Spend A Night In The Luxurious Park Hyatt Sydney

Ever wanted to wake up to unimpeded views of the Sydney Opera House? We spent a night in the luxurious Park Hyatt Sydney to do just that.

Park Hyatt Sydney sits across the water from the world-famous Sydney Opera House and is so much a part of a walk around Darling Harbour that it’s almost an icon of itself. If you’ve ever walked by – probably during the ever-popular Vivid Sydney every winter – and wondered what the view would be like from inside, this review is for you.

This intimate five-star hotel could be mistaken for a sleek residential building, blending in naturally to its surroundings while still emanating luxury, so let’s dive into whether it’s earned this facade.

Park Hyatt Sydney is set amongst the icons.

The back story

Once a water police station, the building now houses 155 rooms, each boasting an unbeatable view of Sydney‘s coastline. Originally opened in the 1990s, the hotel reopened in 2012 after extensive, 10-plus-month-long renovations.

These renovations are intended to tell a local story within the architecture and interiors. It was built with Sydney sandstone to echo its use by local architects since 1788 and to nod to its traditional use for Indigenous rock carvings. Passers-by might notice that even the boardwalk in front of the hotel looks a little different. It was rebuilt using timber from the Australian native spotted gum tree.

Inside, the Australian story continues. Designed by Melbourne-based firm BARStudio, the interior is sleek and modern. The tones are earthy, giving a warm, almost grounding effect.

Sculptures, paintings and photographs created by renowned Australian artists – including painter Tim Johnson, sculptors Bruce Armstrong and Robert Bridgewater, and photographer Robert Billington – are inspired by The Rocks and Sydney Harbour and are spread throughout the hotel.

Creativity continues with the books and artwork in every room that further connects guests to place. Then there are the floor-to-ceiling windows found in most rooms, that seem to frame Sydney itself and turn views of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour into artworks of their own.

The decor is warm, earthy and grounding.

First impressions

Despite its location in the ever-popular Rocks area, the hotel is quietly tucked away from the cobbled laneways, cafes, historic pubs, art galleries, museums and luxury stores. The simple act of walking the short distance from Circular Quay train station around the boardwalk to Park Hyatt Sydney already had me in holiday mode.

The staff are welcoming during check-in and waste no time showing me to my room. I’m told there’s also a 24-hour personal butler service. The smells wafting from the restaurants made me excited for lunch.

Views are incredible from every room and restaurant.

The room

My room was on the ground floor and my first thought when stepping into the room as the electric blind automatically wound up, was “wow".

A large Moreton Bay fig tree relaxes its branches in front of one side of my room-length window. The Opera House demands my attention from the other. I feel part of the scene, while still being cosy and comfortable inside on this brisk autumn day.

After a quick tour of the rest of the hotel, I return to my room and immediately don my Park Hyatt slippers and robe – over my day clothes though, I’m certain the walkers and joggers enjoying the harbour outside can see me as clearly as I can see them – and get comfy. No TV is needed (although a large one stands at the ready), people watching and the Opera House are the entertainment of the day.

The earthy tones continue into my room, with muted gold and marble-like finishes that add a touch of luxury and light. The bathroom is roomy, with a spacious shower, but the large bathtub beckons. In a smaller second bathroom, a heated toilet seat and bidet are a fun novelty.

inside the king opera deluxe suite at park hyatt sydney

The spacious King Opera Deluxe Suite provides ample room to relax.

The facilities

The pool

It would be a waste to have such beautiful surrounds and not a rooftop pool. Luckily, Park Hyatt Sydney is not one to waste an opportunity.

A small pool sits on the roof, surrounded by white and wooden plush deckchairs, perfect for spending a lazy summer’s day – and seeing as it’s open from sunrise to sunset, you can embrace the full length of a summer day. The real place to be, however, is in the heated spa which has a direct view of the Opera House.

Spend summer days in the pool with Sydney’s best view.

The spa

Aptly called The Spa, it also got a redesign along with the rest of the hotel. Making use of natural light, there’s a cosy atmosphere here and the intoxicating smell upon approach entices visitors to walk in.

More Australian artists are featured in each of the five treatment rooms. There are also two aromatherapy steam rooms. They offer holistic treatments, tailored to individual needs, using La Mer and iKOU skincare products.

Book a treatment in The Spa.

Gym

The gym is as well equipped as some smaller, non-hotel gyms I’ve seen. Treadmills, weight machines, free weights and more are here. It’s also open 24 hours.

The Gym is open 24/7.

The food and drink

The water views continue through floor-to-ceiling windows when you enter The Dining Room by James Viles, Park Hyatt Sydney’s pride and joy and Hyatt’s only hatted restaurant in the southern hemisphere. Helmed by head chef, Brian O’Flaherty, the menu features modern dishes crafted from locally sourced and bio-dynamic ingredients.

I’m lucky enough to be dining on day two of a brand-new menu and it bodes well for future diners. Speaking to Brian, I’m told the first step was contacting local suppliers to find out what would be in season. To Brian, it’s essential to craft a menu around the produce, rather than hunting down produce to suit a menu. The success of this method is evident when you taste fresh produce in a dish that has been expertly crafted to bring out the full flavour.

The Dining Room by James Viles has been hatted for its innovative dishes.

A good example is my starter, tomatoes with marinated feta, biquinho and bell peppers, served with a thick slice of freshly baked focaccia. Each tomato was handpicked by one of the local farmers the restaurant works with and then selected with care to create a colourful plate. Three different types of vinegar are used to bring out the sweetness of the tomatoes. When eaten altogether this dish hits every taste bud. I could happily have this for starter, main and dessert but that would be a waste of a set menu that ranges from spanner crab salad to stoneaxe beef cheek to pot set chocolate with whipped komuntu chocolate mousse.

Sink into the plush armchairs at The Bar.

Those who want to soak in the atmosphere but aren’t ready for a meal can sink into the wide, plush armchairs at The Bar. Enjoy boutique Australian and international wines, a range of other cocktails and beverages and some nibbles. The other dining option here is The Living Room, which, as the name suggests, is created for a more relaxed, all-day casual dining.

Find all-day casual dining at The Living Room.

The location

The hotel is in the middle of all the action, being a short walk to the main streets of The Rocks, and to the other side of Darling Harbour. Walk to art galleries, museums, restaurants and theatres.

Details

Address: 7 Hickson Rd, The Rocks

Website: Park Hyatt Sydney

There are 155 total guest rooms, including rooftop suites with million-dollar, (almost) 360-degree views and residentially-styled guest rooms. One of the largest suites in the city – the Sydney Suite – can be found on the fourth floor. Measuring just under 350 square metres, the room is decked out with sun lounges, day beds, and outdoor dining for eight people.

outdoor terrace of sydney suite at Park hyatt sydney

Enjoy a private deck when you book the Sydney Suite.

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!

What it’s like to spend a night in the luxurious Park Hyatt Sydney

Ever wanted to wake up to unimpeded views of the Sydney Opera House? We spent a night in the luxurious Park Hyatt Sydney to do just that.

The back story

First impressions

The room

The facilities

The pool

The spa

Gym

The food and drink

The location

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.