Stables become luxury hotel

The William Inglis Hotel at Warwick Farm has now swung open its doors, creating south-west Sydney’s first luxury hotel.

Located in the middle of the 26-acre Riverside Stables complex, the 144-room hotel belongs to racing royalty, the Inglis family.

It is operated by luxury hotel chain Sofitel and part of Accor’s boutique MGallery collection.

And because the Inglis family is so much part of Australian racing history and because the Inglis stables have been based at Newmarket in Randwick for more than 100 years, much of the racing heritage has been preserved in the hotel with the original pavers moved out to the new site as well as wood from the stables.

The new walls are lined with generations of hoof marks.

“People get excited to see that these are the same walls Black Caviar or Might and Power kicked at before their big race,” Peter Fitzgerald, PR manager for Inglis told Broadsheet.

Every room in the hotel has a view over the stable and each room is named fter a horse that has been traded by the Inglis family.

The horse’s name, trainer and win is displayed on a plaque outside every door.

And inside, there’s a photo of the horse and a painting of the jockey’s silks.

To make it complete, the rooms have equine-themed carpet, wooden furniture, and buckles on the pillows.

The additional lounge area has views over the Riverside Stables.

The racing theme is extended in the Newmarket restaurant which has black-and-white horse photographs.

Then there’s the horizon pool overlooking the racecourse next door.

The 1876 Lounge, named after the year William Inglis first founded the stables, on the mezzanine level has bookshelves lined with reproductions of the original horse catalogues dating back to the 1920s.

There is also the Chiltern Pool Deck & Bar, which has been named after one of the original Randwick stables.

by Leon Gettler, February 6^th 2017.