Two heritage buildings, one unmistakably Sydney hotel

Two buildings stand at the corner of Broadway and Kensington Street in Chippendale, each carrying decades of Sydney history in their bones. The former Carlton United Breweries administration building and the Clare Hotel pub, both dating to the early twentieth century, have been joined and reimagined as The Old Clare by Ode Hotels. The conversion preserves the industrial character of the originals while introducing a contemporary design sensibility that feels specific to this neighborhood, where creative energy and urban grit have long coexisted. Exposed brick, original signage, and raw structural elements sit alongside carefully curated furnishings and artwork, giving the interiors a layered authenticity that resists easy categorization.

The hotel's 62 rooms range from compact studios to spacious suites, each individually designed with a mix of custom furniture, vintage pieces, and considered details. Heritage features vary from room to room, lending a sense of discovery to each stay. The rooftop pool offers a welcome retreat above the streets, its sun deck providing open views across the surrounding skyline. For those seeking a more grounding reset, the hotel's wellness and fitness amenities round out the experience without excess.

Downstairs, the ground floor anchors much of daily life at The Old Clare. The heritage pub space has been retained and serves as a social hub, its original tiling and timber bar lending the kind of warmth that only decades of use can produce. Kensington Street itself has become one of Sydney's most compelling dining corridors, and the hotel sits at its threshold. Guests move easily between the property and the neighborhood's collection of restaurants, bars, and independent retailers. Chippendale's position between the CBD, Surry Hills, and the University of Sydney campuses gives it a distinct creative identity, attracting galleries, design studios, and a community that values substance over spectacle.

What lingers after a stay at The Old Clare is a sense of place that feels genuinely earned. This is not a hotel that borrows its personality from a curated mood board. Its character comes from the buildings themselves, from the neighborhood that surrounds them, and from the particular rhythm of a Sydney that rewards those who look past the obvious. You leave with the feeling of having stayed somewhere that belongs exactly where it is.