Marble Bar

Inspired to the Italian Renaissance, this stunning bar placed right in the middle of Sydney CBD was built in 1893. It costed a fortune and it’s known as one of the world’s most beautiful. Lovely drinks and cocktails, a sophisticated atmosphere matches the casual and contemporary needs of the Australian customers. Good mix of both jazz and soft pop music.

A bit of a regular here with my group of friends. It’s centrally located, has an older crowd and good music! If you like a bit of old skool rnb, this the place to go! It can get busy especially when Brown Sugar are playing with a line of people waiting to get in. Great place to dance and have fun!

Very unique. Missed the music but you could see it’s a nice gathering place after work. Convenient to much but especially Hilton guests.

The Marble Bar is a bit of a Sydney institution. Built in 18-​something from over 100 tons of the world’s finest marble (according to its website), it was saved from destruction by being picked up and moved into the Hilton in the 70s where it continued to be a popular city bar. When the Hilton had its recent refurbishment, the Marble Bar (now heritage listed) was encased in a concrete box to protect it and the new hotel was built around it. The concrete box was then carefully broken open and the bar opened to the public again, still in full Victorian splendour.
The Marble bar is well named — every surface, except for the ornate timber bar tops is marble. Red marble, green marble, white marble, marble of all colours. Framed artworks (of tasteful Victorian nudes) on the walls. This place really is Victorian era opulence at its best. It is worth a visit just to take a look around.
As a bar, it’s pretty average though. Its a typical inner city meat market (classy, but still a meat market) filled with young suits from law firms and banks looking to score with other young suits from law firms and banks. You can just bet that in the years before the financial crash it would have been packed with young stockbrokers drinking bottles of Bolly to celebrate a big deal before stumbling off to get their porsches from the valet parking.
They do a decent, if expensive, cocktail but the beer list is pretty average. Go for the décor, but there are plenty of places around the city that have a better atmosphere. Unless you want to score with a young suit from a law firm or bank… in which case the Marble Bar is the place for you.

The place is too dark to take a photo and not be obvious about it. Apparently the trendy thing to have in Sydney is the «speak easy» atmosphere. This place does not disappoint with the décor. Very classic. The music is old rock-​n-​roll, I’m talking Hound Dog, Johnny B Good type stuff. The drink I had was the Moscow Mule. Which seems to be making its way onto every drink menu lately. $ 18 AUD seems a bit steep but with the conversion I think it’s more like $ 13 USD. Not terrible for a cocktail. It tastes fine. Probably a little too sweet but not terrible. I was a little surprised by the fact that it wasn’t served in the traditional tin/​brass mug. I would have thought a place such as this would spring a little for the mug. And it wasn’t much on the drink size as well. I guess all in all the place is nice. Super trendy and It would be a great place to party. I mean the waiters even dress the part. I supposed you can’t go wrong with that now can you…

Before we went out for our epic dinner and show at Slide, we stopped in at the Marble Bar for a pre-​dinner drink. I’ve never been there before, so it was great to see an historic Sydney feature.
We headed in just on 6pm and it was crowded already. So much so that the only space we could find to stand was in the non-​service areas of the bars. We knew that we wouldn’t be there for too long, so that didn’t worry us. Dave had a beer that he was happy with, I had the Marble Bar’s version of a champagne cocktail (Into The Wild). We were both happy with our drinks. Not cheap, as 2 drinks set us back $ 27, but given the area and the ambience, it didn’t seem extortionate either.
We briefly glanced at the menu but didn’t order as we knew we had a 9 course degustation to follow. I will say that what went past us smelt and looked great. So much so that we were tempted but we stayed strong.
The bar is gorgeous. I would really love to see it in both daylight and by night completely empty. It has beautiful architecture and the marble is wonderful. The music was very loud but it was all pre-​recorded; they didn’t have a band in there at that point.
My only criticism was of our bar-​tender, who was very pleasant and quickly made my cocktail. What was wrong? Well the fact that he *licked* a drip of bitters off the side of his hand before picking up the sugar cube in his fingers to drop into my drink. I’m reasonably relaxed about food and fingers but that was just a bit too much. I know he didn’t lick his fingers and frankly that was the only thing that made me cope.
Dude, use a cloth to wipe drips off your hand, not your tongue! Save that for private time, not at work, particularly not when food standards come into question.
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps he was inexperienced and hadn’t quite figured out what was professional and what was not on.
Anyway, that aside I’d probably go back, although I suspect that earlier in the evening would be better.

