The Mack Daddy Suite at Paramount House Hotel, Sydney. Photo / Tom Ross
The Mack Daddy suite at Paramount House Hotel in Sydney’s Surry Hills is so comfortable, Viva’s deputy editor Johanna Thornton could just about move in.
Location: A refurbished heritage building in the heart of Sydney’s Surry Hills.
Style: A 29-room boutique hotel that’s as beautiful as it is boho.
Perfect for: Those who appreciate design details and having some of Sydney’s best eateries on their doorstep.
First impressions: Is this really the hotel? The front desk of Paramount House Hotel is at the rear of a bustling ground-floor cafe, Paramount Coffee Project, and getting there requires weaving through queues of people waiting to be seated at this popular breakfast and lunch spot. Stripped back and stylish, the airy lobby/cafe is the first glimpse at the refurb of this three-storey, 80-year-old brick warehouse, previously Paramount Picture Studios, which has preserved the building’s beautiful patina and brought it into the 21st century with assured design details, including local art and designer furniture. After a long morning of travel, I was relieved to be offered a welcome drink – a hibiscus tea, straight from a set of three taps and quickly handed room keys to our suite on the third floor, a short elevator ride away.
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Rooms: The Mack Daddy Suite is the largest of Paramount’s five-room configurations and feels almost like an apartment with a bedroom, lounge, bathroom and private balcony, all impeccably styled. The hotel’s artwork is a standout and this suite has a piece from Sydney artist Kitty Callaghan and a beautiful tapestry by James Jirat in the bedroom. The king-size bed is made up with pink and navy Cultiver linens, the lounge looks like something out of a magazine with a Falcon leather chair and ochre-coloured Jardan sofa, and the custom-made brass mini bar contains an extended array of artisanal local refreshments like Taylor & Smith negroni, Cantina’s sparkling margarita seltzer and Status Quo Pale Ale. Feel like listening to music? There’s an old-school cassette player with a selection of tapes, from Tupac to Mac de Marco. There’s not much of a view, with an alleyway obscured by the exterior’s copper screen facade but the plant-filled balcony with seating nook is a nice place to hang out, especially during a night-time thunderstorm.
Bathroom: Accessed through black steel-framed frosted glass doors, the terrazzo-tiled bathroom’s centrepiece is a native timber Japanese-style bathtub with brass rainshower. While it looks gorgeous, the design isn’t great in practice. For those who don’t want to get their hair wet, it’s an effort to avoid a downward stream and the square shape of the tub is awkward to navigate. For the size of the bathroom sink, it’d be great to have somewhere to store your toiletry bag too. On the plus side, there’s room to move, the oversized towels are fantastic and so are the Aesop toiletries.
Food and drink: There’s no in-room coffee machine, lobby bar or hotel restaurant but the building is a one-stop-shop for some of the best food and drinks in Surry Hills, with AP House by A.P Bakery on the rooftop, offering a selection of baked goods (sourdough, buttermilk croissants, smoked brisket pie and Basque cheesecake to name a few), coffee and an all-day menu, ideal for a morning flat white and some treats to take away for a picnic lunch. On the ground floor is Paramount Coffee Project, where you’ll find fast-moving queues lining up for its shokupan yuzu French toast and panko-crumbed soft-boiled eggs on toast and specialty brews from Reuben Hills and Wood & Co. Poly is a must-visit wine bar with a very appealing a la carte menu (onion dip with hot buttered chips! Prawn cocktail with marie rose sauce) and ‘apolytivo’ hour from 5-6pm, and Golden Age Cinema is a charming restored cinema and bar serving cocktails and snacks with ticketed old favourites playing on the big screen. You basically never have to leave the building.
Facilities: There is free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel. There is no on-site parking but Paramount has a partnership with a Wilson carpark a three-minute walk away for $30 overnight – be aware this is for single entry/exit only. Studio Mouvoir on the rooftop of the Paramount building offers Pilates classes that can be booked via reception.
In the neighbourhood: Surry Hills is the perfect location from which to explore Sydney, with the Central Train Station an eight-minute walk from the hotel and Chinatown and Hyde Park a stone’s throw away. The inner-city suburb has lots to explore with some of Sydney’s top restaurants and wine bars, boutiques and green spaces.
Sustainability: In 2018, Paramount Hotel became Sydney’s first zero-waste hotel, implementing digester food waste disposal technology that sees food broken down into a liquid which is then converted into power and biosolids. It also has a waste compactor and glass crusher.
Family-friendly: Rooms sleep two adults max but there are daybeds available for children (under 12) and cots for babies (up to 4) and some interconnecting rooms.
Accessibility: There are room configurations that are accessibility friendly and the building is equipped with an elevator. Leave a comment when booking with any specific requirements and the team will take care of you.
Price: $550AUD ($607) per night for the Mack Daddy.
Contact: Paramounthousehotel.com
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