Inside The Eve, Sydney’s Trendiest New Hotel

Posted in Hotel Review, Issue March/April 2026, Projects

A design-led boutique bolthole in Surry Hills, The Eve offers rooftop hedonism, art-infused interiors and a slice of modern Sydney beyond the harbour icons

WORDS BY CAROLE ANNETT

This story was originally published in SPACE Mar/Apr 26

The Eve Hotel sits as the architectural and social heart of Wunderlich Lane, a new mixed-use precinct developed by TOGA Group under the direction of owner Allan Vidor. Once considered a poor relation to the city centre, Surry Hills has steadily reinvented itself as one of Sydney’s most fashionable neighbourhoods – a hub of designers, chefs, artists and young entrepreneurs drawn to its quaint terraced houses, industrial relics and comparatively forgiving rents. This is an area for the in-crowd – Crown Street hums with some of the city’s best dining, while small galleries and concept stores are dotted along the side streets. 

Plugging neatly into it all is The Eve. Nestled between a homeware boutique selling hand-thrown ceramics and organic cotton towels and The Parlour Room beauty salon, the hotel sits above a Coles supermarket – convenient for stocking up on Vegemite for the journey home or making a quick dash to satisfy chocolate cravings during an afternoon by the pool. The same pedestrian area also includes a barber and Island Radio coffee shop, where I discovered the ‘Piccolo’, Sydneysiders’ favourite mini caffeine hit. 

In order to realise the vision of a buzzy neighbourhood with The Eve at its core, Vidor assembled a trio of leading Sydney creatives: Adam Haddow, director at design studio SJB; landscape designer Daniel Baffsky of 360 Degrees; and interior architect George Livissianis. 

Entering The Eve has a welcoming ‘ta-daa’ moment as automatic floor-to-ceiling glass doors glide open on approach. Staff dressed in khaki-brown uniforms orchestrate luggage transfers with easy charm. The hotel begins to display its assets straight away – Bar Julius, immediately to the left, can lure you in, particularly if you have arrived after a long journey. It offers caffeine and conversation, laptops and locals all day, morphing into cocktails and finishing with the ‘just one more before we turn in’ brigade.

Operated by Liquid & Larder and designed by SJB’s Victoria Judge, the key feature is an unusual arched ceiling running the length of the room, displaying a large-scale mural by Louise Olsen – Still Life – reinforcing the hotel’s commitment to embedding art into the architecture. To complement the arches, huge windows offer views onto the street and, in the evening, the lighting turns moody, transforming the burgundy leather, veined marble tables and glassware into a sophisticated space reminiscent of a French brasserie. “Together, we are creating a space for people to gather,” says Liquid & Larder’s James Bradley. Think European nostalgia meets contemporary Sydney swagger. 

Like the shops and cafés surrounding it, The Eve offers something different in every area. After the terracotta and natural stone of the entrance hall, the reception area blends modernist furniture and white walls with curved plinths covered in glazed faience tiles – like tall DJ decks from behind which staff check guests in, offer concierge services and book restaurants. Heading deeper into the building, the guestrooms are reached via a white, catwalk-like cloistered corridor. 

Inspired by timeless civic architecture with its rhythm of compression and release, Haddow has elevated the simple act of walking to your room. I did witness a bit of strutting but, to be fair, most of The Eve’s clientele can pull it off. 

Finding your room is easy, as corridors are light and airy, with ceramic plaques denoting numbers. The Eve houses 102 boutique rooms, blending sophisticated design with modern comfort, each conceived as a private oasis. A plush king-size bed anchors the space; banquette seating runs beneath the window; a neatly designed cocktail cabinet displays drinks and a mini Nespresso machine; while bathrooms have twin basins and plenty of room for amenities. The showers are designed on a crescent, which made me want to salute the tiler, as it looks like a highly specialised task. Suites also have baths, and every room features a large wall-mounted TV and outdoor space with Juliette balconies or terraces, maintaining a dialogue with the city beyond. Colours mimic the flora and fauna of the Australian landscape, with rich terracotta, eucalyptus greens and sandy neutrals. Local designers and craftspeople are championed wherever possible, reinforcing the hotel’s connection to Sydney’s creative ecosystem. 

The top floor of The Eve is my favourite area – a garden, pool and restaurant: a hedonist’s playground. Hotel guests access the pool via another automatic door, this time a gliding section of wall which responds to the wave of a keycard. Restaurant diners get to look – but not touch – via a huge circular glass portal at its centre. If one wished, here is another opportunity to strut – perhaps this time in your bathers. Guests dining at Lottie are your audience, as they have a clear view of who is entering and exiting the pool. Lottie is The Eve’s all-weather rooftop restaurant and mezcaleria, also operated by Liquid & Larder. Conceived as a contemporary Mexican dining destination, its menu features trout ceviche, aged beef chops, tacos, burritos and, of course, top-notch guacamole. 

For the look and feel of Lottie, interior architect Livissianis drew directly from Haddow’s architectural palette. Sandblasted travertine, Palladiana flooring and exposed concrete create a tactile backdrop. Red travertine forms the core of the colour story, shifting from ochre to vibrant orange – hues that echo both the cuisine and the Sydney sunset. The design maintains a sense of outdoor living even under cover. You can imagine long lunches dissolving into evening margaritas, the aromas of chilli and citrus mingling with the warm air, accompanied by music from the on-site DJ who warms up as the sun goes down. “At its core, the rooftop is a space to escape,” says Bradley. “Imagine sitting in the open air, margarita in hand – it’s an experience.” 

Sydney’s love affair with the outdoors is woven through the architecture of The Eve, and the rooftop was conceived first and foremost as a garden. Designed by Daniel Baffsky, it pays homage to the site’s former life as one of colonial Sydney’s earliest pleasure gardens, part of Portuguese immigrant John Baptist’s 40-acre nursery in East Redfern, which operated from the 1900s to the 1930s. Originally established for vegetables, it grew into a major supplier of ornamental plants, bulbs and seeds across Australia. In honour of its heritage, Baffsky’sdesign includes lush native planting mingling with exotic palms. “This is an international hotel in a truly international city,” Baffsky says. “The landscape reflects modern Sydney through the richness and range of its plant life.” 

The garden’s main focus is a 20-metre pool clad in dark green Sukabumi tiles, surrounded by sunbeds with retro-style umbrellas in a punchy Hermès orange. Bespoke cabanas, with drapes that dance in and out with the breeze, provide pockets of privacy. 

What sets The Eve apart is generosity. While its boutique scale offers intimacy, its bars, rooftop and landscaped spaces are deliberately open to the community. It supports surrounding businesses rather than competing with them. It enriches the social fabric instead of isolating itself from it. “The Eve is the missing piece of urban fabric in the area,” Haddow says. It’s hard to disagree. Sydney may still dazzle visitors with its harbour icons, but for those who prefer their luxury with a side of authenticity, the new kid on the block is getting top marks from me. 

Main image credit Georg Roske.