The story of Sydney is a history that shares many of the elements central to the origins of the world’s great cities boast: a British fleet, galleys filled with subjects of the Empire, who were in turned filled with a sense of superiority and self-righteousness, and a dispossessed Aboriginal community. The history lesson and ethics of colonialism aside, it would be tough to dispute that the British had a knack for settling its cities in the most picturesque of locations. Today, off the shores of the very harbour where, presumably, the first Union Jack was planted, the Opera House is the icon of a global city that has come a long cultural way since its days as a convenient, utilitarian place of exile for Britain’s petty thieves.

A model of this growth from penal colony to cosmopolitan urban center is the Rocks District, a 19^th-century village hemmed in by the harbour and widely believed to be the birthplace of post-colonial Australia. Today, the Rocks District is the cultural center of the city, where great dining, hotels, shopping, and the arts come together in narrow stone streets and broad waterfront boardwalks. Open-air markets, street music, pubs, bistros, museums, and galleries make it an absolute essential part of any visit to the city. Four Seasons Sydney, set back on George Street just steps from all the action, offers the best accommodation for exploring this fascinating place.

The wonders of Sydney’s intriguing history as a penal colony spill out of laneways just adjacent to the hotel’s central location and its 410 rooms and 121 suites. A few blocks up George Street, relics of a past culture like Susannah Place and Cadman’s Cottage, one of the oldest surviving buildings in the city, are great for an historical walk. Built in 1815 as a barracks, and serving today as the information center for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the sandstone structure is an architectural icon of old Sydney. Forming its surrounds are a bevy of pubs, bistros, cafes, and world-renowned restaurants like Tetsuya’s and Rockpool, which highlight the modern Australian culinary renaissance that seems to be surging through the city’s food culture. Employing regional ingredients and produce with influences, techniques, and flavour fusions from Indian, Thai, and Australian aborigine traditions, Sydney has become the hub for international Australasian cuisine; the most important food city in the South Pacific.

These inspirations are critical to the prestige of Four Seasons Sydney, which is—indisputably—the city’s best hotel, affirmed time and time again by a laundry list of #1 accolades that seems to grow with each update from international awards shows and travel publications. Accommodations are of a standard unmatched by any other hotel in the city, and at least half of them enjoy full or partial views of the Circular Quay and Sydney Harbour. Broad windows welcome the natural light into elegant and well-proportioned space, where rich silks, sophisticated marbles, and the frequent accents of gorgeous Honduras mahogany on dressers, desks, bed frames, and door panels. With high-speed Internet access available in each room, along with email, fax, private voice mail, and all the other technological nuances necessary to bring the office abroad, the Four Seasons caters to both the casual tourist and the business traveler whose career knows no fixed hours or days.

With that raison d’etre in place—to satisfy each and every client that brings their luggage through the main doors into the lobby, which in itself is an awesomely dramatic three-level atrium—the dining at the Four Seasons takes to modern Australian fusion cuisine, as aforementioned, and indulges its qualities with creativity and diligence. Kable’s shares elite company with the city’s best restaurants, where fresh seafood and regional specialties are the building blocks of spectacularly innovative dishes. Quail and truffle tortellini with a mascarpone sauce, and Sydney Rock oysters, are stars of the starter menu, while a rotating selection of mains might offer, depending on the season, barramundi fresh from the sea and prepared classically, or a pecorino and duck-leg confit risotto that is criminally smooth and creamy. Interestingly, and quite unlike a lot of central dining rooms, Kable’s chefs also showcase their work at breakfast and lunch, especially in a unique Japanese breakfast menu that includes seared salted salmon and nori. One finds, walking through the Rocks district, a host of restaurants that focus on opening up their doors, advertising open-air dining, often beneath impressive atriums. With regular great weather and the proximity to the sea, this comes as no surprise, and Kable’s, which may not be able to boast a seaside locale or a wharf-like construction, brings five-star fine dining elegance to its guests, with great views and dishes inspired by the sea and culture of this great coastal city.

Complementing the hotel’s centerpiece dining room is a fine arrangement of more casual options. Guests lounging poolside can tide themselves over until dinner with snacks and light meals from The Cabana, while the last drink of the night is often downed at the dryly named The Bar, which also offers a light business lunch menu. Stylish and comfortable, with nightly entertainment and a jazz trio on weekends, The Bar combines the localized, friendly atmosphere of a pub with the grace and elegance of an old music club. Sip on martinis, or split a bottle of the country’s best vintage, perhaps reflecting on the less fortunate once exiled here in great numbers. An amazing thought to have, as one retreats to their room; that misery could accompany a prolonged stay in Sydney.