Lilypad, Palm Beach Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying the sunset and views from the deck at Lilypad in Palm Beach
Soak up the views from an Insta-worthy bathtub
Many Sydney stays feature luxurious tubs for escapes within escapes – where plush surrounds and private panoramas feel just as soul-warming as the water itself. Drift off to another level of peace beneath the Southern Pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge at Pier One Sydney Harbour, where the coveted Admiral Suite was designed to frame the Coathanger, Luna Park and the Sydney Opera House. With floor-to-ceiling windows, a private balcony deck, and a standalone alfresco tub, it delivers a front-row seat to all the harbourside happenings.Thoughtful, effortless-luxe details continue throughout this pet-friendly waterfront retreat, from modern-chic furnishings to its private dining room and harbourside bar.
Nearby, pour yourself a glass of bubbly and soak in a luxe bubble bath at Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour, where the enormous freestanding tub in your Darling Harbour View luxury room lets you watch the city lights twinkle below. With 590 elegant rooms and 35 lavish suites spread across 33 floors in Darling Harbour’s tallest building, this refined hotel delivers panoramic views along with three stylish bars and its lauded signature restaurant, Atelier by Sofitel.
For water views you can reach out and touch, Lilypad Palm Beach is a one-of-a-kind floating villa just metres from the golden shores of Palm Beach. From May to July, this exclusive stay levels up for winter with the addition of an outdoor hot tub on its scenic deck – the perfect place to breathe in the salt-air serenity and uninterrupted Pittwater views.
Back in the heart of town, the Hilton Sydney offers oversized spa baths with bewitching city vistas, while the glam design and urban-resort stylings of Redfern’s Eve Hotel Sydney have made it a firm social media favourite, with some of its 102 chic rooms boasting sumptuous tubs and photogenic private terraces.
Cosy up in a boutique stay
Set in character-filled neighbourhoods, Sydney’s boutique hotels are curated with care – each one a window into the city’s vibrant character. From harbourside enclaves to the energy of Western Sydney, these stays don’t just reflect the spirit of the city, they draw you into it, with thoughtful luxuries, warm hospitality and just the right amount of playfulness to keep you inspired.
Feel right at home in the buzzing Inner East, where heritage buildings have been reimagined as design-led sanctuaries, blending sophistication with creativity. In Surry Hills, Paramount House occupies the former headquarters of Paramount Picture Studios, its 29 guest rooms a tapestry of heritage and modern touches. Just up the road, the Crystalbrook Albion offers 35 elegant–eclectic rooms, a rooftop garden oasis with views over the city, and an intimate, unpretentious vibe.
Nearby in Paddington, Oxford House nails the inner-city cool factor with light-filled rooms, handpicked artworks, luxe textures, calming colourways and sleek furnishings, as well as its popular bar and poolside terrace. Also on Oxford Street, Mrs Banks Boutique Hotel was originally built as a bank in 1914. Today, its heritage suites – once the bank manager’s residences – feature all the mod cons and put you in pole position to hop through Paddington’s cafés, bars, innovative galleries and iconic Intersection shopping precinct.
In the restaurant and nightlife hub of Potts Point, luxury and character combine at Spicers Potts Point, with 16 elegant rooms, four grand suites, and private balconies where you can watch the neighbourhood’s colourful life unfold. And just a 10-minute walk away, the Kirketon Hotel’s 40 chic rooms blend historic touches and contemporary flair in a quiet pocket where Potts Point, Darlinghurst and Kings Cross converge.
Further afield in Western Sydney, boutique stays reflect their sport-loving surrounds. The five-star William Inglis Hotel in Warwick Farm is an equine-themed sanctuary with a rural soul, featuring 144 individually designed rooms, a luxe rooftop pool, and sweeping views over the Warwick Farm racecourse. And the Pullman Sydney Penrith – born from a collaboration between Accor and rugby league’s Penrith Panthers precinct – offers sleek interiors, a specialised sleep-therapy menu, and a choice of onsite bars.
Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying food and drink at Club Millésime inside Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour.
Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying food and drink at Club Millésime inside Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour.
