Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney

The Shangri-La Hotel is at 176 Cumberland St. It sits a five-minute walk from The Rocks, and you are within a fifteen-minute walk of both the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House.

This address appeals to those who prefer height over proximity. While the nearby streets in The Rocks consist of low-slung, sandstone buildings and narrow lanes, the hotel rises above the density of the area. Choosing a room here is a calculation of perspective; you trade the immediate, tactile grit of the heritage district for a view of the harbour. It is a detached way to experience the city compared to the street-level pubs and galleries a few blocks away, but it provides a vantage point that the harbourfront's smaller properties cannot match.