Hilton Sydney

"Less a facelift than a full-on, top-to-toe transformation, a two-year, US$150 million refurb of the Hilton in the heart of Sydney’s city centre was primarily tailored for its executive clientele, and it showed when the hotel reopened in 2015. Every room, from the modest standard quarters to the more luxurious relaxation suites, serves up the neutral palate and muted modernism that is expected from a corporate, 577-room, five-star-establishment. Luckily for the rest of us, there is more. While a cheeky sense of humor is evident throughout (how else to react to the notion of splashing out on a Bath Master whose duty it is to adorn en suites with candlelight, rose petals and advice on sophisticated soaking?), the real key is a canny coalescence of the hotel with the pulse of the city. The new Hilton complex also comprises the high-class Glass restaurant and three bustling bars, the pick of which is the re-opened and slightly refreshed Marble Bar, an opulent, underground ode to Victoriana dating back to 1893. Even the gym – huge by hotel standards - is enmeshed in the urban jungle; a functioning city gym with classes, a generous lap pool, and a cute range of steam rooms and saunas."