Hotel Hollywood

The art deco façade is looking a little careworn. And that 70s blue carpet job is starting to fray. But when the lights are down low and the mirror ball is gently spinning, there’s no finer place to be in all of Sydney. The Hollywood is famous as the inner-city pub that never changes – not since Doris Goddard took overin 1977, unrolled the carpet and put up that darkwood panelling – and the former leading lady to the likes of Bob Hope can still be seen at the bar of an evening with a glass of wine, meditating on the night’s revels and upon 34 years in the pub game. She and the Hollywood received Time Out’s first Hall of Fame Bar Award in 2008 but just as much of a legend is barman Marc Symons, who has run the show for the last 15 years serving up four beers on tap, a small wine selection and cocktail specials. Stare too long into the board of clippings; from Doris’s showbiz career and you might just forget what year it is. The only indication that we’re in the 21st century is hidden in the basement – the men’s toilets now sport a graffiti-art mural paying tribute to this terrific pub.