Oxford House, Paddington Credit: Anson Smart
Taking its cues from the understated and stylish aesthetic of Palm Springs, Oxford House - Paddington's first lifestyle hotel - recently opened its doors on the iconic inner-city strip of Oxford Street. Featuring all day street level dining, a first level poolside bar, OH! as the hotel is affectionately known, provides an urban oasis just a short stroll from the bustling street and nightlife.
Oxford House, Paddington Credit: Anson Smart
Taking its cues from the understated and stylish aesthetic of Palm Springs, Oxford House - Paddington's first lifestyle hotel - recently opened its doors on the iconic inner-city strip of Oxford Street. Featuring all day street level dining, a first level poolside bar, OH! as the hotel is affectionately known, provides an urban oasis just a short stroll from the bustling street and nightlife.
Hit refresh in a heated pool
Whether you’re ready to fire up your heartrate with a few fast laps of freestyle, or float away on a daydream, the water’s warm all year round at Sydney’s standout stays. Along the harbour’s edge, winter’s most decadent waterholes promise balmy temperatures, luxurious amenities and epic views – making every dip both rejuvenating and awe-inspiring.Dive into the decadence of Crown Sydney’s infinity pool, where 28°C waters, private poolside cabanas and a living postcard view across Barangaroo and the harbour set the scene for winter rejuvenation. Just an eight-minute walk away in Darling Harbour, W Sydney pairs sleek interiors with a futuristic façade and two inviting heated options: a 30m rooftop pool on Level 29, flanked by daybeds and Darling Harbour views, and a 24-hour indoor pool on Level 22.
The heated H2O highlights continue indoors. At the Shangri-La Sydney, if you can tear yourself away from the award-winning spa, sky-high dining and dreamy suites, the Health Club’s picturesque 13m pool awaits. At The Langham Sydney in Millers Point, a star-dappled ceiling elevates the tranquil ambience of its 20m indoor pool, while the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel Sydney offers a 15m pool tucked within beautifully reimagined heritage surrounds.
Warm your soul beside a roaring fireplace
Ranging from harbourside sanctuaries to boutique stays with inner-city flair, many Sydney hotels feature fireplaces to fire up your winter storytelling sessions. Be entranced by the flickering flames as you cosy up with a glass of red in the grand lobby of the Sir Stamford at Circular Quay – also renowned for its Juliette balconies, antique furnishings, exceptional art collection and lavish High Tea experiences. Or, take your fireside sessions to the Little National Hotel Sydney’s rooftop, where a circular fireplace is the inviting centrepiece of a charming lounge filled with oversized couches – a sumptuous setting to relax with friends and clink glasses at day’s end. Prefer a cosy night in, surrounded by icons? Treat yourself to a stay in the Park Hyatt Sydney’s extraordinary Sydney Suite. Not only does it have a private fireplace, it also boasts its own, exclusive outdoor terrace for panoramic views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, a spa bath, dry sauna, steam room, and, of course, butler service!
Crown Sydney, Barangaroo Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a coffee and harbour views from their luxurious Crown Towers hotel suite at Crown Sydney, Barangaroo.
Crown Sydney, Barangaroo Credit: Destination NSW
Couple enjoying a coffee and harbour views from their luxurious Crown Towers hotel suite at Crown Sydney, Barangaroo.
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.
Little National Hotel, Sydney Credit: Little National Hotel
The rooftop lounge at the Little National, in Wynyard in Sydney.
More Inspirational Stories
Vivid Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
Views of the Sydney Opera House from the Overseas Passanger Terminal during Vivid Sydney.
Make the most of your King’s Birthday long weekend –Friday, 6 June to Monday, 9 June – by joining in Vivid Sydney celebrations. From the free Light Walk across five connecting zones to culinary journeys and joyous concerts, there are plenty of free and unmissable events to enjoy over these four dazzling nights.
Be spoilt for choice on Friday night
It’s up to you how you kick off your long weekend. You can simply marvel at the spectacular installations dotted along the Light Walk, or join an event hosted in one of the festival’s five zones – Circular Quay and The Rocks; Barangaroo; Martin Place and the CBD; Darling Harbour; and The Goods Line and Inner City.
