W Hotel Sydney

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588 rooms from £205 per night

“In prime position overlooking Darling Harbour, this luxurious hotel is as startling inside as out, with floor-to-ceiling windows, a mix of gritty urban and sleek nautical design features, a rooftop pool and a dessert bar amongst its food offerings.”

Hotel Review

To some it suggests a wave, to others the snaking of a rope when shaken (locals nickname it ‘the ribbon’) while to others it resembles an old-fashioned roller-coaster. Whichever, W Hotel Sydney embodies the W Hotel group's philosophy of being bold and disruptive. Its glassy facades, cleverly sandwiched between freeways, overlook Darling Harbour on one side and the Central Business District on the other. With 30 floors and 588 rooms, it's the group's largest hotel to date.

From the moment you step inside and choose either the blue neon-lit staircase or glittery rose-gold-walled escalator up to the airy lobby-cum-lounge, there's a sense of stylish fun. In the lounge, you'll find a mirrored ceiling and vast blue frond lampshades and a bar that segues from daytime coffee and drinks to evening Asian tapas and sake. The main restaurant, BTWN - abbreviation for ‘between’; the hotel literally sits between two freeways - choose a window table to watch the traffic speed noiselessly by a matter of feet away. The huge space incorporates a gritty urban theme into its decor with graffitied concrete pillars and industrial chic lighting. Hit the 29th floor cocktail bar - which sits beside a breathtaking infinity pool open to the skies - and discover a cool take on all things underwater with sea-blue- and coral-inspired shapes and colours.

Bedrooms are sleek in nautical shades with hints of glamours yachting days in the chrome light fittings and art deco-style bar-cum-dressing table. Deeply blue bathrooms, though sexy, may be too dark for some.

Come evening, it's up to the top floor bar for cocktails in the cabanas around the pool then down to dinner, a choice of small and large plates, strong on local provenance and big on flavour.. Leave room for the dessert bar with its own separate menu. But probably the best meal is breakfast, a series of buffet stations serving up dishes from waffles to banana bread, smoked salmon to noodles, Bircher muesli to eggs how you want. Get up early to make the most of it.