A landmark, reimagined.
Few hotels make the building itself the headline. Crystalbrook Kingsley occupies Newcastle's former City Administration Centre, the circular concrete tower long known locally as the Roundhouse, and since June 2021 it has turned one of the city's most recognisable landmarks into a place to stay.
The conversion keeps the building's strong 1970s form and adds a new top floor for a restaurant and bar. With 130 rooms, rooftop dining and a café at street level, it works as a self-contained base for Newcastle's revitalised city centre, its beaches and the Hunter Valley beyond.
The building is the reason to come. The rooftop is the reason to stay in for dinner.
The name nods to King's Town, an early name for the settlement that became Newcastle, and the building's significance has been formally recognised: in 2022 it was added to the NSW State Heritage Register.
Opposite Civic Park, in the cultural heart.
The hotel stands on King Street, across from Civic Park and within walking distance of City Hall, the Civic Theatre, Newcastle Art Gallery and Newcastle Museum. It's a genuinely central address, the kind where an evening at the theatre or a gallery visit needs no planning at all.
The coast is close, too. Light rail runs from the city to Newcastle Beach, where the Bathers Way coastal walk sets off past ocean baths and headlands towards Merewether.
Rooms named for their view.
The 130 rooms follow the curve of the building and are grouped by outlook: Urban rooms face the city, Harbour rooms look towards the port and Park rooms overlook Civic Park. The larger Park Master and Kingsley Master rooms add extra space, and interconnecting options suit families.
Rooms cover the essentials of a contemporary luxury stay: a large smart TV, a Nespresso machine and good soundproofing. Bathrooms are designed to avoid single-use plastics, with biodegradable or recyclable amenities.
Dinner under the olive trees.
Roundhouse, the restaurant on the new top floor, is the hotel's showpiece: a dining room shaded by full-grown olive trees, with views out over the city. The kitchen leans on regional produce, with the hotel stating that around 80 per cent is sourced from within a three-hour radius.
Romberg's, the rooftop bar on the same level, is the place for a drink before dinner or a nightcap after the theatre. Downstairs, a ground-floor café takes care of coffee and something light from the morning.
Beaches, wine country and the city.
Newcastle rewards a few days rather than a single night. These are the experiences that pair best with a stay here.
Coastal walks
The Bathers Way links Nobbys Beach with Merewether, passing ocean baths and the convict-cut Bogey Hole along the way.
Hunter Valley days
Cellar doors, long lunches and early-morning balloon flights, around an hour's drive inland.
Port Stephens
Dolphins in the bay and, from around May to November, humpback whales migrating offshore, about an hour north.
Arts on the doorstep
Newcastle Art Gallery, the Civic Theatre and City Hall are all a few minutes' walk across Civic Park.
