The Eve Hotel, Surry Hills, SydneyCredit: The Eve Hotel, Sydney
Rooftop garden with pool at The Eve Hotel, Sydney
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From bold hotel concepts bringing fresh energy, tempting restaurant openings and an intriguing line-up of new attractions headlined by the dazzling new Sydney Fish Market development, there are plenty of travel experiences to look forward to across Sydney and NSW in 2025.
HOTELS AND RESORTS
A new star rises in Sydney’s east
The Eve Hotel Sydney, on the crossroads of Surry Hills and Redfern in Sydney’s inner east, opens to guests in mid-February 2025. The centrepiece of the new Wunderlich Lane dining and retail precinct, the 102-room hotel features two venues by Sydney’s Liquid & Larder hospitality team. Bar Julius, an art-filled neighbourhood bar, tempts guests on the lobby level, while Lottie, a contemporary Mexican restaurant and mezcaleria, shares The Eve’s rooftop space with a lush garden and a swimming pool.
A Paddington icon is reborn
Accor’s playful 25hours Hotels brand makes its Australian debut in mid-2025 with 25hours Hotel The Olympia in Sydney’s Paddington. Taking its name from the site’s past as the West's Olympia Theatre picture palace, the 109-room hotel will feature three themed concept suites, a chic cocktail bar and a rooftop bar looking out over Paddington’s famed Oxford Street.
Koreatown gets a fun new stay
Sydney’s second Moxy hotel, following Moxy Sydney Airport, is set to open in August 2025 in the city centre’s Koreatown precinct. The new-build Moxy Sydney Pitt Street will rise up from a compact footprint, offering 314 guest rooms as well as a gym, restaurant and retail outlets. Alongside lively communal spaces infused with the brand’s high-energy vibe, Moxy Sydney Pitt Street will boast one of the city’s highest outdoor rooftop bars when it opens on level 34.
The Eve Hotel, Surry Hills, Sydney Credit: The Eve Hotel, Sydney
Rooftop garden with pool at The Eve Hotel, Sydney
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The Eve Hotel, Surry Hills, Sydney Credit: The Eve Hotel, Sydney
Rooftop garden with pool at The Eve Hotel, Sydney
25hours Hotel, Paddington Credit: Central Element
25hours Hotel, Paddington
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25hours Hotel, Paddington Credit: Central Element
25hours Hotel, Paddington
Raising the bar on the Central Coast
Voco Gosford will be the first new-build hotel to open on the NSW Central Coast in more than 15 years when it launches in mid-2025. The 130-room hotel is the centrepiece of the Archibald by ALAND residential and retail development in the Gosford city centre. Guests will enjoy incredible views over the Brisbane Water estuary from the rooftop pool and sky bar on level 28, while on the street level there’ll be a pub and pizzeria. A signature restaurant on level 5 is being curated by Sydney chef Dany Karam, formerly of The Star Sydney’s Black Bar & Grill.
Luxury under the stars
B.Farm in Port Stephens, a 2.5-hour drive north of Sydney, continues to expand its visitor offering. The multi-sensory estate will offer a range of luxury accommodation in early 2025 to complement its beer garden, high-tea pavilion, farm-to-fork restaurant, and brewery, distillery and winery experiences. From February 2025 guests can gaze up at the stars from a sleeping platform that rolls out from the interior of the Sally the Skywatcher tiny house, which includes a wood-fired sauna and two outdoor bathing tubs, or choose from four luxe glamping suites featuring outdoor tubs and dressing rooms. And in April 2025 B.Farm will offer 26 tented cabins, each with ensuite bathrooms and outdoor soaking tubs.
Urban resort living comes to Byron
Byron Bay’s The Bonobo by Raes, a collection of two-, three- and four-bedroom hotel-style residential apartments managed by the team behind the town’s famed boutique hotel Raes at Wategos, is slated to open by the end of 2025. Anchoring the beachside town’s emerging Jonson Street precinct, Bonobo by Raes promises to be the ultimate in barefoot luxury, with well-appointed apartments featuring deep balconies, a lush central courtyard, wellness centre, signature restaurant, lobby bar and rooftop pool.
