City aims for destination status with $375 million development
How does a city go from a “gateway” to its destination on its own? Just ask Newcastle, NSW.
Although still known as the gateway to the Hunter Valley’s famous wineries, the former mining center has built on its natural coastal assets and historic architecture, making it a perfect getaway in its own right.
Located 91 kilometers south of Newcastle and just an hour north of Sydney, Gosford is known as the “gateway” to the beaches on the NSW Central Coast.
The city is on pace to achieve “destination” status with The Archibald, a $375 million mixed-use project that is home to a new Voco hotel.
Voco is a family of lifestyle hotels that are part of the InterContinental Hotel Group. Its identity is built around the properties being “charming,” comfortable and – like most hotel brands, especially “lifestyle” ones – connected to the community in which they are built through design, location and comfort. Since opening in 2018, Voco has more than 100 member hotels, with the Gosford property being the fifth in Australia. Sister properties include Voco Melbourne and Gold Coast.
That’s not the only news for The Archibald, which overlooks the Brisbane Water, the picturesque estuary on which Gosford is built. In March this year developers ALAND won the award for Best Mixed Use Development in Asia-Pacific at the International Property Awards held at the Savoy Hotel in London.
It beat out 2,400 entries from 125 countries and was judged best based on criteria that included design, quality, service, innovation, originality and sustainability.
Named after Archibald Acheson, the second Earl of Gosford (i.e. in Oxfordshire, England), the Archibald Quarter includes 323 residential flats, five accommodation venues and the 130-room Voco Gosford.
Voco Gosford is scheduled to open in early summer piece resistor Astra is a rooftop bar and high-end Japanese restaurant on the 28th floor.
Most rooms have private balconies, there is a podium-level pool with swim-up bar, and six different dining and bar venues, including the rooftop. Archies, a ground-floor pub with Ironbark cuisine, serves pub classics and fire-grilled fare. There is also Italian cuisine, Paolo’s.
Reservations for hotels and restaurants open as of November 12. The official opening of Voco Gosford and The Archibald Precinct will take place on 1 December.
Meanwhile, Sydney’s hotel boom continues with the opening of another “community-engaged” brand, Caption by Hyatt Central Sydney, in Haymarket. The 174-room hotel has a bright and cheerful design, thanks to a partnership with Sydney artist Chris Yee, whose illustrations adorn the hotel’s lobby and common areas. Works by Melbourne-based creator Samy Baby and Japanese-Australian artist Hiromi Tango are also featured. Yee and Baby’s dreams are on the walls of the rooms.
Described as the “heart of the hotel”, the Talk Shop quadruples in size as a café, bar, co-working space and venue for poetry nights, live music and even Mahjong sessions. This 200-year-old game of Chinese origin is rapidly gaining popularity among the younger generation. (For certain sectors of the older generations, this style never went out of fashion.)
The hotel is easily accessible from the light rail and Central Station, and is minutes from the Capitol Theater and Chinatown dining.
To see thearchibald.com.au; hyatt.com
Sign up for the Traveler newsletter
The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.
Julietta Jameson is a freelance travel writer who’d rather be in Rome, but her hometown of Melbourne is a happy compromise.Connect via email.
