In Sydney’s green lung

1 December 2018

Park life in the city’s newest luxury lodgings

When it came to updating a Sheraton that sat just opposite Sydney’s famous green oasis, money proved no object.

AUD$50m was spent on renovating the property from its former iteration as Sheraton on the Park to a Sheraton Grand – Australia’s first. The upgrade is evident throughout – with a top floor pool bursting with sleek, striped sun loungers and jaw-dropping views towards Sydney Harbour that beg to be photographed.

Inside, a day can begin with a massage at On The Park Spa, punctuated with afternoon tea at The Gallery, and end at Feast’s famous seafood buffet, a lavish blowout that will leave ostreaphiles weak at the knees. Post-dinner, The Gallery’s Wine Room offers a curated collection of all that is best from Australia’s various vineyards.

Bedrooms are richly decorated and feature more of the show-stopping vistas that the city is renowned for. Guests only need to wander to their windows to see Hyde Park in all its splendour, which lies right outside the hotel and is one of Sydney’s greatest green lungs. It’s perfect for picnics, as well as bird spotting – snowy white ibis flit through the treetops – and is home to the Sydney Festival as well as permanent exhibits like the Hyde Park Barracks Museum, a former prison that gives a glimpse into the lives of convicts and orphans who lived there in the 1800s.

Bang in the centre of the city, the Sheraton Grand is right next to the Central Business District’s shops and a short stroll from the hip restaurants of Surry Hills.

Festival Bound

If you’re heading to Sydney in January, make sure to check out the Festival in Hyde Park from the 9th to the 27th – where you can watch theatre, cabaret, comedy and musicians like South African star Nakhane inside the mirrored Spiegeltent. The adjoining Festival Garden throbs with life, day and night: bars and food trucks keep punters refreshed, and surprise performances take place amid moving pieces of art and sculpture. There are light shows and DJs too.

Words: Christopher Beanland