Eve of a new era
Redfern’s former ‘Murder Mall’ has become a hotel of wonder and beauty
It’s a sunny Saturday afternoon at The Eve hotel and small groups are forming around the rooftop pool. In one corner, a posse of friends is heavily working a tray of Aperol spritzes. In another corner, two families with school-aged kids are splashing about, having fun.
Along a long row of sun beds lined up to catch the golden afternoon rays, couples are stretched out enjoying the warm weather and deliveries from the pool bar — bowls of fries doused in herbs and spices, coffee, wine and cocktails.
In the pool, a low beat plays underwater and from the street below drifts the sounds of the inner-city in action and the rumblings of the onsite restaurants gearing up for a big night ahead. Every single person is having a good time. This may well be Sydney’s hottest new play zone.
Sometimes I wonder if the world really needs more hotels. I love hotels more than the average person. I visit a lot of them. They are vibrant and creative spaces that showcase the work of talented people. But they are also ubiquitous and often so remarkably similar they begin to blend into one another. Rarely do I return to a hotel; there is always somewhere new to go.
But it is apparent from the moment you walk into The Eve, on the corner of Cleveland and Baptist streets, Redfern, that this is not just another hotel. This, in fact, is a new hotel that Sydney actually needed.
The hotel is the crowning glory of the mixed-used $500m precinct called Wunderlich Lane, by property developer TOGA Group. The precinct has been under development for a decade on the site of what was previously a dingy shopping centre known officially as Surry Hills Shopping Village (and before that, Redfern Mall) and unofficially as ‘Murder Mall’.
I remember going to the mall often when I worked at News Corporation’s Surry Hills office before the mall finally closed in 2021. It was certainly a centre with some colourful characters. And while I am often sceptical of sacrificing the old for the new, in the case of this precinct the change has most certainly been for the better.
On the 12,000sq m site, find not only the hotel and its affiliated hospitality venues, but a second restaurant precinct featuring some hot venues and a shopping area that includes a shiny and huge new Harris Farm Markets and a Coles supermarket.
Part of the same development is Surry Hills Village, a mid-rise residential complex of 154 apartments. The whole site is impressive and forward looking, glamorous and contemporary.
We’re here to stay at the hotel and it is a splendid achievement. For guests, the initial impression comes as you head through the automatic front doors on Baptist St, which leads to an airy reception area that feels both cool and international in orientation.
The design is a collaboration between TOGA, architect SJB under the direction of Adam Haddow, and interior designer George Livissianis. The look is inspired by contemporary Europe, particularly, Greece.
Walk down the long white arched walkway beside the incredible restaurant, Olympus Dining, with its circular design and glass roof, to find yourself at the lifts to the rooms, or to the rooftop.
The rooms’ interiors have been designed by Paddington-based Henry Wilson, with the feel of each space informed by muted colours in green and rust. King beds and soft white linens, coupled with blackout blinds operated from a panel beside the bed, make you feel like you’re sleeping in a womb. It is so dark in here, even by daylight, that you are guaranteed to lose track of time. A rainwater shower with Saardé amenities gives a luxurious touch.
The rooms are plush and comfortable and, starting at 27sq m, roomy enough. Perhaps the best part of staying here is the proximity to the dining experiences either in the building or in the precinct.
Olympus Dining is the big, brash venture of restaurateurs Jonathan Barthelmess and Sam Christie, best known locally for their outstanding Potts Point Greek venue, Apollo. The restaurant fills a light-filled concrete space fitted around a 50-year-old bougainvillea tree that grows in the centre of the space.
Tables spill around the tree, lending the impression of dining in a village square on the Greek island of your dreams. Food wise, the menu offers a lengthy selection of village dishes, from chicken souvlaki to a Greek salad, stuffed zucchini and really good sizzling saganaki.
Also a fun experience is the partly alfresco Lottie, a Mexican venue that fills a rooftop area near the pool. Run by Liquid & Larder, Lottie offers a menu of dishes such as Murray cod in achiote sauce and pork jowl with cola mole. The pleasure mostly is in sitting in this elevated space watching the sun set over the city, margarita in hand.
Outside the hotel but within the precinct is another exciting offering in Island Radio, a restaurant by rising group House Made Hospitality. In this red-hued restaurant, take a seat in one of the long banquettes and eat from a pan-Asian menu that offers dishes including ginger shallot egg noodles with sambal, turmeric crumbs and spanner crab, an heirloom tomato salad with shredded mango and pinakurat, and grilled banana leaf rice with smoked duck breast and holy basil.
Island Radio
A DJ pumps tunes, and upstairs after or before dinner head to the retro-themed Baptist Street Rec. Club for amusingly old-school cocktails, including a strawberry daiquiri or a Japanese slipper. We take great delight in checking out the walls, filled with 80s and 90s memorabilia, from pictures of the Waugh twins, Warnie and Steve Irwin to teaspoon collections and old beer coasters. The ceiling is covered with old sporting trophies.
One other venue of note is the hotel’s Bar Julius, which is attracting long queues in the early evening, as guests slip into leather seats for cocktails including a Paddington Iced Tea (with Bulleit bourbon, Poorman’s orange marmalade, Brickfield’s sourdough, Pierre Ferrand Orange Curaçao, citrus and fizz). The bar features a ceiling mural by Louise Olsen that pays homage to her late father and local art identity, John Olsen.
Hotel guests also have breakfast in Bar Julius, with dishes of a taramasalata bagel and an ancient grains salad with spiced coconut yoghurt, fennel, pomegranate, candied pecans and Earl Grey-soaked raisins. The space is really lovely.
The Wunderlich precinct gains its name from its origin story, with the site once home to the Wunderlich Ltd factory, which in the late 19th century produced ornamental zinc panels, cornices and architectural products, many of which are still in use today (including on the facades of the Government Bank in Martin Place). Many of Sydney’s pressed metal ceilings were also made here.
In 1910, the Bank of New South Wales built the corner building which today remains the only original structure in the complex. It is now inhabited by the Baptist Street Rec. Club.
In all, it's an exciting and thoughtful precinct, already full of interesting corners and wonderful eating. For a local staycation, it could not be more perfect. It’s change for the better. A cool and stylish hotel Sydney actually needed, for once.
Rooms from $540 a night.