Four stars for the décor and the feel of this place. Marble Bar was a bit of an odd choice for us to have drinks but we were glad we took the punt and went downstairs. The high ceilings and the dim lighting make this place sparkle a little, the feel is like a very high class speakeasy with a band in one corner and couches all around.
The drinks are fairly pricey but they are definitely worth the splurge. The barmen know their stuff and even though the place was totally packed on the Friday we went there they were on top of all the drink orders and making suggestions for what was the best on the menu. I recommend the Moscow Mule and the Bellini. The fresh peach in the Bellini is delicious!
I would love to come back here when there wasn’t a band playing. This is not the place to chat and have a quiet drink with music blaring and it got a bit overpowering for me so I left after one drink.

Stunning place. I had to take my wife I had been there before and had to show my wife. The low lighting marble structure makes this place a really wonderful bar to visit when your in Sydney. Yeah the drinks are a little pricing but most bars are in Sydney on a Saturday night. A must see.

Drinks are very expensive! The ambiance is low key, dim, and speakeasy like. I ordered a Moscow mule, which was very good — lots of fresh lime flavor with the ginger. Then I had a schooner of the Pale ale on tap. Also very good.
Bartenders are very friendly, and seem to really want to help you. I have not been here to listen to live music, but hopefully that is in my forecast.
I was alone here, and the couches were a comfortable way to spend some time with a drink.

Had my 30^th Bday party here. After a few dramas about cake and wearing masks inside the bar etc. We had a great night! The boys on the bar went out of their way to look after us. The canapés were delicious and the band was amazing. I hired and brought my own magician and there was no problems with that. The drinks were expensive but must expect that in the city. Overall was one of the best nights of my life and staff contributed to that! Beautiful old world atmosphere will be back for a quiet drink here soon.

Ah, this takes me back. Used to come here as an 18-​year old pissant experiencing the big city for the first time and trawling for chicks.
And, judging by last week’s visit, some of the guys I was competing with are still here hanging out looking for trim. It is under the Hilton, after all, and it’s a hell of a bar in design sense, more like being in an underground church. The barmen were friendly and there was a band on stage absolutely killing it, and off in the dark fringes on either side were men with popped collars and hyena eyes checking out glamorous women in beautiful dresses with thigh-​high splits and shiny hair.
I had a great time, but I really wanted to stay longer to watch the meat market unfurl, to see prey attacked and taken down right there at the bar, to see packs of wild dogs fought off by a lone brave bison, O the pageantry, the theatre!
O to be 18 again. Just, not with the flavour saver. That wasn’t my smartest look.

One of the many bars/​lounges along George Street. Tucked underneath the Hilton, where you have to go down the stairs. Although it was a small place, they have great live music. Not to mention, the Victorian interior gives it a very unique and historically charming atmosphere. I love this place! But beware, this place is pretty pricey.

This bar is absolutely beautiful!!! I was in awe of the place. If it was based purely on looks they would get 5 stars. However, based on overpriced drinks (16 dollars for a Moscow Mule!!), the people that go here to party, (Some jerk grabbed me around the waist and also offered to take advantage of my friend’s mini bar upstairs), and the sad 90’s American covers. Think TLC and Boys 2 Men, make this place somewhere I don’t want to show my face. I did go early around 5 and it was filled with much older men in very nice suits enjoying a drink after work. I wish that was the case for the whole evening. It was awful how such a historic bar could be filled with such unappealing people or music. This place should have live jazz or Frank Sinatra covers.

Yeah, it’s got historical charm and it’s pretty, but the crowd is kind of weird. Unfortunately it’s also quite loud and usually packed, so not much chance of a conversation or a seat. I really want to go to a private party here, it would be incredible. Have a party here, then invite me!

If you want to listen to some great live music in a comfy lounge bar in the city, then this is the place to go. Marble Bar has some great soulful acts that rotate Wednesday through Saturday.
When I stopped by on Thursday, a soul covers band called G4 were playing tracks by Michael Jackson, Sly and the Family Stone and Eric Clapton among others. The singer, keys player, drummer and bass guitarist were great and worked well together as a band, but then again you shouldn’t be surprised if you’re a regular here as this bar seems to bring in some great acts.
The bar itself is also warm and inviting and as the name suggests most of the structure and ornamental framework is made out of Marble. The well stocked bar also offers a good range of cocktails, a good place to go when you just want to listen to some soulful music or grab a drink without the fake glamour and glitter that’s in so many pretentious clubs filling the city.

