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<h2><b>Why stay?</b></h2>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Great design, good times and cheery staff make The EVE Hotel Sydney a seriously cool, highly coveted address in a once undesirable part of town. The hotel is the crown jewel in the Wunderlich Lane residential, cultural and entertainment development, a one-stop stay and play destination with easy access to the city center.</span></p>
<h3><b>The neighborhood</b></h3>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Officially in Redfern and bordering fashionable Surry Hills, this is a neighborhood transformed. It’s gone from Sydney’s pleasure gardens in the 1800s to no-go zone in the 1980s and 90s to a leafy, if still a little gritty, urban playground today. Social housing and indigenous services remain, as do pubs and Turkish and Indian cheap eats alongside hip cafes for digital nomads. Stylish restaurants, bars and indie stores cater to the influx of affluent residents. Parks, galleries and even Chinatown are walking distance as is a light-rail station.</span></p>
<h4><b>The feel</b></h4>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">From afar, Wunderlich Lane looks like any number of low-rise apartment blocks found across suburban Sydney. Closer inspection, however, reveals much more: arched windows, recessed balconies, svelte curves, contrasting brickwork, and plants sprouting from terraces and rooftops. An all-local design team led by architecture firm SJB in collaboration with landscapers 360 Degrees and interior designer George Levissianis have created a ridiculously photogenic hotel that snaps, crackles and pops with vibrant colors, textures, and materials. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">At the entrance, Bar Julius, with its bank of large windows opening onto oak tree-lined Baptist Street acts like a big welcome sign while a vaulted ceiling covered in abstract artwork by Louise Olsen, founder of cult homeware brand Dinosaur Designs, sets the impressive design scene. That’s before you get to the glazed ceramics, leather handrails, sculptural lighting by Henry Wilson, and custom furniture that invite lounging in the serene lobby. The ace up the hotel’s sleeve: a stylish rooftop pool offset by landscaped gardens.</span></p>
<h5><b>Guest quarters</b></h5>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A white cloistered passageway leads guests to the 102 compact but comfy rooms and suites, done up in shades of eucalyptus green and earthy ochre. Rooms average 27 square meters and face an internal garden courtyard, the precinct buildings or the trees and terrace houses of the surrounding neighborhood. These also get terrific sunset views. Suites average 35 square meters, are located on the fourth (top) floor and face west. All rooms and suites feature a balcony or terrace, banquette, Nespresso machine and bedside USB chargers. Glassware and bath and body products are by Sydney maker Saarde; these can be purchased from the brand’s first retail outlet, at the hotel.   </span></p>
<h6><b>Food and drink</b></h6>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Start with breakfast at Bar Julius, perhaps with caviar and champagne or pork hock soldiers dipped into soft-boiled eggs as morning light streams in. All-day options include standards like Caesar salad and burgers, while the Ruby negroni is popular at cocktail hour. Rooftop Mexican diner Lottie is best at sunset, when spicy margaritas are a match for crisp brassica tostada and tender pork jowl with cola mole. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Adjoining the hotel is Sydney’s restaurant of the moment, Olympus. This 200-seat Greek diner with retractable glass roof and centerpiece bougainvillea tree is booked solid for lunch and dinner – don’t miss the spanakopita and whole roasted milk fed lamb. Island Radio is the place for Southeast Asian plates like satay, char kway teow and babi guling as a DJ spins tunes. Regina La Pizzeria and Gelato Messina are what they say on the tin, R by Raita Noda serves upscale Japanese, and Baptist Street Rec. Club is a retro-camp cocktail bar. A supermarket, bottle shop and Harris Farm greengrocer is here should guests wish to stay in.</span></p>
<h6><b>Wellness factor</b></h6>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Located within Wunderlich Lane is an outlet of The Parlour Room, known for its manicures, pedicures, waxing and brow and eyelash services, as well as facials with hand, foot and scalp massages included. Aromatherapy massages and spray tanning are also available. A gym is due to open on-site midyear but in the meantime, guests wanting to work out can do so at Hiscoes a short walk away.   </span></p>
<h6><b>Family matters</b></h6>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">More of an adult’s playground with limited facilities for kids, The Eve nonetheless welcomes families. A handful of interconnecting rooms are available, some with sizable balconies, and there’s the rooftop pool. Multiple dining options mean there should be something for everyone.  </span></p>
<h6><b>Sustainability cred</b></h6>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The building’s biophilic and passive design includes plenty of greenery, self-shading facades and use of masonry with insulation properties as well as long-lasting materials requiring little maintenance. Rooms have an energy saver feature that kicks in when guests leave the room or there’s no movement detected after 30 minutes and blinds, lights and power turn off. Solar panels are installed throughout the precinct to take pressure off power demands.</span></p>
<h6><b>What else?</b></h6>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The developers and hotel have worked with local architects, designers, artists, artisans and businesses wherever possible. This includes the uniform and lighting designer, art curator, and suppliers of in-room amenities. It’s a terrific showcase of home-grown talent and hospitality sure to appeal to the global style set. </span></p>
<p>Reviewed by <strong>Kee Foong</strong></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://theevehotel.com.au?DestinAsian" target="_blank" rel="noopener">theevehotel.com.au</a></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;">+61 2 9096 1100</span><br />
<span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/DMq6522Ab7DHAoqa9" target="_blank" rel="noopener">8 Baptist St, Redfern </span></a></p>


The EVE Hotel Sydney

Australia

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