Draw energy from an evening of bright, breezy pop at Stella Jang + Ivoris, one of the free Tumbalong Nights series of concerts in Darling Harbour’s Tumbalong Park. Here you’ll enjoy the sounds of South Korean singer-songwriter Jang Seong-eun (better known by her stage name Stella Jang) and Melbourne’s Ivoris as you sway as one to genre-bending pop rhythms.
If your idea of a memorable evening is dining taken to another level, you have your choice of two tempting Vivid Sydney food events on Friday night. Savour a three-course Vietnamese-inspired menu by renowned chef Luke Nguyen in the atmospheric, mist-draped Botanic House in the Royal Botanic Garden, where you’ll be invited to write your dreams on a red ribbon and tie it to an interactive wishing tree as part of Dream Mist at Botanic House.
On your way back from the Royal Botanic Garden, be sure to explore the captivating installations in Martin Place, where the city centre sparkles once again as part of Vivid Sydney for the first time in seven years. Don't miss the Chasing Dreams Tunnel, an immersive passageway with programmable fairy lights that respond dynamically to your movements, inspired by the personal experiences and dreams of renowned Bundjalung artist Dr. Bronwyn Bancroft. Equally enchanting is BioDream, a mesmerizing psychedelic dreamscape that explores the boundary between consciousness and dreams, revealing the fleeting nature of existence.
If you haven’t been lucky enough to score a ticket to one of the Vivid Sydney Dinners with Nigella Lawson in the Martin Place Metro station’s Muru Giligu tunnel, you can still enjoy complimentary daily screenings of acclaimed short films from Australia and overseas, as well as previews of movies on the Sydney Film Festival 2025 program at SFFTV: Sydney Film Festival in Martin Place between 6.30pm and 7.30pm.
You can also explore the power of dreams at The Lucid Dream Collective by world-renowned Moment Factory, making their Vivid Sydney debut in Martin Place. Step into an AI photobooth where your portrait undergoes a dreamlike transformation of your choosing. Your dream vision can then join the collective projection, a mesmerising mosaic of light, textures, and faces representing our shared unconscious or be shared on social media. This interactive installation invites you to consider: where do our dreams go when we sleep?
Or glide into the night at the new retro roller-skating rink, Neon Dreams, at Pier Street underpass in Darling Harbour. Skate to vinyl-only beats and dig into Shannon Martinez’s ultimate plant-based menu of classic American diner staples. Juicy burgers, crunchy fries, creamy mac & cheese and jelly donuts – all served alongside the Trolley'd bar, an innovative zero-waste cocktails and retro milkshakes featuring native Australian botanicals.
Vivid Sydney Food 2025 Credit: Destination NSW
Savour a three-course Vietnamese-inspired menu by renowned chef Luke Nguyen in the atmospheric, mist-draped Botanic House in the Royal Botanic Garden, where you’ll be invited to write your dreams on a red ribbon and tie it to an interactive wishing tree as part of Dream Mist at Botanic House.
Vivid Sydney Food 2025 Credit: Destination NSW
Savour a three-course Vietnamese-inspired menu by renowned chef Luke Nguyen in the atmospheric, mist-draped Botanic House in the Royal Botanic Garden, where you’ll be invited to write your dreams on a red ribbon and tie it to an interactive wishing tree as part of Dream Mist at Botanic House.
Neon Dreams Vivid Sydney Darling Harbour. Credit: Destination NSW
Or glide into the night at the new retro roller-skating rink, Neon Dreams, at Pier Street underpass in Darling Harbour. Skate to vinyl-only beats and dig into Shannon Martinez’s ultimate plant-based menu of classic American diner staples. Juicy burgers, crunchy fries, creamy mac & cheese and jelly donuts – all served alongside the Trolley'd bar, an innovative zero-waste cocktails and retro milkshakes featuring native Australian botanicals.
Neon Dreams Vivid Sydney Darling Harbour. Credit: Destination NSW
Or glide into the night at the new retro roller-skating rink, Neon Dreams, at Pier Street underpass in Darling Harbour. Skate to vinyl-only beats and dig into Shannon Martinez’s ultimate plant-based menu of classic American diner staples. Juicy burgers, crunchy fries, creamy mac & cheese and jelly donuts – all served alongside the Trolley'd bar, an innovative zero-waste cocktails and retro milkshakes featuring native Australian botanicals.
