers, mains such as Humpty Doo Barramundi with choy sum and duck broth, and desserts such as vanilla crème brûlée amaretti biscotti. Wine lovers are spoilt for choice, with the restaurant proudly offering an award-winning wine list of over nine hundred varietals and three thousand bottles, selected by Head Sommelier Mauro Bortolato.

If you’re staying over the weekend, the afternoon tea is a must. Indulge in a hand-crafted selection of sweet and savoury delights curated by executive chef Hamish Neale. The menu spans brûlée scones with Nutella, vanilla, and matcha, crab salad brioche rolls, and opera slices, paired with a selection of fine teas and Champagne.

Executive chef Hamish Neale serves up a mix of classic and contemporary bites. (Image: Hilton Sydney)

There are two bars on site; Zeta bar and Marble Bar. Start at the rooftop terrace bar Zeta for sunset tipples including the ‘Princess Peach’ with Pommeray Brut NV, rhubarb sake apricot brandy, peach schnapps, and citrus. Head down to the basement where the moody Marble Bar is hidden. Built in 1893, the opulent space features original Victorian-style décor and artwork. Sip on prohibition-inspired cocktails – the ‘Breakfast at Sweethearts’ with Don Julio tequila, Champagne, pink grapefruit, and cinnamon will go down a treat.

Swing by for a tipple at heritage-listed bar, Marble Bar. (Image: Hilton Sydney)

Does Hilton Sydney have access for guests with disabilities?

All rooms are accessed via a lift, and easy access rooms are available.

Is Hilton Sydney family-friendly?

Given its proximity to major attractions and home-like facilities, Hilton Sydney is a great choice for families. Interconnecting rooms are available so you can stay in close proximity to one another.

Details

Best for: Business travellers and families

Address: 488 George St, Sydney

Phone: (02) 9266 2000

Cost: From $299 per night

Welcome to the first instalment of Hotel Addict, a monthly column where I check into Australia’s best hotels, exploring not just the rooms, but the stories, service and settings that make each stay unforgettable and worth adding to your wishlist.

Hotel stays have quietly become my thing. Long before I became a travel journalist, I was booking staycations just for a change of scenery. Some had charm, some had character, some had neither. Once, I even stayed in a hotel directly opposite my own apartment – partly for the novelty, partly because I wanted to see my life from a different angle.

For me, hotels represent a kind of mystery – I find myself wanting to know what these buildings contain. Many of them are designed with intention: lighting, materials, scent and sounds that often reflect the city they sit in. Time seems to gently pause in these spaces, which have increasingly become the destination itself for modern travellers.

It only felt fitting for the first hotel in this series to be in my home city and at the hotel that’s been at the top of my list: Capella Sydney.

A sandstone heritage building and palm trees

Capella sits within an Edwardian Baroque‑style sandstone building.

An email with a hotel program from the “Culturist Team” lets me know this will be a luxurious stay. There’s a guided walk around the Botanic Gardens, a weaving workshop and a Sydney contemporary art tour – the kind of addition that signals a hotel that’s tuned into the finer details, and one that’s not surprising given that Capella’s ethos centres on delivering personalised, immersive experiences.

Capella opened in 2023 within a transformed Edwardian Baroque‑style sandstone building in Sydney’s CBD that was originally designed by renowned Scottish-Australian architect George McRae. I often walk past this building and once attended an event inside – I distinctly remember being surprised by how beautiful it was. Bar Studio, Make Architects, and stylist Simone Haag were engaged to sensitively adapt the building for contemporary luxury while honouring its past, in collaboration with Heritage NSW and the City of Sydney.

When I arrive, I’m greeted by three different staff members along the way to reception. There’s a lovely subtle scent, which I later learn combines notes of bergamot, green tea leaves, peony, freesia, vetiver and cedarwood. This hotel strikes such a beautiful balance between grandness and intimacy, with large floral bouquets, contemporary artworks, impressively high ceilings that give it an international feel and quieter nooks to unwind in. Each space is unique, but they’re all unified by a warm, textural and layered design.

Sydney has been deserving of a hotel of this calibre for quite some time, with many of the accommodations in the city looking and feeling dated.

A modern hotel reception with high ceilings

The design strikes the perfect balance between grandness and intimacy.

I have a treatment booked at the hotel’s Auriga Spa prior to check-in. The space is ultra-luxe, moodily lit and intimate, featuring timber joinery, green walls and a sleek design that’s so perfect it almost transports me to Japan. I opt for the Replenish Beauty and LED Facial – a strategic choice with a TV segment on the horizon, and a hopeful bid to look extra fresh for the camera.

The treatment begins with me sitting in the softest robe of my life, wearing slippers and sipping chamomile tea. I’m then whisked away to my private treatment room, which has its own bathroom, a large skylight and a small Japanese-style garden. The treatment is extremely relaxing and moves through cleansing, exfoliating, massaging (arm, head, neck and face) and LED Light Therapy. There’s so much attention to detail – even at the end, the facialist puts my slippers back on me, while I’m still lying down.

