Pitt Deluxe King
Floors 3–5, west-facing over Pitt Street. Original 1908 window casements restored.
- Floor
- 3 — 5
- View
- Pitt Street
- Size
- 32 sqm
- From
- $385
Pitt Street, Sydney — Established 1908
Five generations of guests. The current one arrives Tuesday.
A working sandstone landmark 240 metres from Circular Quay. Four restaurants. The ballroom seats 620 under restored 1908 plasterwork.
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The Building, 1908—Present
Built as the State Insurance Building. Reopened as a hotel in January 2014.
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- 1908 Sandstone laid
- 412 Rooms today
- 47 Original masons
Five things that decide where you stay
We chose what to put our care into. Read the list before you book.
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01
1908 Edwardian masonry
Restored sandstone façade and the original interior cornicing on floors 2 and 7. Not a recreation — the same stone.
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02
Frette and Vispring
Bed linens are Frette Hotel Classic. Mattresses are 9-zone Vispring, replaced on a rolling 4-year cycle.
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03
Eight-minute room service
Average response time on in-room dining over the past 90 days: 8 minutes 42 seconds. We track it.
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04
A 620-seat ballroom
Largest hotel ballroom in the Sydney CBD. Plasterwork above the dais is original 1908; the chandelier is Bohemian crystal, hung 2014.
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05
Concierge since 1976
Our head concierge, Gerald, has been at this address for 38 years. He holds 14 standing tee times at New South Wales Golf Club.
412 rooms across 11 floors
Six categories, all of them in the original sandstone shell.
Floors 2 through 6 face Pitt Street. Floors 7 to 11 face the harbour or the courtyard pool. Every room was rebuilt to current standard between 2011 and 2013 — only the outer walls remain original.
Harbour Junior Suite
Floors 8–10, east-facing with full Sydney Harbour Bridge view.
- Floor
- 8 — 10
- View
- Harbour Bridge
- Size
- 48 sqm
- From
- $640
Cumberland Suite
Floor 11 corner suite. Private terrace, separate dining room for six.
- Floor
- 11
- View
- Harbour & city
- Size
- 94 sqm
- From
- $1,180
Courtyard Twin
Floors 4–6 facing the central courtyard pool. Quietest rooms in the building.
- Floor
- 4 — 6
- View
- Courtyard pool
- Size
- 28 sqm
- From
- $310
Heritage King
Floor 2 only. Original 1908 cornicing visible on the ceiling line.
- Floor
- 2
- View
- Pitt Street
- Size
- 36 sqm
- From
- $475
Premier Harbour Suite
Floor 9, east-facing. King bedroom plus separate sitting room.
- Floor
- 9
- View
- Harbour Bridge
- Size
- 62 sqm
- From
- $920
Three restaurants & a bar
Each one is its own room. Each one has its own chef.
The three restaurants share the original sandstone hearth on the second floor. The cocktail bar — Macquarie — is one floor up, looking over the courtyard pool.
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Cumberland
Tasting MenuHelmed by Chef Louis Tikaram, formerly EP & LP, Los Angeles
Reserve a table -
The Hearth
Italian, wood-firedHelmed by Chef Anna Polyviou, ex Sepia
Reserve a table -
Macquarie Bar
Cocktails & small platesHelmed by Bar Director Jorge Reynoso, ex Maybe Sammy
Reserve a table -
The Pool House
Mediterranean, day-timeHelmed by Chef Hadrien Boucher
Reserve a table
Letters we've received
Things guests have written, with permission to print.
We came for the wedding in the seventh-floor ballroom. The chandelier hung 2.4 metres lower than I expected — beautifully so. Our photographer caught the cornice work in every frame. Whoever restored that plasterwork in 2013 deserves a knighthood.
I have stayed in 412 hotels for Condé Nast Traveller. I do not write recommendations easily. The eight-minute room service at this hotel is a lie — mine arrived in six. The Frette robe is the heaviest I have worn. The Heritage King on floor 2 has the cornicing they keep telling you about; it is worth the surcharge.
Three days in the Harbour Junior Suite. The window casements are noticeably old, in the way an old church door is. They open. The view of the bridge from floor 9 is what every other Sydney hotel pretends to have. The concierge — Gerald — got us tee time at New South Wales the same morning we asked.
The restoration is the kind of work people don't do anymore. I write about heritage architecture for a living and I have toured the building four times. The seventh-floor ballroom plasterwork is not 'inspired by' the original — it IS the original, cleaned and stabilised. Stay here while you still can; the next renovation cycle is 2031.
Brought the kids to the Pool House for lunch — the courtyard is genuinely quiet, the pool is heated to 28°C, and the kitchen made a kids' carbonara without being asked. The Cumberland Suite holds the whole family with room left over. The marble floor in the lobby is the original 1908 stone; we were shown the masons' chisel marks under the elevator bank.
Before you book
Things people ask the front desk most often.
Reservations What is the cancellation policy on a flexible-rate booking?
A flexible-rate booking can be cancelled or amended up to 14:00 on the day of arrival without charge. After 14:00 on the day of arrival, the first night is forfeit and held against the credit card on file. Non-refundable rates are final at the moment of booking and not subject to cancellation. Group bookings (six rooms or more) follow a separate contract negotiated by our reservations team.
Stay Are the original 1908 windows operable, and is the building noise-rated?
The exterior sandstone walls are original 1908. The window glazing was replaced in 2013 with double-pane acoustic glass that meets a 36 dB rating against street noise. Windows on floors 2–6 facing Pitt Street do not open; floors 7–11 have an operable casement on the harbour side. The building's interior is acoustically separated to 51 dB room-to-room.
Stay Which floor has the original 1908 plasterwork?
The seventh-floor ballroom retains its full original cornicing and the central rosette around the chandelier — that work was cleaned, consolidated, and re-pigmented in 2013 by Heritage Plaster Co. Floor 2 retains a partial original cornice line in 14 of the 38 rooms (we call these Heritage King category). The marble lobby floor is also original.
Dining Can I dine at Cumberland without staying at the hotel?
Yes. Cumberland accepts external reservations on an eight-week rolling basis. The full eight-course tasting menu is $295 per person; the wine pairing is $185 supplement. We hold five tables of two and two tables of four for non-guests each evening. Booking is via the dining link in the navigation, or by phoning the reservations line directly.
Events What is the maximum capacity of the seventh-floor ballroom?
Cabaret seating with a stage holds 480. Theatre-style seating with no centre tables holds 620. Banquet (round tables of 10) holds 540. The room can be split into two smaller rooms by deploying the original 1908 partition, which gives you two 240-capacity rooms. Our events team — led by Lucia Velasco — can walk you through floor plans on a 30-minute scoping call.
Access Is the building wheelchair accessible across all floors?
Yes. The 2013 restoration installed two new elevators reaching all 11 floors plus the rooftop terrace. The lobby has a level entrance from Pitt Street. Eight rooms — two on each of floors 4, 6, 8, and 10 — are configured for wheelchair access with roll-in showers and 900 mm clear doorways. The seventh-floor ballroom has accessible entrance from both the elevator lobby and the secondary stair (which has a stair-lift).
Speak with us
Most enquiries are answered the same working day.
The reservations desk staffs three people from 06:00 to 22:00 Sydney time. Outside those hours a duty manager handles arrivals; for non-urgent enquiries, please use the form below.