Thanks to Mercedes-Benz we headed across the ditch to Sydney to take a look at their new AMG EQS 53, an all-new, BEV (all-electric) performance Sedan. As part of the launch’s hospitality we also spent one night in the Ace Hotel in Surry Hills – here’s what we thought.
Surry Hills is an evolving area known for its stylish cultural and café scene, basically it’s a hip (can you still say that) part of town where the cool people meet – yes I did feel like a bit of an outsider. Anyway, Ace Hotels are a chain of ‘planet-friendly’ properties boasting locations in Brooklyn, Kyoto, LA, New Orleans, New York, Palm Springs, Portland, Seattle, Toronto and now Sydney – the first Ace hotel in the Southern Hemisphere.
The new Sydney premises is located in Surry Hills’ historic Tyne House brick factory, with a subtle entrance that faces Wentworth Ave. Step inside and your greeted with an abundance of earthy tones, marble floors and ACE ‘merch’ for sale.
The staff are ultra-friendly and helpful, with a quick check-in process that results in wooden style key cards for your room.
The rooms themselves are compact and yet not cramped. The entrance way doubles as the bathroom, with a big mirror and sink, while the toilet and shower cubicles hide behind frosted glass doors.
Again the feeling is more ‘earthy’ but there’s also a musical theme throughout all rooms. For instance, my room came with a guitar (sorry for those next door), others had a record player (remember them?).
Internet is adequate, ok for work but a little slow for video or image transfers – didn’t test out conferencing, there are plenty of power points and the flat screen TV is about the right size for the room. The king size bed is very comfortable, not too hard or soft meaning that the night’s sleep was great.
The bar area ‘the lobby’ was a little over-stocked with staff, not a bad thing for service but not the most efficient, while the restaurant area ‘Loam’ offers up a succinct variety of good/healthy food (although I went for the LOAM BURGER – grass fed beef burger, butter lettuce, blue cheese mayo sweet & sour zuni pickles, tomato jam, gruyere, warm potato bun. You MUST try the brussels though, they are amazing!!!
There is a gym for those that are keen to sweat a little – I decided to sleep in a bit and head for a ‘classic’ bacon and eggs breakfast.
The Ace Hotel is both boutiquey and functional. A nice spot for those on holiday, central and easy to find, and a great place to rest when on town for work.