Spa treatment room with a massage bed, featuring timber walls and a serene Japanese-style garden visible through a window.

A treatment at Auriga Spa might be the best way I’ve ever started a hotel stay. (Image: Rachael Thompson)

While this treatment certainly hasn’t had a Benjamin Button effect, my sister seems to think I’m glowing, so I walk away happy, or at the very least, zen.

Auriga Spa has a sauna, steam room, ice fountain and a beautiful indoor heated swimming pool. There’s also “experiential showers” – new to me, but essentially it combines water flowing from different places, changing temperatures, mood lighting, gentle sounds, and a subtle lemongrass scent.

You could easily spend the better part of a day at the spa and pool, even if you’re not a guest.

The indoor heated swimming pool with glass ceiling at Capella Sydney.

Guests outside the hotel can use the spa and swimming pool. (Image: Rachael Thompson)

I’m escorted to my room, drunk on relaxation, but I make sure to take note of how noisy the hallways are – answer: dead quiet. My room is 50 square metres, which is huge by hotel standards, but particularly for one in the CBD. It feels like a high-end apartment with floorboards, a freestanding bath and a seating/dining area. My eyes are immediately drawn to the line-up of macarons waiting for me on the dining table.

I’m thrilled to see the mini bar armoire includes a small wine fridge stocked with Minuty Prestige Côtes de Provence, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Handpicked Wines Pinot Noir, and Moët Grand Vintage. Not that I plan on using it (I simply could not justify the prices) – but it’s a nice extra that makes the room feel that much more luxurious. The drinks lineup reads like a who’s-who of local favourites – Young Henrys, Maybe Sammy cocktails, Four Pillars gin and Archie Rose gin. Snacks include Tyrell’s chips, Pringles, Natural Confectionery lollies, and a Carman’s oat bar.

Some small touches I appreciate that some hotels don’t offer: the option to choose your housekeeping time, an iron that actually works well, a Bluetooth speaker, the beloved wine fridge, aluminium water bottles and a bathroom without a glass door or screen that awkwardly exposes you. The one downside is that some of these rooms don’t offer much in the way of a view.

A modern hotel room with a monochrome paletter.

I stayed in a Premier Room which was elegant and relaxing. (Image: Rachael Thompson)

4:30pm is Swill Hour – a daily tradition that nods to the historical “six o’clock swill” in Australia. This one-hour event takes place in the Living Room and invites guests to gather and enjoy each other’s company with a signature cocktail in hand. This afternoon’s tipple is a Eucalyptus Gimlet, a clever, herbaceous little cocktail, by the multi-award-winning Maybe Sammy Team, served on coasters depicting drawings of the historic building. The canapé of the day is a tomato and stracciatella tart. I noticed several staff members chatting with guests like old friends, asking how their adventures earlier in the day went – clearly remembering previous conversations from earlier visits.

Dinner is booked for 6:30pm in Aperture – arguably the most beautiful area of the accommodation. It’s decorated with Australian flora and features a kinetic sculpture hanging from the roof that opens like flowers, with softly changing lights. Tyler, who is serving us, clearly admires the Capella brand, speaking enthusiastically about the other international properties he’s been to and sharing how he sometimes brings his five-year-old daughter here to use the pool.

Interior of Aperture at Capella Sydney, featuring lush greenery and a striking ceiling-mounted sculpture.

The scale of Aperture gives it an international feel.

I kick things off with a basil melon margarita – a winning recommendation – before tucking into the best prawn toast I’ve ever had. For mains it’s crispy Ōra King salmon and spaghetti with mud crab.

When I arrive back at my room, there’s a vegan leather journal on my bed with a note that says: “The ritual of journaling allows us to pause, reflect and focus.” This is part of the turndown service, and my slippers are neatly lined up next to my bed. Will I journal? No. Do I think it’s a nice touch? Yes.

Brasserie 1930 at Capella Sydney, where Art Deco elegance meets contemporary Australian cuisine.

Brasserie 1930 boasts Art Deco elegance.

The next morning, I make the predictable choice of smashed avo for breakfast at the on-site restaurant, Brasserie 1930. There’s also a buffet brimming with all the usual suspects.

Afterwards, I head to the pool to relax for a few hours before the 11am checkout. Despite my earlier resolve not to journal, I find myself reflecting nonetheless – an irony not lost on me – on my 21st hotel stay in Sydney. I write this with growing assurance that great hotels don’t just provide a place to stay; they create memorable moments, thanks in large part to fantastic staff. Kudos to the hiring manager.

Next stop: The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart!

Hilton Sydney is an urban oasis for business and leisure travellers

Hilton is among the most iconic hotel names, and their Sydney outpost has asserted itself as a CBD landmark and culinary destination.

Location

Style and character

Facilities

Rooms

Food and drink

Does Hilton Sydney have access for guests with disabilities?

Is Hilton Sydney family-friendly?

Details

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Welcome to the first instalment of Hotel Addict, a monthly column where I check into Australia’s best hotels, exploring not just the rooms, but the stories, service and settings that make each stay unforgettable and worth adding to your wishlist.