Kimpton Margot hotel bringing back the luxe

Chef Luke Mangan and Kimpton Margot Sydney general manager Bruce Ryde. Picture: Britta Campion

Australia’s first Kimpton Hotel opened in Sydney this week, ahead of an expected national roll out of the luxury branded hotel chain which hails from San Francisco and is admired for its quirky amenities, service and charm.

The new owner of the 172-room hotel Pro-Invest paid around $132m back in 2020 buying the hotel from China’s Greenland group, which had pumped millions of dollars into its restoration.

Pro-Invest have since “warmed up” the hotel with a further $8m to $10m investment decking out its cavernous lobby while a revamp of the hotel’s popular rooftop pool terrace is slated for later in the year with the addition of a 200-seat bar and grill.

The Kimpton Margot Sydney Hotel general manager Bruce Ryde reckons the hotel’s unique design and service, which is well known to Australians used to staying in Kimpton Hotels across America, where the brand is well known, will appeal to both Sydneysiders and holiday makers from Melbourne.

“This will be a very comfortable hotel for Melbourne people because Melbourne people love to sit in cafes and talk and are very sociable and the cocktail bar scene evolved a lot earlier in that city than it did in Sydney,” said Mr Ryde, a long-time hotel executive who has worked all over the world for the past 20 years principally in Hong Kong and Thailand.

The Kimpton Margot Sydney Hotel’s opening is the first of a new breed of Sydney hotels and will be followed by Ace Sydney, W Sydney, Porter House, and Hotel Morris.

The hotel sports a magnificent heritage-listed art deco foyer including the grand, Scagliola pillared lobby evoking the spirit of the 1930s to bold patterns, plush furnishings and botanical displays which create a harmonious eclectic inner-city hideaway for the building, which was built for the Sydney Water Board.

Mr Ryde has taken strong bookings for the Pitt St hotel with rooms starting from an opening night rate of $339 rising to $1500 for the diplomat suite and $2500 for the celebrity suite. To start he will open just under half of the hotel’s rooms, while the rooftop swimming pool and huge terrace will only be available for events to start with.

The Kimpton Margot has hired popular chef Luke Mangan to handle all its food and beverage and Mr Mangan will reopen his famed Luke’s Kitchen within the hotel.

Also set amid the art deco elegance of the hotel will be its 1930s-style The Wilmot Bar, awash with plush velvet lounges and a cocktail menu.

Mr Ryde is highly positive about the Sydney CBD returning to life after the pandemic.

“Covid knocked the CBD around, there is no getting away from that,” he told The Australian.

“(But) I feel everyone is willing the Sydney CBD to come back to life, and factually that is what has happened in the past two weeks. There is so much interest in it reopening. We are seeing a huge upswing in hotel inquiries.”

“Sydneysiders are looking for that big night out, that reason to come into Sydney whether it’s a fabulous restaurant in Surry Hills or the city or a musical at the nearby Capitol Theatre. The confidence is starting to return.

“We will do a big fabulous free flow brunch on Saturdays, because we want to place a vote of confidence in Sydney coming back to life.

“We are going to be one of the reasons for people coming back, people will want to come in and see this fabulous space … to spend money and be around other people.”

Apart from domestic travellers Mr Ryde expects international tourists will flock to the Kimpton once the borders reopen, along with regional NSW arrivals.

“Of the rooms I am opening I have sold half of them in the first week, the pick up is starting to accelerate, we are doing better than what we originally forecast, we are going to test ourselves out in the first couple of weeks.”

While the hotel does not have parking, Kimpton has struck arrangements with several nearby parking companies, which have reduced their rates since Covid.

“We will offer ridiculously personalised experiences … rather than a standard fruit basket or bottle of wine in rooms,” Mr Ryde added.