Australia’s largest upscale hotel overlooks the water at Sydney’s Darling Harbour – it takes in views of the CBD waterways, as well as providing vistas of the peak of the graceful ANZAC Bridge and the beginnings of the Parramatta River. The best bit: because the harbourside rooms face west, you get stunning views at dusk, as the sun sets over the water (something you don’t get to see happen from hotels that face towards the city’s east or north).
The 888-room Hyatt Regency took the chance for multi-million-dollar upgrades during lockdown, so it emerged from the pandemic with a chic new look channelling a subtle nautical vibe inspired by its harbourside setting.
The vibe at Hyatt Regency is luxury without the showboating. The interiors are sleek and streamlined, unquestionably luxe yet minimalist in their classic, uncluttered finishes; think mid-century modern meets executive retreat with just a touch of superyacht chic. It’s a cleverly ambidextrous approach – slick and functional enough to be a perfect bolthole for corporate customers yet with enough plush finishing touches and high-end comforts to easily satisfy the expectations of discerning leisure guests.
Should you want a few extra bells and whistles, you can upgrade to one of the rooms on floor 11, which grants guests access to the Regency Club lounge – a comfy retreat with complimentary drinks, canapés and breakfast options away from the busier public spaces elsewhere in the hotel..
Other facilities include a 24-hour fitness centre, underground parking, state-of-the-art meeting spaces for events, and access to Hyatt's e-concierge service.
The Hyatt Regency also has an eclectic hospitality spread, with four in-house hospitality venues all channel their own respective energies.
The jewel in the hotel’s crown is the open-air Zephyr Sky Bar, a sophisticated cocktail lounge perched on the hotel’s 12th level. Step out of the elevators and you feel like you’ve stepped onto the deck of a superyacht, looking out over Sydney’s Darling Harbour, the peaks of the ANZAC Bridge, and all the way over to the start of the Parramatta River.
Hungry? There are multiple in-house options depending on what takes your fancy. Just beyond the lobby, the hotel’s main restaurant space, Sailmaker, has a sustainable-seafood and local-produce focus, and offers great-value deals.
If your wanderlust is getting the better of you, a trip to the hotel’s quirky eatery Jackalberry should take the edge off. With an array of different world cuisines on its menu – from Peking duck spring rolls to Canadian poutine, seafood linguini to mee goreng, and lots more besides – you can take your tongue on a globetrot without ever leaving Sydney.
Making use of the historic buildings on the hotel’s plot, the Regency’s very own pub, the Dundee Arms, strikes an oddly traditional figure on the otherwise thoroughly modern Sussex Street. One of the city’s oldest surviving pubs, built in the 1860s, the Dundee Arms offers classic, hearty grub, in an atmosphere that the dock workers who frequented it a century and a half ago would feel right at home in.
Centrally located, Hyatt Regency Sydney is about 10 minutes on foot from the hospo hubs of Darling Square and Barangaroo. It's also less than 10 minutes to Darling Harbour, Chinatown, the convenience of Town Hall train station, Chinatown and CBD bars including the YCK Laneways late-night precinct, making it the ideal home base for a Sydney stay.
