The two of us booked at the Storrier after reading about a new concept hotel based around the artwork of Australian artist Tim Storrier. We love interesting boutique hotels for the occasional romantic weekend, and this proved to be excellent.

Please note: The Storrier is not in Potts Pott. It's pretty much in the heart of Kings Cross in grimy backstreet. We were worried as we drove through what seemed like an alleyway looking for the hotel, but our arrival at freshly renovated, beautiful art deco hotel, and the professional welcome that saw our bags collected from the car to reception quickly changed our mind. But the Cross nightlife is very apparent and audible. We enjoyed the atmosphere and felt safe at all times, but maybe not a great idea for families.

The design concept of the hotel is beautiful. The main Storrier piece is in the lobby, as was a smaller print in our room. The colour scheme is followed down to the orange and black toilet paper. Renovated in September 2007, everything was new and the furnishings were super stylish and comfortable.

We stayed in a very clean Superior room over Fri, Sat and Sun. The kitchenette had a convection/microwave oven, a two burner gas top (with rangehood), a sink (with washing up gear), kettle, and bar-fridge, along with cutlery, pots and dishes. All were shiny new and clean.

The bed was super comfy and the faux mink comforter lovely to lie on. The large mounted TV was easy to watch from the bed. A glam design feature of the room was mirrored walls - behind the bed, as the kitchen splash-back and the wall adjoining the bathroom. The room had controllable air-con and the bedside alarm clock had an ipod dock with pretty reasonable sound quality.

Biggest problem with the room was the shower in the fairly basic (but very clean) bathroom - it had a curtain that failed to keep the water from leaking all over the floor. Luckily there were plenty of towels, ordered more from reception for free and had them refreshed by housekeeping. Also, more wardrobe space would have been nice.

Our room looked directly onto the street (alleyway) and we had a privately screened balcony (more of a patio in size), with a table, chairs and umbrella. The street frontage was prob the worst aspect of the room, in that the early hours of the morning noise was very audible, and for a Cross backstreet, colourful.

The staff were very friendly / professional and recognised / welcomed us as we came and went. Booking in took a little while after some confusion over our Wotif booking, but a 20 minute wait was compensated by the offer of a free breakfast in the restaurant (delicious a la carte with excellent espresso). Valet parking was convenient easy to organise - $25 for 24 hours.

The hotel restaurant for dinner one night was fantastic, delicious food at an incredibly good price, considering the high quality of the meals, with decent service (for Sydney).

This is a hotel for those who can handle style and luxury in the midst of inner-city grunge. I loved it.