{"id":16720,"date":"2014-01-15T09:38:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-15T09:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/mgallery-harbour-rocks-hotel-sydney-in-scarletts-and-erics-footsteps\/"},"modified":"2014-01-15T09:38:00","modified_gmt":"2014-01-15T09:38:00","slug":"mgallery-harbour-rocks-hotel-sydney-in-scarletts-and-erics-footsteps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/2014\/01\/mgallery-harbour-rocks-hotel-sydney-in-scarletts-and-erics-footsteps\/","title":{"rendered":"MGallery Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney: in Scarlett\u2019s and Eric\u2019s footsteps"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney is a 4.5-star boutique-hotel in The Rocks, Sydney\u2019s historical quarter, and in a perfect spot facing the port and the city\u2019s grandiose Opera House.<\/span><\/span>

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The building, on the site of Sydney\u2019s very first colonial hospital, was originally a warehouse then an art gallery and is brimming with centuries of secrets and stories\u2026 and a mysterious romantic ghost lurks in it. We toured this MGallery Collection flagship hotel with Director of Sales & Marketing David Lowe.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u201cYou can recognize the hotel\u2019s fa\u00e7ade a mile off. It dates back to the days when the hotel was a warehouse,<\/em>\u201d David Lowe explains. The stone and iron building is imposing. It was built where the city\u2019s first tent hospital once stood, in the historical quarter where the first English settlers landed. The Harbour Rocks Hotel takes you on a journey back in time. The massive bookcases in the lobby feature books about the city\u2019s history. \u201cCustomers can borrow any of the books, including a copy of The Unauthorized Biography of Sydney to read in their rooms and travel through time.<\/em>\u201d Or they can sit back and relax on a lounge for a while.<\/span><\/div>\n
A wool store in times gone by<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
The Harbour Rocks Hotel was built as wool store (warehouse), known as \u201cThe Evan\u2019s Store<\/em>\u201d \u2014in 1887. The stones came from the quartz mines around Sydney, and you can still see the hand-chiseled flowers on the arches, double windows and four pediments with a motif depicting the sun on each one across the fa\u00e7ade today.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Entirely refurbished in 2012<\/strong><\/span>\n<\/div>\n
The building has been a hotel since 1989, and was entirely redeveloped in 2012 when it joined the MGallery Collection. \u201cWe wanted to bring back the original features, unveil the structure, stonework, beams and sandstone walls.<\/em>\u201d The 59 rooms and suites each have their own distinctive style and decoration. \u201cIt\u2019s a blend between contemporary design and Australian heritage, with brick walls, exposed stonework, modern bathrooms and minimalistic lighting.<\/em>\u201d The impressive chandelier in the lobby catches every guest\u2019s eye. It is 10 meters high, half way between a sculpture and a light fixture, peppered with dozens of candles, and was made to order by an Israeli artist and is the keystone feature for all guests as they arrive.<\/span><\/div>\n
A ghost roams\u2026<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Eric\u2019s Bar on the ground floor is named after a late-19th-century seafarer. The legend goes that he was enamored of Scarlett, the madam in a nearby house of ill repute, and steadfastly beseeched her to wed him. The young woman finally agreed to marry Eric on his return from a cargo voyage to South America, but, alas, Scarlett died of tuberculosis shortly after Eric sailed for South America. \u201cOn his return, he was told of Scarlett\u2019s death and was devastated. Eric himself died 2 weeks later of a broken heart\u2026 And now a ghost, who apparently looks a lot like Eric, has been sighted several times on the street outside the hotel, still searching for Scarlett\u201d David Lowe reports, half-jokingly, half earnestly. This intimate, sleek bar can serve up to 20 patrons. Most of them are regulars who enjoy the quiet atmosphere. It is steeped in light from the large windows, and provides a pleasant backdrop to enjoy a hot drink, glass of wine or its famous cocktail, \u201cScarlett Fever<\/em>\u201d, made of lychee liqueur, pineapple juice, cr\u00e8me de cassis and Bacardi.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Exploring the past\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>\n<\/div>\n
You can\u2019t miss the large antique map hanging in Eric\u2019s Bar. It is 2 meters high by 2.5 meters wide, and depicts the neighborhood back in the English days, in the 1880s. \u201cYou can see the first buildings, and a few roads that are still there today. Customers really enjoy musing over it while they sip their drink. They see another side of Sydney.<\/em>\u201d The owner, a history buff, did the rounds at many auctions to find it. The restaurant, \u201cScarlett<\/em>\u201d, serves dishes made from local produce in season, often including fish. \u201cThe private indoor terrace is a fantastic spot to just enjoy the silence<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Sydney\u2019s most beautiful suite<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
This hotel\u2019s highlight is the Harbour View Suite. It stretches across an entire floor and looks out onto a spectacular view of Sydney Harbour. It spans 120 sqm, and has a private entrance and a terrace on the roof. \u201cCinema and music stars often choose to stay there because it gives you the impression you\u2019re on top of the world\u2014literally. And the view of the famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge is grandiose & majestic. There\u2019s nothing quite like it!<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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Home from home\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>\n<\/div>\n
At the Harbour Rocks Hotel, guests are much more than customers: \u201cWe welcome them as friends,<\/em>\u201d David Lowe explains, \u201cWe take care of them as if they were staying with us, in our home. We know some of them by their first names (with their permission of course) because we have known them for so long! They are part of the Harbour Rocks Hotel family<\/em>\u201d. The 32 men and women on the hotel team also feel they are part of a close family: \u201cWe enjoy working together. We believe in respecting each other, helping each other out, and sharing the successes and the advancement of this amazing hotel. We all treat each other like a big family. That\u2019s why the working atmosphere is so pleasant and exciting. That\u2019s clearly an advantage<\/em>!\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
Memorable moment\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n
Lastly, in the tradition of Memorable Moments by MGallery, the Harbour Rocks Hotel treats guests to an epicurean experience in a class by itself: a Starlight symphony. In the Harbour View suite, six patrons dine to the Sydney Classical String Quartet playing exclusively for them. And that\u2019s something you want to do at least once in a lifetime!<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Harbour Rocks Hotel Sydney is a 4.5-star boutique-hotel in The Rocks, Sydney\u2019s historical quarter, and in a perfect spot facing the port and the city\u2019s grandiose Opera House. The building, on the site of Sydney\u2019s very first colonial hospital, was originally a warehouse then an art gallery and is brimming with centuries of secrets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/traveloscopy.com\/travel-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}