Double Bay's InterContinental set to turbocharge village renaissance

The InterContinental Hotel is getting ready to fling open the elegant entry of its newest Australian operation in Double Bay.

Having languished as the boarded up Ritz Carlton Hotel-turned-Stamford Plaza since closing in 2009, the new property may put some pizazz into the sluggish centre.

During its golden days, the hotel was a hotspot for visiting royalty such as Princess Diana, Madonna, Sir Elton John and former President of the USA Bill Clinton. 

It was also where pop icon Michael Hutchence died in 1997, after a night in the bar.

Next month it will open as the InterContinental Double Bay following a $25 million renovation and aim to resume its post as Sydney’s most glamorous inn with 140-rooms and a chic rooftop pool with curtained cabanas. 

Architectural firm Bates Smart has overhauled the mock-European-styled structure.

The Cross Street property was bought in 2013 for $57 million by Singaporean funded group Royal Hotels Australia. It had previously sold to the Valad Property Group for $81.5 in 2008. It will be Royal Hotels’ fifth in Australia.

The new operation will sleep 360 people when full, have a late night gin bar, a restaurant and Sydney’s only fully separate Kosher kitchen in a hotel of this standard. Michelin-starred French chef Julien Pouteau will head the restaurant.

It has also joined the Double Bay wedding collective in an attempt to tap the lucrative nuptial market.