Sydney-siders will know that the future of the Swiss Grand Hotel Bondi Beach is a little uncertain at the moment: developers want to soften the famous "wedding cake facade" and turn the interior into a combination (smaller) boutique hotel and residential apartments. But since the council hasn't decided yet, any change is a long way off.
Just the same, there's been a flood of journos reviewing the Swiss Grand, which perhaps hopes to remind people you can still stay there. A recent Sydney Morning Herald review spoke of all the good sides to the Swiss Grand, the best of which is of course the view over Bondi Beach. ]]>
There's something odd about the Altamont Boutique Hotel in Sydney. Their website describes it as being "formerly Sydney's most exclusive boutique hotel."
We're not sure which bit is "former", but it is still a boutique hotel and still in Sydney. However we think what they're trying to hint at is that the building used to be a nightclub with hotel attached and a bunch of celebrities stayed here, apparently including Madonna and the Rolling Stones.
How ironic! Most boutique hotels these days are actually accused of operating like nightclubs with rooms attached (Hollywood Roosevelt circa 2005, several Morgans Hotels, etc.)]]>
In Sydney, you can splurge on a high-rise harbor view hotel if you're greedy for photos of grand ol' Sydney Harbour, or you can get historical and exclusive and try someplace like the Manor House Boutique Hotel.
It's still in central Sydney but rather than a high-rise, it's an 1850s building (old for Australia) that originally belonged to a guy named Edward Flood, who was one of the first mayors of Sydney. Flood is now long gone and these days his home is an 18-room boutique hotel, renovated and then filled with antique furniture.
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