This was published 12 years ago
Harbourside Apartments, McMahons Point review: Seats for Sydney's biggest show
Sparkling ... the foyer.
Bruce Elder settles into a harbourside apartment with peerless views.
Is this the most perfect destination on Sydney Harbour? From both bedrooms in our lodgings at Harbourside Apartments, the view is across Lavender Bay. We can see, at night, the bright lights on the Ferris wheel at Luna Park, the northern pylon of the Harbour Bridge floodlit and glowing, the sailing boats rocking gently on the tide below, and the serrated skyline of the high-rise buildings that run up the ridge at Milsons Point.
In the lounge room, looking east we can see the entire arc of the Harbour Bridge. Tiny trains the size of toys nudge across its deck and tinier figures can be seen climbing up the arch, silhouetted against the sky.
Below and just beyond the bridge is the Opera House. Under the bridge, a small, yellow-and-green ferry is cutting its way to Milsons Point before coming directly below the building, passing Sails restaurant, and picking up passengers at McMahons Point for Balmain and Darling Harbour.
Beyond, a larger ferry from Manly and a hydrofoil are turning into Sydney Cove and heading to Circular Quay. When we look to the south (there are four double windows in the lounge room), the city centre rises behind the Walsh Bay wharves that jut out into the harbour west of Dawes Point.
Beyond that comes the wasteland that will one day become Barangaroo, then the elegant arches of Anzac Bridge on the horizon.
And, as if by some sublime and watery symmetry, a hydrofoil makes its way from Parramatta towards Circular Quay while a large ship, with pilot boat in tow, goes under the bridge on its way to the Heads and the open sea.
There is one discordant note in this symphony of beauty. The infamous Blues Point Tower, like a refugee from some drab, east European housing project, stands in defiance.
This is Sydney in all its glory (and development ugliness) and this must surely be one of the greatest views anywhere in the country. Certainly, this has to be the best room at the Harbourside Apartments.
By accident, we are in apartment No.76, which is on the 15th floor in the south-east corner of the building. The lift is slow but the reward at the end of the journey is a very clever makeover of an old apartment.
It is elegant and modern and yet, as the small bathroom indicates, still constrained by building orthodoxies nearly half a century old. The old kitchenette, next to the lounge room, has been converted into an open-plan arrangement with a kitchen island and four bar stools which, almost coincidentally, means you can enjoy the views while you're eating.
The two bedrooms - one with a king-size bed and the other with two single beds - are comfortable without being overstated.
They didn't build big bathrooms when the building was completed and now there is no way to make the bathroom look large and 21st century. Instead, the small room offers only a suitably minimal, modern loo, basin and shower recess. No spa bath, cupboards or feature mirror. It works and is almost saved by simple elegance.
This little-known accommodation gem has one problem: the block has 80 apartments and 65 different owners. This means that the quality varies hugely.
We have struck the jackpot. The apartment is spacious. The views are beyond compare. But even the most cursory look at TripAdvisor, the internet home of the jaundiced assessment, will reveal that not every apartment is as good as No. 76.
The owner of our apartment has spent money on design and modernised with great care and thoughtfulness. Other people, staying in other apartments, are not so eulogistic or enthusiastic.
Still, the truth is that Harbourside Apartments have been one of Sydney's best-kept secrets for decades. My parents, who lived in the Snowy Mountains, used them as their preferred bolt-hole when they holidayed or had business in Sydney in the 1960s and '70s.
They loved the view and ease of walking less than 100 metres and hopping on the Lavender Bay ferry when it used to ply the waters between Luna Park, McMahons Point and Circular Quay. Today, it does a circuit that includes Milsons Point, Darling Harbour, Balmain and Circular Quay.
The waterside Sails at Lavender Bay, which has been a fixture beside the McMahons Point wharf for more than a quarter of a century, received one-hat status in The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide 2012 announced this week.
Not surprisingly, the emphasis is on fish, with excellent Sydney oysters, seared scallops and an Asian king salmon (with green tea noodles, shiitake mushrooms, daikon and dashi broth) complementing the view, which diners compare to sitting on the deck of a very large cruiser moored almost underneath the Harbour Bridge.
The apartments are self-serve (the kitchens are more than adequate) but we decide to explore the numerous cafes on Blues Point Road, an easy five-minute walk up the hill. On our way out, we notice the free muffins at reception and are tempted to grab a couple and head back to the apartment. However, we are committed to a more substantial breakfast.
We choose Lavender Blue at 165 Blues Point Road because it looks modern, rather flash and, if we walk any further, we'll end up at North Sydney station. The menu lists a $16 "big breakfast" (eggs, mushrooms, chipolata sausages, spinach, bacon, Uncle Tom Cobley and all) guaranteed to bring the bravest eaters to their knees.
After breakfast, we wander down the hill and settle in the lounge room gazing at the glory of the ever-changing harbour and wondering why my father didn't buy three or four of the apartments when they were for sale at $30,000 (yes, they really were that cheap years ago). I remember: he thought they were too expensive.
Weekends Away are reviewed anonymously and paid for by Traveller.
VISITORS' BOOK
Harbourside Apartments
Address 2A Henry Lawson Drive, McMahons Point.
The verdict A conveniently located apartment for gazing at the view across Sydney Harbour.
Price From $187 for a studio without a view to $650 for a two-bedroom executive suite in summer.
Bookings Phone 9963 4300, see harboursideapartments.com.au.
Getting there Catch a ferry from Circular Quay wharf No.5 or Darling Harbour to McMahons Point. Catch the 265/269 bus from North Sydney station.
Perfect for Visitors seeking spectacular views of the harbour and eager to arrive in the city by ferry.
Wheelchair access Yes, but not easy.
While you're there Dine at Sails restaurant; order takeaway from Menu Xpress and dine with harbour views; take a ferry to Darling Harbour and Circular Quay; swim in the pool at the apartments; visit Luna Park.
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