It’s been a long time coming, but Ace Hotel is finally launching in Australia—with Sydney as its first Aussie home. Ace Hotel Sydney is the first Ace in the Southern Hemisphere. Taking over the iconic Tyne Building on Wentworth Avenue in Surry Hills, which is owned by Golden Age Group, Ace Sydney features 264 rooms, a gym, a restaurant and cafe, a lobby bar, and, of course, a rooftop bar and restaurant.
If you’re into boutique hotels, you’ll be familiar with the very cool Ace Hotel chain. Kicked off in Seattle in 1999 by the late hotelier Alex Calderwood, Ace Hotel changed the game for luxury hotels—it was less Four Seasons, Hilton, and Marriot, and more like hanging out in a rockstar’s tricked out warehouse apartment. At Ace, rooms feature record players and vintage furniture, local artists’ murals, and a mini-bar packed with local snacks and explorer necessities (like two-minute noodles for that hungry-but-don’t-want-to-spoil-dinner vibe you get after exploring a city all day).
Each Ace location also has a calendar packed with parties and events. Ace Hotel Palm Springs features a swim club and plays host to Coachella parties each April. Back in the day, the New York outpost featured its own Opening Ceremony store, and Downtown LA currently features a huge 1600-seat gothic-style theatre.
And it looks like Ace Hotel Sydney will live up to its international counterparts. Designed in partnership with Melbourne-based Flack Studio, Ace Sydney reflects Surry Hills' storied past and its many evolutions with a cinematic colour palette. Founder and director David Flack has drawn on the razor gang wars and the underground liquor trade of the 1920s and 1930s, the modernist art boom of the 1960s, and the Gay Solidarity Group protests of the 1970s. Expect natural textures and tones, custom-designed furniture, a striking ochre red off-form concrete staircase in the lobby, and signature Ace touches, like in-room turntables and acoustic guitars.
When it comes to food and drink, Ace hasn't skipped a beat either. Chef Mitch Orr is heading up the hotel's food program, leading the kitchen at Kiln—the hotel's stunning rooftop restaurant. Paying homage to the building's previous life as a brickworks, the focus at Kiln is smoke and fire, with a wood-burning grill being the centrepiece of the menu. Designed by Fiona Lynch, the space is walled with glass, meaning you're in for some pretty spectacular views of the city. Kiln will be open for dinner nightly and brunch on the weekends.
Downstairs, LOAM is an all-day restaurant and a sister venue to the restaurant at the Ace in Downtown LA. Pouring Mecca Coffee alongside wines by the glass, craft beer, cocktails, and snacks, it'll play host to arts and cultural events.
Last but not least, Ace Hotel Sydney's drinks program has been penned by Mike Bennie, co-founder of P&V Wine + Liquor Merchants. "I’m stoked to have the opportunity to create a drinks program that’s truly reflective of the current state of Australian drinks, with a sense of fun and wonderment that engenders a sense of community around the hotel and its spaces—and is as inclusive as the hotel itself," Bennie said in a statement.
Reservations are now open, with high season rates starting at $359/night.
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Image credit: Anson Smart
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