Sydney is set to welcome a new luxury hotel with the opening of The Porter House Hotel Sydney– MGallery in August. The hotel is set in an 1870s heritage-listed building, connecting old and new. General Manager Joleen Hurst told Ruth Hogan what to expect from this 122-room hotel.
There’s a lot of history associated with this hotel. Can you explain a bit about that?
This hotel is very much about the signature of the personality who created the building. From when it was built back in 1876, through to today, they have taken elements of everyone that’s been involved with that building across to the current design and the restoration, which is amazing to see.
It’s so much nicer to see what we can do in restoring historical buildings and taking care of them rather than just knocking them down and building a new one. I’m very proud to be part of that and be a custodian of that for the future.
What’s so unique about the design of this hotel?
It’s a very bespoke building and the design is incredibly integral in the story of the hotel. There are two standalone buildings that connect the history of the Porter House and the modernity of the new build as well. There are elements of the Porter House, such as the arch windows ad curved glass, all throughout the new hotel. It’s a brand new 10-storey building with new hotel rooms, and there is an actual crossover bridge between the old and the new connecting it to the Porter House itself, which is a destination food and beverage venue with multiple outfits.
They have taken the archaeological finds on the building site and have used those throughout the building. For a guest that is into a five-star experience, that loves a bit of history, it’s a very unique space.
How are you communicating the history of the hotel to guests?
We are the curators of the history of the building, the custodians, and there are so many layers of story that we’ve got an opportunity to share something new every day.
When guests wander through our entry laneway there are pieces and signs attached to those to tell that story. The team are immersed in the history – we have been digging even further to find out more history about the hotel. That will be part of our onboarding training so that they can tell that story. A lot of the team that we have onboard so far love that history side.
We are also trying to bring in some of the other elements of Hugh Dixon who was the original builder of the site. He was a botanist and loved gardens, so we’re working with people in the Botanical Gardens to orchestrate tours to take what he loved and bring it to life for the guest. We will look at doing historic tours around the hotel itself to point out some of the features. We’ve got 165 boxes of archaeological finds so we’ve got quite a story that we can show people.
What has it been like building a new team in this difficult climate?
It is a challenge, but we’ve been exceptionally lucky at this point in terms of the types of people that we have onboard. It’s about using different channels to reach the types of people that we’re looking for – working with partners, contacts, using resources that we probably never would have used once upon a time – and looking at different longer-term incentives.
The most important part from an Accor perspective is providing them with a solid opportunity to learn, to be trained, to develop and to give them a longer-term career, some stability, and the opportunity to regrow their careers again. We’ve been very fortunate to get some international team members, my director of guest experience is an Australian girl who has come home after being overseas for 15-odd years with Fairmont, Raffles Rosewood, Savoy – so, great experience levels.
Tell us about the food and beverage element at Porter House?
Porter House is a destination in itself – it has five food and beverage offerings, and every floor except for the conference floor features a bar. We have Spice Trader, which is our very moody, intimate bar on the top floor, we then have two floors of conference spaces and one floor of private dining rooms.
The private dining rooms are very different; they have lounge areas, dining areas, fireplaces, and libraries. It’s almost like a home away from home in terms of a living room concept – a great place to have a private dinner for 10 people and then enjoy some gin in front of the fireplace. It’s very old-worldly – pressed tin ceilings with the heavy wooden floor from days of old, big wooden pillars in the rooms – back to what it was originally.
On Level One, we have the Dixson and Sons restaurant, a bit more Brasserie style with banquette seating; then you come down to Henry’s Bread and Wine in our lobby area. This is where our guests check in but it’s also where we have a florist, and a coffee shop that turns into a wine bar at night.
This interview was published in the August edition of HM Magazine.