A luxe take on astrotourism
Reflections Lake Keepit holiday camp, a 30-minute drive from Gunnedah in Country NSW, is set to become an international star-gazing tourist destination with the launch of its Big Sky Dreaming precinct in mid-2025. The astrotourism initiative features eight spacious glamping tents with skylights, so guests can watch the stars from the comfort of their bed. Guests can dine under the stars or at the new Star Lounge chalet, and enjoy star-gazing experiences, Aboriginal storytelling and cultural activities.
voco Gosford, Central Coast Credit: voco Gosford, IHG Hotels & Resorts
voco Gosford, Central Coast
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voco Gosford, Central Coast Credit: voco Gosford, IHG Hotels & Resorts
voco Gosford, Central Coast
RESTAURANTS AND BARS
The dawn of a new Century
A beloved fixture in Chinatown’s dining scene for decades until it closed its doors in 2021, acclaimed Cantonese restaurant Golden Century will reopen at Crown Sydney in Barangaroo in January 2025. The new venue reprises the original Golden Century concept: expect signature live seafood dishes such as XO pippies, as well as classics like Peking duck and yum cha lunches.
A piece of Paris on Martin Place
The team behind the chic Loulou Bistro in Milsons Point brings Gallic panache to the new Sydney Metro Martin Place station in February 2025. Evoking the relaxed atmosphere of a Parisian bistro, Loulou Martin Place flows over two levels of the tower sitting above the Metro line. Enjoy lighter takes on classic bistro fare while indulging in people-watching from Loulou Martin Place’s outdoor seating, or delight in a freshly baked croissant at the adjoining café-patisserie Petit Loulou.
New heights of Greek cuisine
The Greek village-style taverna Olympus Dining opened in December 2024 as one of the anchors of the Wunderlich Lane dining precinct, on the border of Surry Hills and Redfern. Here the team behind Potts Point’s modern Greek diner The Apollo employ ancient cooking methods to create a homely dining experience. Wunderlich Lane continues to take shape in 2025, with The Eve Hotel’s restaurant and bar offering, cocktail bar Baptist St Rec. Club and refined Japanese R by Raita Noda joining Regina La Pizzeria, the Southeast Asian eating house and bar Island Radio.
After-midnight wine bar
Another December 2024 debutante, the late-night wine bar Letra House has opened in the basement beneath the Roman-style trattoria Palazzo Salato on Clarence Street in Sydney’s city centre. The moodily lit underground bar features a bronze-topped bar and a mix of leather banquettes and high-top tables, while the Spanish-leaning menu offers shared small plates as well as a selection of more than 40 wines by the glass.
EXPERIENCES
Sydney’s new culinary destination
The striking new Sydney Fish Market complex is expected to open in November 2025. The instantly iconic waterfront destination on Blackwattle Bay, between Glebe and Pyrmont on the fringe of the city centre, will feature more than 6,000sqm of public space. There will also be an extensive dining precinct featuring a flagship Southeast Asian restaurant by celebrity chef Luke Nguyen, while the retail offering will include current Sydney Fish Market favourites such as Claudio’s Seafood, Getfish and Christie’s Seafood. Visitors will be able to peek in at the bustling wholesale fish market, take seafood cooking classes and enjoy a range of tours and activities.
A new showcase for craft beer
North Coast craft beer pioneer Stone & Wood will open the doors of a Tasting Room at its Murwillumbah brewery, around a 50-minute drive north of Byron Bay, by the end of 2025. The tasting room will be the centrepiece of a $30 million upgrade of the brand’s largest brewery, which was previously not open to visitors. Craft beer aficionados can go behind the scenes on a brewery tour, sample pilot batches and immerse themselves in the brewing process before trying new brews in the designer tasting space.
Connect with First Nations cuisine
Building on a successful launch in late 2024, Karkalla Byron Bay will run a series of curated Indigenous culinary experiences throughout 2025. Bundjalung chef Mindy Woods, the driving force behind the shuttered Karkalla restaurant, will offer Native Food cooking classes as well as Karkalla On Country dining experiences at the Conscious Ground organic farm, a 15-minute drive from Byron Bay. Check Karkalla’s events page for monthly releases of dates inspired by local seasonal and native produce and the Bundjalung seasonal calendar.
Orange’s latest culinary experience
Printhie Wines near Orange, around a four-hour drive from Sydney, will launch tours of its new kitchen garden in late 2025. Visitors to this award-winning cool-climate winery can learn of the estate’s sustainability initiatives while touching, smelling and tasting the garden’s herbs. There will also be a bush tucker section, developed in collaboration with Orange Botanic Gardens. The kitchen garden tour ends with a dining experience where guests can savour freshly picked produce paired, of course, with Printhie’s award-winning wines.
