Hotel Review: Paramount House Hotel

In the space of five months, one pocket of Surry Hills received a major boost in the heritage building-turned-cultural destination stakes.

Where

Paramount House Hotel, 80 Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills, NSW

What to expect

In October last year, the much-anticipated restaurant Chin Chin opened in the iconic Griffiths Teas building on Commonwealth Street and in March, Paramount House Hotel was launched across the road, in the former headquarters of Paramount Pictures and its adjoining film storage warehouse.

The new boutique digs joined the existing complex of the Golden Age Cinema and Bar, Paramount Coffee Project and co-working studio The Office Space. Rooftop workout/hangout spot Paramount Recreation Club later completed the picture. It’s pitched as a neighbourhood hotel, and executed as a one-stop lifestyle destination for a particular kind of design-minded, indie magazine-reading, coffee bean-conscious clientele.

The hotel combines heritage features with contemporary finishes

This is evident from the moment I arrive at the cool and calm atrium-style lobby, which is reached via the ground-floor cafe and populated by plants and prerequisite Mac users.

I’m offered a welcome drink of amber sour ale from local Marrickville brewery Wildflower while staff members – friendly, helpful and unimposing – swiftly check me in. There are 27 rooms and two suites in total, and the second-floor Sunny room I’ve booked – as opposed to the Everyday, Loft and Mack Daddy options that make up the other three levels – proves to be ironic as it’s a day of epic Sydney rain. But its sunny disposition compensates for the inclement conditions outside.

The welcome scent of Aesop greets me – the room is well-stocked with the brand’s products, as well as a host of other locally made goods including cured meats by LP’s Quality Meats, Black Pantry marshmallows and William Downie pinot noir in the mini-bar.

The rooms

The cleverly allocated space (which includes a separate shower, toilet and vanity area) occupies a length of the building that looks onto Commonwealth Street, with plenty of sash windows and an alcove at the far end full of greenery.

Melbourne-based architects Breathe have let the bones of the building – such as original brick walls and their patina of old paint – shine through, and outlined them with stylish, complementary details like raw brass fixtures and terrazzo surfaces.

Henry Wilson is one of the many local talents whose designs populate the hotel;

Each additional detail is similarly considered, from the vide poche designed by Sydney’s Henry Wilson and earthy ceramic mugs made by Brisbane studio Commons Ceramics. At the centre of the room is a daybed topped with a green velvet cushion, and a large squishy bed dressed with French linens in dusk, indigo and stripes, and a recycled wool blanket made by Tasmania’s Seljak Brand in collaboration with the hotel. It’s all very curated, but doesn’t feel over-engineered. It feels eclectic, lived in and artful.

Raw brass bathroom fixtures strike the right tone

From here, it’s no effort to nip downstairs to watch a film at the Golden Age’s arthouse cinema (which occupies the site’s old screening room) and enjoy a nightcap in its adjoining bar; or to have breakfast the next morning at the Paramount Coffee Project.

I’ll have to return to eat dinner at Poly, a spin-off of lauded Chippendale restaurant Ester that was yet to open when I visited. It’s a complete vision: a celebration of all things creative in Sydney and Australia. For those of us looking to stay somewhere that fast-tracks us to the heart of local culture in impeccable style, we won’t find a better option than Paramount House Hotel.

The verdict

A beautiful heritage building stylishly and individualistically restored that gets right to the heart of Sydney’s cultural life.

We rated

The design details, like the raw brass fixtures on the elegant standalone basin.

We’d change

The hotel’s accoutrements – bespoke blankets and mugs, etc. – are lovely; and the fact that you can purchase many of them as a souvenir from the retail section at reception is a nice touch, however I can’t help but feel I am being a little ‘sold to’.

Perhaps credit for guests at the cinema or cafe would counter this, and feel like a gesture for ‘locals’.

Notes

I paid $360 for one night in a Sunny room.

All AT reviews are conducted anonymously and our writers pay their own way – so we experience exactly what you would.

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!

Hotel Review: Paramount House Hotel

In the space of five months, one pocket of Surry Hills received a major boost in the heritage building-turned-cultural destination stakes.

Where

What to expect

The rooms

The verdict

We rated

We’d change

Notes

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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.