Sydney’s newest luxury hotel, Capella Sydney offers glamorous accommodation, fine dining in the two-hatted Brasserie 1930 restaurant and old-school charm, as the luxury hotel is housed in the historic Department of Education building in Sydney’s sandstone precinct. Cara Wagstaff enjoys a Sydney staycation and reports back.
Excited for our mini getaway, we catch a bus into the city and enjoy the easy 10-minute walk from Wynyard station. The hotel’s entrance is discreet, bar well dressed bell persons who swiftly take our luggage as we make our way up to the lobby. We’re effortlessly checked in and head to Aperture for the hotel’s signature afternoon tea experience.
Aperture sits next to the lobby and is a verdant atrium with a vertical garden, robotic hanging flower installation and bespoke art pieces. Capella’s take on the popular high tea trend is sophisticated and refined. The menu features two courses. First up is a decadent lobster roll, tuna tartare served in a tapioca crisp and a Yarra Valley smoked salmon rillette.
The second, mouthwateringly sweet course dishes up a rosewater and grapefruit lamington, a blackcurrant, violet and vanilla choux pastry, and a wattleseed caramel and dark chocolate tart, accompanied of course with traditional scones with double cream and a rosella and raspberry jam. While I’m usually a stalwart of the traditional scone, I devour the trio of pastries, not leaving a single crumb.
The set menu includes bottomless Aperture blend tea, an alluring mix of Daintree rainforest-sourced green and black tea, infused with Longan fruit and tropical mango. It’s delicious and I’m hooked! A selection of teas is available to order from the menu.
Capella Sydney offers a Little Stars afternoon tea menu for pint-sized diners. Our toddler enjoys the flakey ham, cheese and tomato croissant, mini beef Wellington pie and egg and mayo sandwich. A sweet end to the experience, she devours the fairy lamington and ice cream cookie sandwich.
While we enjoy our drinks beneath the pastel coloured ‘blooming’ flower installation, staff bring over a Capella Sydney x Hey Doodle reusable silicone drawing mat and marker pens for our toddler.
Aperture afternoon tea is available to guests and the public from $110 per adult and $45 for kids dining on the Little Stars menu, which includes a juice or babyccino.
Families can choose from 192 guest rooms and spacious suites spread across eight levels, with the higher level offerings boasting views of the harbour and beyond. We’re in a Premier King Room on the second floor – a roomy, design-led and relaxing space. An ultra-soft king bed is draped in luxurious Italian Frette linen and a Bugaboo portable cot is set up in the room for our toddler. Artwork surrounds the 55-inch TV, and books, spyglasses and trinkets dot the room giving it a quirky yet sophisticated vibe.
In the bathroom there’s a free-standing bathtub with soft light lamp, bath salts and a separate rain shower. And can we talk about the amenities? There’s an LED light up makeup mirror, a pull out cushioned seat, a Dyson hairdryer and Haeckels amenities. I open a drawer and discover toiletries galore. An exfoliator pad, hair brush and hair ties, as well as toothbrushes and the usual bits you’d find. So handy for any forgotten items.
Keen to explore more of the luxury hotel, we pop on our swimmers, don the plush cotton hotel robes and slippers, setting out for the hotel’s 20-metre indoor heated swimming pool on the sixth floor.
It is an architectural marvel, picture art deco meets Roman bath house. Marble walls, soft lighting and intricate cornices give the space a superbly luxurious feel. Natural light streams in through windows which also give glimpses of the towering city outside. The lap pool is positioned between a spacious spa and a yoga platform. Saunas and steam rooms are available too. We relax on the plush daybeds in our robes and towels and friendly staff bring out cool, bottled water for us.
We head back to our room to freshen up for our dinner reservation at Brasserie 1930. The two-hatted restaurant, named in honour of the year the building was completed, is an Australian take on the French dining concept and highlights popular Australian dishes using locally sourced ingredients. A children’s menu is available and we order fish, chips and steamed vegetables for our daughter and it comes out promptly, buying us a few minutes to peruse the menu.
My partner chooses the spanner crab starter served with sea urchin sauce, followed by a mammoth bone-in sirloin steak drizzled with a red wine sauce. I choose the vegetable tart with Jerusalem artichoke, a surprise contender for our favourite dish, and a melt-in-your-mouth roast cauliflower slathered in a creamy sauce with sesame, dates and puffed wild rice.
We return to our room to find housekeepers have stealthily completed a turndown service, leaving thoughtful touches including a bucket of ice for a nightcap, slippers placed bedside and a complimentary calm balm left on our pillow to aid relaxation before sleep. It is a blissful sleep indeed.
Breakfast is served in Brasserie 1930 and seeing the venue in natural light shows its true exquisite beauty. Wooden floorboards meet marble tiles, Black painted walls mesh with mirrors, and fluted glass panels complement eclectic artworks. Intimate booths and bench seating with plush cushions are available, creating a relaxing, intimate space for us to enjoy a long and lazy breakfast together. We order barista coffee, babyccinos and mains from the a la carte menu and peruse the continental buffet spread which has artisanal breads, tantalising pastries including my absolute favourite – almond croissants, cheeses, deli meats, fresh fruit and juices.
We pack our room and drop our suitcase off at the lobby as we check out, before walking down to Circular Quay, taking in the unusually quiet streets of Sydney on a Sunday morning.
Whale season runs between May and November when more than 40,000 southern right and humpback whales migrate north to warmer waters to mate, returning south with their new calves in tow. Taking a cruise in Sydney harbour is one of the best ways to see the majestic creatures as they swim, spray and breach in the open waters.
As part of Capella Sydney’s Family Moments Whale Watching package, we’re booked on the two-hour express cruise with Whale Watching Sydney. It’s a great option for first timers, or travellers short on time. We head out of the harbour into the open waters. A call comes through from a sister ship of a sighting, so we motor out to the site. As we arrive a humpback whale is cruising along, treating us to a breathtaking sighting as it comes up for air. We’re then treated to a spectacular display as it leaps into the air before ceremoniously diving back under. It’s a magical moment and even though I’ve lived in Sydney my whole life, I’ve never seen a whale this close before. Our return trip into the harbour is a pleasant sightseeing experience with views of Manly, North Head and Watsons Bay.
Capella Sydney has offers and packages throughout the year. Discover more and book here.
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All images © Capella Sydney unless otherwise stated
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