More Inspirational Stories
Young Henrys, NewtownCredit: Destination NSW
Patrons enjoying the beer at Young Henrys bar and brewery in Newtown.
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When the madness of Christmas is behind you and the fireworks of Sydney’s iconic New Years Eve have faded, what better way to take a load off and relax into a Sydney Summer than taking a trip to the Inner West Ale Trail.
As the undisputed craft beer capital of Sydney, the Inner West Ale Trail boasts 18 independent breweries spanning six suburbs within a 5km radius – Marrickville, Newtown, St Peters, Camperdown, Enmore and Rozelle – with many of them just a short stroll in between.
The epicentre of Sydney’s indie beer boom, the Ale Trail bubbled up in the mid-2010s as craft-loving pilgrims followed paper maps and paths to new breweries in search of good times and great beer.
But it is more than just the amazing beer... The Trail also offers up some of Sydney’s best eats – from juicy burgers to fresh oysters, tasty vegan dishes to deep-fried Viennetta – along with non-beer options including cocktails, wine, ciders, seltzers and more.
Plus, there’s always something on with an exciting array of free events and deals happening across the Trail.
The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre, Marrickville Credit: The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre
Ansett Bar, The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville
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The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre, Marrickville Credit: The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre
Ansett Bar, The Bob Hawke Beer & Leisure Centre in Marrickville
Marrickville is home to 50 per cent of the breweries on the trail from the well-known The Grifter Brewing Co known for its retro aesthetic and fruity beers like the Serpent’s Kiss watermelon pilsner and Philter Brewing which resides in a converted abandoned yoghurt factory. There is also the award-winning Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre which takes punters a step back into the 1980s, just with better beer thanks to Hawke’s Brewing. The throwback venue is complete with retro RSL carpet, cricket commentary in the bathrooms and the Lucky Prawn Restaurant which specialises in 80s Aussie-Chinese.
One of the Trail’s biggest breweries is hiding down a tiny lane with a not so tiny beer garden, Sauce Brewing Co. is perfect for families and dogs. Meanwhile, Batch Brewing Co does it for the locals by slinging iconic beers such as Marrickville Pale Ale and is often used as the first stop for Trailers!
Forget modern beer trends and fads Wildflower Brewing & Blending brews barrel-aged Old-World styles with wild yeasts collected from native flowers. While Mixtape Brewing & Bar which has something for everyone and is part brewhouse, part community club house fixed with retro game machines and then there’s Pickled Monkey Brewing Co. which boasts 24 taps in its Groundfloor brewpub. To round out the Marrickville leg there is Kicks Brewing with its friendly neighbourhood taproom bar, full of good vibes and stylish touches.
Just up the road in St Peters is Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s favourite watering hole, Willie the Boatman brewery. Albo is such a super fan, that he even lends his face to their famous Albo pale ale.
Brickworks Brewing is right by St Peters station which serves up 12 beers in a myriad of styles and just up the road are the two new kids on the block Future Brewing which opened in 2023 and Chuck & Son’s Brewing Co which has been opened by none other than Chuck Hahn (‘the godfather of Aussie craft beer’) and the brewer behind James Squire, Malt Shovel and Hahn Brewery.
In Newtown lives an Inner West institution Young Henrys. A rock ‘n’ roll den and local clubhouse famous for their flagship Newtowner Pale Ale – not only an Inner West favourite, but a favourite all around Sydney.
Around the corner in Rozelle in the heart of the Balmain peninsula is White Bay Brewery, located in a rustic 150-year-old steel mill fitted with an industrial beet hall, perfect for a summer afternoon with friends.
Wayward Brewing Co. is Camperdown’s craft brewery which includes 24 taps of award-winning brews, limited editions and their own W Seltzer range. And finally in Enmore lives Australia’s first brewing co-op – Hopsters Co-operative Brewery. Democratically funded and run by its members but open to everyone, this relaxed beer bar haven serves Hopsters’ own brews alongside an ever-changing array of guest taps.
Bracket Brewing is the Trail’s 18th brewery – which will open later this year.
Young Henrys, Newtown Credit: Destination NSW
Patrons enjoying the beer at Young Henrys bar and brewery in Newtown.
#feelnewsydney
Young Henrys, Newtown Credit: Destination NSW
Patrons enjoying the beer at Young Henrys bar and brewery in Newtown.