The Oriental Hotel
Eight rooms above a family-owned pizza and live-music pub on the corner of Bull and Bruce streets, Cooks Hill
About this stay
Cooks Hill is the old pub-and-terrace-house suburb wedged between Newcastle's city centre and the ocean, and the Oriental is one of its corner pubs: 53 Bull Street, at Bruce Street, a few minutes' walk from the restaurants and cafés of Darby Street. The eight rooms are upstairs, above the bar. Most share a bathroom down the hall; room types run from a single and a twin to a queen room and a room with two queen beds for four, each with a TV, heating and a fridge. There is no parking on site. Downstairs, the pizza kitchen opens every day, the bar pours eight beers on tap and there is regular live music. Bar Beach Surf Life Saving Club is roughly 1.2 km away in a straight line, with the Bathers Way coastal walk running past it. Newcastle Interchange, where Sydney trains arrive, is also about 1.2 km as the crow flies.
- Family-owned corner pub at 53 Bull Street, Cooks Hill
- Eight rooms upstairs, most with a shared bathroom
- Pizza restaurant open every day
- Bar with eight beers on tap, a terrace and regular live music
- A few minutes' walk from the cafés and restaurants of Darby Street
- Rated 8.1 out of 10 across 666 guest reviews
Our take
The Oriental is a corner pub first and a place to sleep second: eight rooms sit directly above a bar with eight beers on tap, live music and a pizza kitchen open every day. Most rooms share a bathroom down the hall. Guests rate it 8.1 out of 10 across 666 reviews, which is solid for pub rooms. I would book it for a weekend of beach mornings at Bar Beach and evenings on Darby Street, without needing a car. I would not book it for light sleepers, for anyone who needs a private bathroom, or for families with small children who go to bed at eight.
- ✓Check whether the room you book has its own bathroom: most room types share one down the hall, which matters at night above a busy bar.
- ✓On live music nights, ask for the room furthest from the bar, since all eight rooms are directly above the venue.
- ✓At Bar Beach, use the protected corner pool, which Visit Newcastle describes as calmer and suited to small children and less confident swimmers.
- ✓Walk south along the Bathers Way from Bar Beach past Dixon Park to Merewether Ocean Baths, opened in 1935 and billed as the largest ocean baths complex in the southern hemisphere.
- ✓Arriving by train from Sydney, you get off at Newcastle Interchange in Wickham, about 1.2 km from the pub as the crow flies. With luggage, take a short taxi ride, or the Newcastle Light Rail from the Interchange to the Civic stop, about 550 metres from the pub as the crow flies.
Why we love it
- A real Cooks Hill corner pub rather than a chain hotel
- Darby Street and Bar Beach reachable on foot
- Pizza and live music downstairs, so dinner needs no planning
- A room for four with two queen beds
Why guests love itA room with two queen beds for four people and a pizza kitchen that serves every day make the Oriental workable for a family on a short Newcastle visit, but it is not a family hotel. The rooms are above a bar with live music, most bathrooms are shared down the hall, and there is no pool or play area. The upside is the beach: Bar Beach, about 1.2 km away in a straight line, has a sheltered corner pool for small children, and Dixon Park next door has a playground and public barbecues. Families with older children who sleep through noise will manage; parents of toddlers will rest better in a quieter motel or apartment elsewhere in Newcastle.
Guest reviews
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