6 Best Hotels in Inner City and the Eastern Suburbs, Sydney

Set in Sydney’s trendy dining and drinking hot spot of Surry Hills—and sharing the former headquarters of Paramount Pictures with the Golden Age Cinema and Bar, Paramount Coffee Project, a rooftop recreation center, and a coworking office space—Paramount House Hotel's loftlike rooms with plant-filled balconies is the coolest place to stay and play in Sydney. Rooms feature kilim rugs, cement ceilings with exposed pipes, and bespoke furnishings, as well as luxe bathrooms with Japanese-style wooden baths, copper pipes, and terrazzo tiles.

This luxurious boutique hotel is the gem of inner Sydney. Tucked away in a street lined with stately apartments, and a mere 100 yards from the area's hip restaurants and cafés, this lovingly restored 1892 structure is reminiscent of a Queen Anne Victorian, with all of its nooks and crannies. Each room has a different shape and is furnished in muted autumn tones, with plush drapes, table lamps, fireplaces, king or queen beds, flat-screen TVs, and an array of interesting artwork. The Cloud Suite is the best room in the house, with a double Jacuzzi bath and a DVD. One of the king rooms has a big balcony overlooking the street, and one of the two family rooms has a small courtyard. If you don't want to hike up the stairs, request one of the several ground-floor rooms. A continental breakfast is included in the tariff and is served in a light-filled conservatory.

Set over three adjoining Victorian terraces on a tree-lined street close to Kings Cross and Potts Points, Spicers Potts Point combines heritage charm with modern elegance for a cool and calming retreat right in the middle of things. Bleached oak floors, marble fireplaces, and neutral creams and grays accented with artwork of submerged swimmers combine with a hidden courtyard garden and a light-filled breakfast room to create a chic home-away-from-home feel.

This hotel apartment complex, several hundred feet from Bondi Beach, includes more than a dozen restaurants, bars, and stores. The lobby is abuzz with holiday makers enjoying a home-away-from-home stay in sleek accommodations, most with fully equipped kitchens and laundry facilities. The 111 rooms comprise 56 one-bedroom apartments, eight two-bedroom, and one three-bedroom apartments; the remainder are studio rooms with microwaves, tea/coffeemaking facilities, and fridges. All have clean, white minimalist looks set off with bright, beachy cushions and wall art. Sofas convert into extra beds while lounge and bedroom have flat-screen TVs; all have balconies. There's a lap pool, Jacuzzi, and small gym, and a grocery store and wine store just across the road. The beach is a five-minute walk away along a street lined with restaurants, ice-cream parlors, and bars. There's limited free Wi-Fi in the lobby.

This hotel is opposite Coogee Beach and has many rooms with balconies looking out to fabulous ocean views. The rooms are bright and spacious and there's a heated outdoor pool, on-site tennis court, and well-equipped gym as well as secure undercover parking). Shutters, the on-site bar and restaurant is a great place for a cocktail or casual meal. While not quite as buzzy as Bondi, Coogee has a great selection of cafés and restaurants and they are all within a few minutes' stroll from the hotel. If you do want to head to Bondi it's only a short taxi drive away, or step out on the clifftop walking trail via Clovelly and Bronte Beach—it's a fantastic half-day walk.

This ultrahip hotel occupies a former wool shipping shed that includes authentic structures of the former wharf (pulleys, giant trusses, and brontosaurus-like machinery), a great location (a stone's throw from the Opera House), and the chance to be on the harbor but in a quieter location. Guest rooms, decorated with trendy fish prints, are arranged like the cabins on a luxury liner, rising in tiers on the outside of the central cavity. The entire hotel is 100% smoke-free and all meals are plant-based. There are five restaurants in the adjoining wharf complex, known as the Wooloomooloo's Finger Wharf.