You can hear water lapping beneath the floorboards of this boutique hotel, inhabiting a 1912 pier just west of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. This is where ferry passengers used to wait to cross the harbor before the bridge was built. A hotel was first constructed in 1999, taking care to preserve the original pier pilings and steel support beams, incorporating them into hallways and guestrooms. Today, Pier One is a 189-room beauty that’s part of Marriot’s Autograph collection of unique properties. Co-owner Ruth Magid put extra love into the 18 sunny suites, which she designed like waterfront apartments. Some feature modern globe lights juxtaposed against the original wood-beam rafters, as well as brass sink basins, twin rain showers with side jets, and egg-shaped tubs. Two balcony suites take guests eye-to-eye with the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
