Sydney to get a new rooftop bar as InterContinental hotel gets a $110m facelift
The grand old dame of city hotels, the InterContinental Sydney, is set to open its coveted rooftop for the first time with a bar offering sweeping views of Sydney Harbour as part of a $110 million facelift.
The hotel at 117 Macquarie Street, where US presidents and celebrities including daytime television queen Oprah Winfrey have rested their heads, is upgrading its rooms and penthouse suite in time for an anticipated boost in tourism.
Renovations are set to end by September, with a signature bar opening on a reimagined outdoor terrace – just in time for new year revellers to take in Sydney’s fireworks.
Some of the building’s heritage facade will also be restored. All 509 guest rooms and suites will be given a makeover in green and blue hues, picking up tones from the adjacent gardens and harbour.
Other public areas will be refurbished and two new bars will open.
The renovations started in 2020 and were designed by Woods Bagot, which said it had the “sophisticated and worldly guest in mind”.
Jennifer Brown, general manager of InterContinental Sydney, said the hotel’s facelift was the beginning of an “exciting new chapter for the hotel”.
“We are thrilled to finally share more on what’s been happening behind closed doors these past two years,” Brown said.
The hotel first opened in 1985 in Sydney’s restored Treasury Building of 1851, on the corner of Macquarie and Bridge streets.
Guests have included former US president Bill Clinton, actor Matt Damon and Winfrey, staying in the penthouse suite in 2010, when she brought 302 audience members on a seven-night trip to Australia.
Plans in 2019 for a ballroom are on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic while owner Mulpha Australia completes this phase of the renovation.
“Our investment in InterContinental Sydney will ensure this iconic hotel continues to receive the recognition and celebration it deserves,” Mulpha Australia chief executive Greg Shaw said.
“Together with the works under way at Circular Quay and the launch of the dynamic Quay Quarter precinct, we’re excited to be part of the visionary new neighbourhood establishing itself at this end of the city, providing a local and international drawcard for generations to come.”
Sydney’s hotel industry reported steady occupancy of 65.1 per cent in May, while room rates fell slightly from the previous month, according to preliminary data from hotel research agency STR.
The Vivid Sydney event pushed daily occupancies across the city to an average 82.8 per cent in May and boosted room rates by 10.7 per cent to an average $305.18 a night.
Excluding the one-off event, the average daily room rate was $233.96, which translated to revenue per available room (RevPAR) for the hotels of $152.32.
Over at Darling Harbour, it is third time lucky for developer Greaton, which has appointed builder Multiplex to complete the $1 billion Ribbon project, including the 585-room luxury W Sydney hotel, IMAX theatre and retail areas.
Multiplex was appointed after the previous builder, Probuild, went into administration. Probuild had been appointed to replace Grocon, the original builder, in 2021.
It is largely complete, with the internal fit-out now the focus, along with public domain contribution works to the Darling Harbour precinct.
Multiplex regional managing director David Ghannoum said the group built the original IMAX theatre 25 years ago, “so it’s with great pride that we are supporting Greaton to bring this re-imagined project to fruition”.
The eye-catching 25-storey curved building designed by Hassell sits between two elevated sections of the city’s Western Distributor motorway at the southern end of the waterfront precinct. It will offer guests a rooftop pool deck with new ground-level bars and retail outlets.