Hidden below the Hilton Hotel Sydney lies the Marble Bar. At night, it fills with bright young things looking sharp, but by day it lays mainly abandoned. Unlike the rest of the Hilton’s franchise in Sydney, it’s not TOO MUCH. It’s a little bit less intense, a little bit less tacky. far more geniune feeling.
However, some of the Hilton trademarks remain — the price tag, for one! Cocktails sitting around the $ 20 mark are all well and good for Hilton guests, but I’m afraid that us local student types just can’t stretch to that every Saturday night. They do taste good, though!
Prices aside, I don’t like Marble Bar because it’s just so damn DARK! Seriously — the lack of light is creepy! If you’re a Twilight fan, perhaps go here to find your ideal mate.

Julia has already wonderfully written up the historical charm of this Sydney gem, and I’d love to echo her enthusiasm, if my last experience hadn’t been so ‘meh.’
We were looking to kick off our evening with a cocktail before we headed upstairs for dinner at Glass. There was a 30^th birthday taking up one end of the bar, but the party-​goers were also spilling over to fill the entire length of the bar. Oh well. Eventually we were served by a jovial bartender, but alas he seemed more concerned with flashing flipping of bottles and shakers than actually getting our order right.
To be fair, my Royal Spiced Pear Mojito was just delicious — and at $ 18 you’d want it to be! — but my date’s vanilla and passionfruit martini was served without anything resembling vanilla.
Still, the stunning surrounds are absolutely worth a visit (again, see Julia’s review) — but perhaps we should have kept a better eye on our cocktails.

The Hilton Hotel should, for the most part, turn everything it touches to a gold veneer. It even worked that way for Paris Hilton (check out pics of her blond hair and gold glitter and gauche gold dresses and bags). This bar is very much of a similar gold standard only that it strikes you as more of the real kind. There is an easy explanation for this: marble bar is not a product of the Hilton Hotel but was acquired by it in the late 1960s after already being in operation for roughly 70 — that’s right, S-​E-​V-​E-​N-​T-​Y — years. What does that mean for you and me? A little more conversation, a little less bad action, baby. This place is pure class. People who are here look and act civilized, there is no bad alcohol stench ruminating from any corner and, as has always been my experience, people here talk to each other rather than sit up and stare at the TV screen showing reruns of the footy.

Hidden beneath the Sydney Hilton like a secret buried treasure, the Marble Bar is a grand statement of elegance and an opulent tribute to Victorian times. Soaring ornate ceilings, solid marble columns, huge open fireplaces, grand Edwardian paintings and elaborate architectural detail define the lavish fit out as a timeless tribute to yesteryear, and a sophisticated CBD setting. Originally constructed in 1893 as part of the former Adams Hotel, the entire 100 tonnes of marble in this heritage listed property was pulled apart and painstakingly reassembled, along with all of the intricate woodwork, brass, and stained glass. Its new home was the Hilton Hotel — opened in 1973. This venue is so spectacular, it is its own show and needs no support act. Nevertheless, live entertainment is provided Wednesday to Saturday nights. Catch a great covers band come the weekend. Settle in and savour the sheer grandeur of this underground gem and work your way through the lush signature cocktails list. It’s hard to go past the Pink Grapefruit Margarita or a Royal Spiced Pear Mojito … an exotic take on an the Cuban classicwith Morgan’s Spiced Rum, Poire William, mint, lime, fresh pear and a crown of sparkling wine. Or raise the temp with the Zaitoichi — bold blend of wasabi, cucumber, ginger and fresh lemon, shaken ice cold with Smirnoff Vodka. Cocktails or not, check this place out at least once in your lifetime.

It was Saturday night and my friends and I wanted to originally go to Zeta Bar. After taking the lift up and refusing to pay cover to enter a BAR, we decided to go downstairs to Marble Bar. It is located in the basement level of the Hilton. Blaring live music could be heard as we headed down and into the dimly lit bar. It was pretty crowded with a varied demographic, everyone dancing to the band’s covers of different hits. Apparently the place is an icon, famous particularly for its marble columns, intricate woodwork, and stained glass. More significant, the bar used to be in an entirely different location; it was disassembled and relocated to the Hilton Sydney, and renovated in ’05.
They have a lengthy menu of cocktails and spirits, the former hovering around $ 20 a drink. I tried my friend’s fruity cocktail and although it was fresh, it tasted like just juice. But most drinks I’ve had in Sydney were pretty weak. The live music was fun I guess but much too loud, resulting in me losing my voice from screaming conversation to the person right next to me.