Australia's Hotel of the Year for 2018 is revealed

A boutique hotel barely two months old has taken out the top gong at Gourmet Traveller’s annual Australian Hotel Awards.

May 27, 2018 10:00pm

Paramount House Hotel

A new boutique hotel at the heart of Sydney's most exciting inner-city neighbourhood has been named Australia's Hotel of the Year in the fifth annual Gourmet Traveller Australian Hotel Guide Awards.

Paramount House Hotel, in a 1940s warehouse in Surry Hills, shares space in the former Australian headquarters of Paramount Picture Studios with a well-established café, an art-house cinema, a health club, co-working space and, coming soon, a highly anticipated restaurant and bar by Ester chef Mat Lindsay. The 29-room hotel was designed to give guests "a sense of place", says co-owner Russell Beard, "something that doesn't feel generic and offers a real slice of the area".

"It takes a village to make a great hotel," wrote GT's panel of expert reviewers. "Paramount House Hotel's unique appeal lies in the strength of the building's creative community and the immediate neighbourhood."

Another newcomer, the wharfside Macq01 in Hobart, was named Large Hotel of the Year, and also took home the Best Minibar award for its "maxibar" of proudly Tasmanian products.

The award for Boutique Hotel of the Year went to the wildly unconventional vineyard-lair of Jackalope, on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. It was also awarded the coveted gong for Best Club Sandwich for a novel version featuring drunken chicken, pickled green tomatoes and bacon jam. And the pioneering Lake House, in the Victorian spa town of Daylesford, won Regional Hotel of the Year.

The awards are part of the 2018 Gourmet Traveller Australian Hotel Guide featuring the nation's top 50 hotels – published with the June issue of Gourmet Traveller, on sale today.

Sarah Oakes, Gourmet Traveller's editor, congratulated all 50 top hotels featured in Australia's only national hotel guide. "We're seeing more hotels championing local makers and produce, and thinking hard about how to connect guests with the neighbourhood," she said.

The guide is produced by a team of reviewers who check in unannounced and pay their own way. Reviewers and editors compare their experiences to choose the nation's top 50 hotels and the best performers in 11 award categories, from best minibar to best breakfast. In addition to the nation's top 50 hotels, the guide also lists Australia's leading lodges and resorts, and the hottest Australian hotel openings coming up.

Follow the latest on the guide and awards on social media: @gourmettraveller #gthotelguide

The 2018 Gourmet Traveller Australian Hotel Guide is on sale today. Pick up your copy before 25 June.