Room for Two – Adina Apartment Hotel Sydney Town Hall

Reviewed by: Matthew Brace

Intro 

The newly refurbished and ideally located Adina Town Hall in Sydney is breaking the apartment hotel mould and setting a new standard. It’s perfect for couples coming to town for fun and romance. They will find surprisingly spacious apartments, Nordic-inspired design, a good gym and pool, a buzzing street-front bistro and killer views of Sydney’s CBD.

Overview 

A total refurbishment has breathed new life into the Adina Town Hall and it looks a million dollars. It’s the latest in the TFE Hotels portfolio to be extensively updated as part a global refurbishment program.

Everything is new: the calm, minimalist lobby, the pine-green tiles around the pool, the machines and free weights in the gym. You can breakfast in the ground-floor bistro, head out to see the Sydney sights and then relax by the semi-indoor heated pool up on the ninth floor. Or you can spend the entire stay wrapped in the arms of your beloved in your room. It’s like having your very own luxurious Sydney CBD apartment for the weekend but with great service on tap.

Location  

The Adina Town Hall is right downtown on the corner of Kent and Bathurst streets, with Town Hall and the Queen Victoria Building opposite, Hyde Park a 5-minute walk west, Darling Harbour the same distance east and Chinatown 10 minutes south. Circular Quay is a half-hour leisurely stroll north.

Look and feel 

We were blown away by the size of the apartments. The one-bedrooms are generous at 57sqm and perfect for couples, while the 92sqm two-bedrooms are really big and ideal for two couples travelling together. 

The larger room sizes mean there are only eight residences per floor (144 in total), which minimises foot traffic and gives guests more space and privacy. 

The hotel’s design elements reminded us of Nordic hotels we have enjoyed. The bronze wardrobe handles look like branches gathered from a tranquil birch forest somewhere in Finland, the blonde-wood floors are light and warm, and the lighting throughout is subtle and calming. We loved the side-lit mirrors and the cute ottoman in the bathroom. The designers also created loads of space under the wardrobe areas in which you can hide your suitcases, keeping the place neat and tidy.

The ninth floor pool is delightful. It inhabits an open-sided corner of the building so the breeze blows through but you’re covered when it rains. There are plenty of loungers around the 8.5m pool and if you’re catching a tan there is a suntrap spot where you can lie back and roast. The indoor gym is connected to the pool area and perfect for a quick workout.

Service

The front desk team members were helpful and delightful on the nights we stayed. Nathaniel was particularly helpful, delivering our Thai takeaway one evening and helping us with directions the next morning. The hotel is trying to make self-catering easier for guests. Early moves towards this include curated recipe cards in rooms (accessible via QR code) and an option to order groceries through the delivery service Milkrun (7am–9pm).

Best room for two 

We were the first people to stay in our one-bedroom apartment (2704). The first people to sit and eat at the stylish dining table and the first people to slip between the soft sheets and gaze out over the twinkling lights of the CBD. Just before we turned out the light we noticed that the wallpaper sparkles. It’s subtle but under the LED lights it definitely glitters, not unlike this incredible city.

The bathroom was worthy of one of the city’s five-star hotels, with modernist gold taps and showerheads, and Appelles skincare amenities. There was also a good laundry and a great kitchen with fridge-freezer, induction hob, oven, dual sink and dishwasher.

However, we got serious room envy when we were invited into our friends’ pad for cocktails. The apartments ending in ‘06’ are two-bedroom corner gems, with curved glass windows offering views as far as the eye can see directly up Kent Street and Bathurst Street. You feel in touch with the city even if you never leave the room.

The smaller 28sqm studios are cute too; the designers cleverly extended the bedhead to one side to create a super-cosy corner banquette.

Food and drink 

We were halfway through breakfast in the charming ground-floor eatery San Marzano when we realised we hadn’t spoken to one another for several minutes. That’s possibly a first for us but there was a good reason. We were savouring the delicious Honey Butter Crust Brioche Toast (with whipped ricotta, homemade berry jam, citrus maple and salted pistachio), scrambled egg carbonara (with goat’s cheese, crispy pancetta and pangrattato) and a Solo Verde Green Bowl of broccolini, avocado, spinach, poached eggs, toasted almond and salsa verde. 

San Marzano – named after the famous and prized southern Italian tomato variety from Campania – is a truly authentic enoteca with food just like nonna used to make. We scrapped the idea of our lunchtime walk and came back to share a plate of the Orecchiete Barese (shell-like pasta pork with broccolini, chilli and parmesan). Good decision.

Sustainability 

It’s great to see the hotel using vegan and cruelty-free Appelles products in all rooms; they smell amazing too. Also, during the renovation, the Adina Town Hall donated hundreds of furniture and fixture items from the old apartments to Sydney furniture rescue charity, ReLove. The charity primarily supports women and children impacted by domestic violence as well as asylum seekers, people experiencing homelessness and people coming out of incarceration.

Couples will love

Having their very own, quiet, spacious and stylish pied-à-terre in the beating heart of Sydney, luxuriating in a cool pool, sipping cocktails on their balcony and curling up together to watch the city sparkle at night.

Book via the Adina website www.adinahotels.com/en/apartments/sydney-town-hall/, call (02) 9274 0000or email sydneycbd@adinahotels.com.au