Glide under the iconic Bridge on a ferry, snorkel with gropers, feast on the kind of line-caught seafood that has the world talking, catch a show at the Sydney Opera House, let your hair down at a gorgeous 1930s bar – there are swaths of never-been seen, done or eaten turns at every corner to make it a sumptuous staycation.

STAY

Rising above Wynyard Walk and a stone’s throw from the city’s most iconic attractions, you’ll find the luxe Little National Hotel. With its handy vantage point on top of a major train station and a few minutes from Circular Quay’s ferry terminal, it’s the perfect launchpad for your Sydney tour du jour.

Settle in with a cocktail in the rooftop bar – if you need a pep-up we highly recommend the orange espresso martini – and catch the sun sinking into the sparkling skyline. All 230 luxury high-tech rooms sport super king-sized beds and pillows for mandatory sleep-ins (hello, midday check out!) and a full window wall for the ultimate game of people-watching. Free wi-fi and movies are all aimed at keeping you in your robe longer.

PLAY

Playing tourist in your own backyard is the perfect excuse for catching a show at the Sydney Opera House. From classic operas and ballets to modern musicals, it’s a great opportunity to throw on your finest and experience the inner workings of the iconic building.

Don’t miss the Opera House’s gorgeous new foodie tours – a progressive lunch experience kicking off at the Stage Door that weaves through Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen, Portside and behind the scenes to watch a digital immersive experience, finishing with a long lunch at Peter Gilmore’s lauded Bennelong Restaurant (home of the famous cherry jam lamington) under the famous sails.

EAT

From trendsetters to waterfront fanfare, the CBD has it all, so you can happily hotfoot it to a bunch of delicious venues and roll back to your bed. If bowls overflowing with spaghetti cacio e pepper or crispy, golden batons of pigs head and mozzarella croquettes matched with a natty wine list sounds like your idea of a good time, Ragazzi can help. Keen for a long lunch with some harbour splendour?

In nearby Paddington, Saint Peter is where fish whisperer Josh Niland is revolutionising how the world treats fish with his scale-to-tail philosophy, dishing up line-caught coral trout sandwiches for lunch and charcoal rock flathead in Diane sauce come dinner. If a night in your robe and super king bed is calling, dial for dinner from nearby dining precincts in Chinatown, Darling Square or Barangaroo.

DRINK

A short stroll from your hotel room lands you at the Hickson House Distilling Co. After a G&T on arrival, settle into an immersive gin or whisky-making tour before hitting up the distillery door for take-home treats. For a tipple with a view, make for Sky Bar at Shell House, the latest multi-level drink and dine destination housed in a heritage clocktower building. Enter via a nondescript door on Wynyard Lane, take the lobby lift to the ninth floor, then ascend a sweeping staircase until you reach the tenth.

Here atop marble mosaic floors in a glass-enclosed room, you’ll be treated to killer cocktails and snacks (think rock oysters with finger lime and cheese and pepper ‘doughnuts’) by former Aria chef Joel Bickford with views to match. Keen to step back in time? There’s another bar wrapped around the void of the 400-ton heritage clocktower itself, dripping with 1930s flourishes that pay tribute to the building’s art deco roots.

SWIM

The ‘Harbour City’ also happens to be home to a dazzling number of beaches. And while Bondi beckons with its Insta-famous Icebergs Pool, there are plenty more sandy spoils worth seeking out. Off the Euro-style concrete deck of Clovelly Beach you’ll brush noses with technicolor fish, stingrays and blue gropers.

Clovelly’s gentle waves and shocking blues make it an easy place to while away a day. Around a rocky corner, Gordon’s Bay’s open-water aquarium is equally inviting. Recharge with a coffee and almond raspberry croissant at shrine to French butter-layered pastry, Madam & Yves.

For salty adventures north of the bridge, hop on the iconic green and gold Manly ferry at Circular Quay and snap postcard-perfect vistas as you zip under the Harbour Bridge. While Manly’s sprawling beach and buzzing promenade are always a drawcard (a negroni at Hemingways at North Steyne followed by dinner at the wharfside Queen Chow is the stuff of sunset dreams), you’re spoilt for choice with the softly lapping waves of Queenscliff and Shelly Beaches also calling.

PAMPER

A little wellness goes a long way, which is why your hotel gym is a great spot to recharge between outings. For some extra blissing out, Venustus in Paddington is here for you. Owner/sharmanic healer Jeannie Bourke combines beauty and healing therapies to tailor bespoke treatments for her clients, which might include smudging sage and lighting fragrant woods, popping you in weighted slippers, or using healing crystals, jade rollers and transcendent massage.

PARTY

LA glamour meets the Amalfi Coast at the Ivy Pool in the heart of the city. If you like your parties rimmed by cabanas with cocktails flowing, this is the place to be. Every Friday night, the Ivy’s multi-level nightclub transforms into WAO Superclub where some of the city’s best DJs keep the RnB, EDM and trance tunes spinning alongside plush booths for Vegas-style bottle service. Saturday nights are when the renowned sparkles of Poof Doof move in with pop bangers from the 80s to now.

A suburb away, live music haunt Oxford Art Factory is loved for its sweaty nights, festival sideshows and cheap midweek drinks. If you’re after something a bit different, Goros in Surry Hills mixes Japanese food with vintage arcade games and private karaoke booths for guaranteed good times.

Little National Hotel is much more than a room to stay the night, It is a doorway to experiences that shape our connections with each other and the cities and cultures which we visit. It is a curator of moments that make lasting memories—revealing the stylish, delicious and inspiring.