Just minutes from the CBD and Walsh Bay, The Observatory Hotel is located in the historic heart of Sydney at Millers Point, The Rocks.
Prior to European settlement, this area was home to the Eora Aboriginal people who had lived here for thousands of years.
After the arrival of the first Europeans in 1788, the area grew from a campsite to a flourishing community and commercial area. Different waves of settlers arrived including political prisoners exiled after the Irish rebellion in 1790’s.
Along the waterfront extensive wharves and warehouses developed to support the growth in trade and commerce.
The Rocks also became Australia’s first Chinatown following an influx of Chinese settlers in mid 1860’s but by the late 19th century The Rocks had become run down, overcrowded and a meeting place for criminals and prostitutes. The Government stepped in, buying up the whole area in a bid to clean it up. It demolished uninhabitable places and built new workers cottages to try to control the area. In the 1960’s local residents, with the support of the Union movement, were successful in their bid to prevent high-rise development. Since then, The Rocks has been embraced as one of Australia’s most significant historic areas, loved by locals and visitors alike.
Historic architecture dominates the peninsula’s streetscape and the area still boasts many of its original buildings. Today, the renovated warehouses, sailors’ homes, and former dens of iniquity are home to a mix of restaurants, curiosity shops and art galleries.