Feel your spirit soar on Saturday
Sydney plays hosts to three joyous music events on Saturday night of the long weekend. Venture into a mini festival-within-a-festival at Sound Escape at City Recital Hall, an 18+ day-into-night party. There will be an electrifying lineup of the hottest bands, DJs and musicians, immersive visuals and unexpected moments that challenge you to reframe your reality.
And while the party goes on inside, outside Angel Place itself will be bathed in light for the free Sound Walk experience for the night, made possible by the NSW Government’s Open Streets Program, led by Transport for NSW.
Sense the bass moving through your body and an electric energy filling the air as a line-up of all-female First Nations artists take to the Metro Theatre stage for My Sis: Celebrating 10 years of Bad Apples Music. Curated by Yorta Yorta rapper, author and actor Adam Briggs’s ground-breaking record label, the celebration features the infectious hip hop and R&B of artists such as Western Sydney’s Barkaa and southwest Sydney’s Riah.
The free Tumbalong Nights concerts continue with Mumbai-based singer, Zaeden, brings his innovative pop and electronic dance music to Darling Harbour. After the performance, wander to Cockle Bay to witness Space to Dream, Samsung Electronics Australia's large-scale installation where three iridescent floating waterfalls transform into dynamic canvases of light and motion. Or make your own symphony of light and sound as you rise and descend on the seesaws of Curiosity by Amigo & Amigo, one of the Light Walk installations at Tumbalong Park.
A short stroll from the Tumbalong Nights stage, Vivid Fire Kitchen transforms The Goods Line elevated walkway into a mesmerizing open-air food market. From aromatic chili-infused dishes to wood-fired delicacies, this culinary Fire & Spice-themed hotspot offers global flavours. Be inspired by some of the world’s best pitmasters, chefs and barbecue legends as you enjoy live demonstrations of cooking with fire.
Then gather around the primal glow of Fireplaces, where giant fire pits, mesmerising flame sculptures, dramatic fire throwers, and radiant fire barrels create a captivating atmosphere of warmth and wonder.
Vivid Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
The Fire Kitchen at The Goods Line during Vivid. It's back and blazing brighter than ever. Vivid Fire Kitchen returns, igniting its new home at The Goods Line with flame-seared street food from around the globe. Come and enjoy the universal language of BBQ, the best NSW produce and the diversity of Sydney's food scene as we gather round the fire once again.
Vivid Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
The Fire Kitchen at The Goods Line during Vivid. It's back and blazing brighter than ever. Vivid Fire Kitchen returns, igniting its new home at The Goods Line with flame-seared street food from around the globe. Come and enjoy the universal language of BBQ, the best NSW produce and the diversity of Sydney's food scene as we gather round the fire once again.
Vivid Sydney Light Credit: Destination NSW
Curiosity by Amigo & Amigo, one of the Light Walk installations at Tumbalong Park.
Vivid Sydney Light Credit: Destination NSW
Curiosity by Amigo & Amigo, one of the Light Walk installations at Tumbalong Park.
Settle in for screens and stages on Sunday
Luxuriate in the sense of freedom the Sunday of a long weekend brings by losing yourself in a screening or a musical performance.
Sydney Town Hall transforms the Old Sydney Burial Ground, the site of one of the city’s first cemeteries, into an atmospheric venue to screen the 1982 horror classic Poltergeist in Haus of Horror presents Poltergeist. The spookily immersive evening screening directed by Australia’s Queen of Spook, Felice Vale, and executive-produced by Sean Fernance also features live performers, interactive photo booths, DJs and installations.
A few blocks away, iconic Australian musician Warren Ellis, film composer, co-founder of the Dirty Three, and long-time Nick Cave collaborator, takes to the stage of City Recital Hall for An Evening with Warren Ellis. Alongside a short solo set, Ellis will engage in an intimate conversation about music and his animal conservation efforts.
Complementing this special event, Ellis's documentary Ellis Park screens at the State Theatre earlier that day as part of the Sydney Film Festival, offering fans an in-depth look into the artist's creative and humanitarian worlds.
