Happy Hour

Sydney's once-sleepy office district now buzzes with nightlife, chic hotels, and a lively waterfront.

- Jeffries Blackerby

SATURDAY NIGHT AT the Sydney Opera House is always a festive occasion, and it was particularly glittery the evening my husband and I took his father to a concert there last fall. The violinist Joshua Bell was performing Mendelssohn with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and concertgoers turned up in their finest, looking sharp against the hall's bright-pink seats.

During the intermission, we stood out on the western plaza and took in the view of the Central Business District, or CBD, as locals call it-the heart of downtown Sydney, which includes popular waterfront areas like Barangaroo, Circular Quay, and the Rocks. The area's fortunes have shifted many times over the decades. When the Rocks was redeveloped in the 1960s and 70s, hundreds were displaced from public housing. My husband (who is from Sydney) recalled that in the 90s and 2000s, no one really went there other than to work. Then the pandemic emptied the place out.

Now the CBD is changing again. With new tram lines, a revitalized harbor, an expanded museum, and the opening of high-end hotels and restaurants, the district has become one of the city's most vibrant areas-and a model for mixeduse development where economic renewal is balanced with cultural inclusivity.

One of the best examples is the year-old Capella Sydney (doubles from $450), the brand's first property in Australia and the first luxury hotel to open downtown in about two decades. Occupying a meticulously restored government building from the early 1900s, the Capella has an ornate sandstone façade and a wrought-iron staircase, 192 sumptuous guest rooms, and a marble-lined pool.

The hotel has contributed to the CBD's revival by breathing new life into historic structures, said David Tsang, CEO of Pontiac Land, Capella's parent company. "These were imposing buildings that most people had never been inside of," he told me. "Hospitality makes them more porous and vibrant."