Marking a new boutique hotel brand for the same group behind Australian (and recently New Zealand) favourite QT Hotels, Eventhouse Cronulla has successfully tapped into the refreshing leisurely lifestyle of the famed beachside suburb, gutting the former Rydges and replacing it with an expansive coastal atmosphere.
Your stereotypical “Aussie lifestyle” has long been defined, to both locals and visitors, by golden sand and crashing waves. That idea has been smartly captured here with an attractive light-filled, breezy design that’s consistent throughout the 84-room building. The location couldn’t be more ideal for time spent down in Cronulla, a stone’s throw from the beach it draws its inspiration from, while also being far enough away from the crowds of people who are drawn to the sand every day.
“Beach-chic” was evidently the order when Eventhouse commissioned design from the team of Shelley Indyk and Anna Roberts, both whom have worked on various QT Hotels & Resorts properties across Australia. Their signatures are clear, shaping Eventhouse in very similar ways to QT Gold Coast. A sea-inspired splash of colour adds character to the frame of all-white furniture in the lobby, the design teams most endearing achievement as far as the hotel’s public areas go. The immediate impression couldn’t be expressed better, cooing an infectious sense of relaxation as golden mesh lamps hang from high-ceilings over a scene of all-white flourished with some greenery.
Check-in is decidedly casual (they even use your first name) but still bears the speed and efficiency of classic hospitality, again syncing up with the easy-going lifestyle that’s driving the reinvention of Cronulla’s image. From there it’s up either up to your room, on to the property’s lobby-level restaurant and bar, Red Radish, or to the modest outdoor pool.
The guest rooms are simple but make the most of the view coming in from the balcony, from which the double designer dream bed is a comfortable distance (this being based on a “Superior Ocean View” room type). There’s a great deal of space here, made up with a simple glass table and blue couch by the balcony, and an additional seat facing from the other direction. Details aren’t as well thought-out as the aforementioned QT Hotel, but the room presents a pleasant, straight-forward space with the possible idea that most guests will spend the majority of their in-room time relaxing on the balcony.
Two chairs and a bright yellow table sit outside, looking over the beach and its surrounds to fully highlight the hotel’s enviable location. The pool can be seen from below, looking rather small from that high up but still quite a sight when set against the nearby waves.
Strangely enough, the wall-fixed television is diagonally opposite both the bed and the colourful blue couch as opposed to just facing either one, an odd choice but perhaps welcome for those who may want to angle their line-of-sight when viewing.
A coffee pod machine sits near the entrance along with the room’s mini-bar, a selection of food, drink and various products which resembles what one would usually find at a QT property. It stands next to an entrance to the mid-sized bathroom, where most of the space is dedicated to a stand-alone open shower.
One of the best features of the hotel is Red Radish, with no particular focus on cuisine other than light and local ingredients used to create trendy, health-conscious dishes. Here, the daily buffet breakfast spread is generous and considered, but lunch and dinner is when this space really takes space. Locals evidently love the new addition to Cronulla’s increasingly exciting dining scene, from the safe choice of spanner crab on toast with avocado creme, lemon aioli, fennel and woodland sorrel to the produce-focused organic lamb shoulder from Mudgee, served with smoked eggplant, pomegranate, yoghurt and pistachio. Dessert is a little more playfully indulgent, the best choice being the passion on the beach pavlova (pictured above) with rose-water sticky meringue, passionfruit curd, local berries, creme fraiche and pistachio topped with raspberry fairy floss.
Although the restaurant and bar may be plain in design, it’s ample space and good quality food make it a good choice, even with all of Cronulla’s best restaurants nearby.
Then of course, the location. Not just convenient for the beach, the hotel is also located right next door to GU Film House and Cronulla’s main strip, giving you access to plenty of the area’s finest including Low & Loftys and quintessential cafe Grind Espresso. The latter is located on the hip Surf Lane, next to other essentials including – for the guys – the stylish Men’s Republic, easily one of the best barber shops this writer has been to in Sydney (and a nice spot for a quick drink during the day as well).
Evidently pivoting on a design philosophy which focuses on the surrounding environment, welcoming the location in the hotel – an approach which has worked incredibly well for QT Hotels – Eventhouse looks to be another quality Australian-born hotel group.
The next Eventhouse property is being planned for Hobart and will be opened around the middle of this year. For more information head to the Eventhouse website HERE.
For a room at Eventhouse Cronulla, rates start at approximately $180 AUD per night.
Eventhouse Cronulla
Address: 20-26 Kingsway, Cronulla NSW 2230
Contact: (02) 9527 3100
Feature image supplied.
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