Head back down to Darling Harbour for the free Tumbalong Nights concert Dobet Gnahoré + Immy Owusu, an electric evening of African melodies and beats. Feel your feet stir as Ghanaian-Dutch musician Immy Owusu gets the evening going with his unique “Afrodelik” fusion of Ghanaian highlife dance music, 1970s-era Zambian rock, surf rock, West African rhythms and psychedelia.
Marvel at how the glowing cloud-like structures of the nearby The Cloud Swing installation change colour as people swing below them, before you’re mesmerised by the dynamic stage presence and irresistible modern Afropop grooves of French-based, Ivory Coast-born and Grammy award-winning artist Dobet Gnahoré.
And while Afrobeats engulf Tumbalong Park, US multi-instrumentalist and composer Kamasi Washington – the go-to saxophonist for Kendrick Lamar who’s played on tracks by Childish Gambino, Snoop Dogg and St Vincent, among many others – brings his brilliant blend of jazz, R&B and orchestral influences to Carriageworks.
Carriageworks Vivid Sydney Music 2025 Credit: NRL
Kamasi Washington – the go-to saxophonist for Kendrick Lamar who’s played on tracks by Childish Gambino, Snoop Dogg and St Vincent, among many others – brings his brilliant blend of jazz, R&B and orchestral influences to Carriageworks.
Carriageworks Vivid Sydney Music 2025 Credit: NRL
Kamasi Washington – the go-to saxophonist for Kendrick Lamar who’s played on tracks by Childish Gambino, Snoop Dogg and St Vincent, among many others – brings his brilliant blend of jazz, R&B and orchestral influences to Carriageworks.
Haus of Horror presents Poltergeist for Vivid Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Town Hall transforms the Old Sydney Burial Ground, the site of one of the city’s first cemeteries, into an atmospheric venue to screen the 1982 horror classic Poltergeist in Haus of Horror presents Poltergeist.
Haus of Horror presents Poltergeist for Vivid Sydney Credit: Destination NSW
Sydney Town Hall transforms the Old Sydney Burial Ground, the site of one of the city’s first cemeteries, into an atmospheric venue to screen the 1982 horror classic Poltergeist in Haus of Horror presents Poltergeist.
Move to global beats on Monday
Close out the long weekend with the free Tumbalong Nights concert Gabriele Poso + GabzaK in Darling Harbour. Between Italian percussionist Gabriele Poso’s blend of deep house, Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz-infused funk and Chilean-born, Sydney-based multi-instrumentalist GabzaK’s mix of tribal house, folktronica and Andean beats, you’ll be full of energy as you admire the installations on the Light Walk from Darling Harbour to Barangaroo and beyond.
Enjoy a game of Kickit Team Tennis at Darling Quarter Village Green, where a pulse of light takes the place of a tennis ball to create a visually striking experience, and immerse in the surreal space of light, shape and sound that is Trispheric Garden, by Reelize Studio, at Barangaroo’s Sea Wall Lawn.
Head to the Vivid Sydney blog to explore free events, find after-work itineraries, curator guides and more inspiration.
Kickit Team Tennis at Darling Quarter Village Green Vivid Sydney Light 2025 Credit: Destination NSW
Step onto the court for a game of tennis like you’ve never experienced before—where the fluorescent yellow ball is replaced by a streak of pulsing light and volleyed back and forth across an orb-studded field.
Kickit Team Tennis at Darling Quarter Village Green Vivid Sydney Light 2025 Credit: Destination NSW
Step onto the court for a game of tennis like you’ve never experienced before—where the fluorescent yellow ball is replaced by a streak of pulsing light and volleyed back and forth across an orb-studded field.
Vivid Sydney Music 2025 Gabriele Poso Tumbalong Park Credit: Destination NSW
Gabriele Poso blends deep house, Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz-infused funk in a set that’s part dancefloor, part spiritual journey.
Vivid Sydney Music 2025 Gabriele Poso Tumbalong Park Credit: Destination NSW
Gabriele Poso blends deep house, Afro-Cuban rhythms and jazz-infused funk in a set that’s part dancefloor, part spiritual journey.