In a city like Sydney, brimming with cafes and restaurants fitted out with some of the world’s most cutting edge interior design, it’s surprising to hear that the same cannot be said for its design-led boutique hotels. So it’s no wonder The Old Clare Hotel, a 62-room boutique hotel housing 3 excellent restaurants, a rooftop pool and cocktail bar has been so hotly anticipated.

It’s renovation, which has no doubt contributed to the revitalization of Chippendale (the city fringe district which is now a buzzing, up and coming food and arts hub), can be credited to designers Tonkin Zulaikha Greer Architects who have done a fine job of bringing opposite aesthetics and presenting them together in a way that simply works.

The building, which comprises of a converted 1939 Art Deco pub attached to the Victorian-era Carlton United Brewery headquarters, combines old and new architecture while the interiors pair contemporary style with a touch of industrial and mid-century style. This may sound like too much of a muddle for design-purists, but there’s something to be said for the visual delight of running into a different iconic designer chair at almost every hotel corner, which is festooned with distressed brick wall details.

Rooms come with a range of interior styles to suit different tastes but what you can be assured of is high ceilings, oversized windows, a sexy shower room situation and the softest bathrobes you’ve ever wrapped around yourself. Be sure to make your pillow order as soon as you check in unless you prefer the hotel’s standard, overstuffed variety.

Breakfast (as you would expect all over Australia) is done at a high level and the 3 restaurants (Automata, Silvereye and Kensington Street Social) are some of the hottest restaurants in Sydney right now, and all for good reason.

http://www.theoldclarehotel.com.au/

The Old Clare Hotel Sydney
1 Kensington St, Chippendale NSW 2008, Australia
+61 2 8277 8277

Jenny is Melting Butter’s Founding Editor. She’s NYC based via Melbourne, London and Amsterdam. Her hotspot recommendations have also appeared in The Observer, ForbesLife, Belle Magazine, National Geographic Traveler Magazine, Trendland and Gotham Magazine.

(All photos courtesy of The Old Clare Hotel Sydney)

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