The Eastern Hotel is one of the most famous Wednesday night destinations in Sydney. It is located in the heart of Bondi, on oxford street, in what seems the most unlikely of destinations for a small looking nightclub to pump into all hours of thursday morning, but somehow this magical place has transformed the Wednesday nights of Bondi into something almost anyone can tell you they've experienced.
The first time I heard of the Eastern Hotel, I though someone was playing a bad joke, he described this multi-leveled night club that erupted into a frenzy of men and women dancing their socks of...but only on wednesdays...how was this possible? why would Wednesday be the busiest night for any sort of night club?... You see it has long been known that on saturdays you head into the City, or the golden mile...(aka Kings Cross) and for this reason Bondi has never really been able to compete with the countless bars and clubs in other areas...and somehow Wednesday nights were born.
The Eastern has 4 levels. The bottom level is a chilled out bar. Pool tables, games and enough room to have a casual drink with the boys. The 2nd level is hip-hop and rnb. This consists of a large room, with a double sided bar on onside, with booths behind it...which are used for the restaurant the eastern runs through the day. This is the level that opens first on Wednesdays. It pumps the old school and the new stuff, tending to draw some of the best dance moves I've seen in Sydney. The 3rd floor is dance music. This floor is another large room, with a bar on one side, horizontal to the dance floor. This floor also has the outside area for smokers. The outside area is probably one of the only let downs of the Eastern. Their isn't really much a view, and you're forced to stare at yourself through a bunch of oversized mirrors. The 4th floor is really a mixture of anything. Sometimes their will be guest lists that only permit those on the guest list to go upstairs, while other times it will be just another room with another DJ pumping tunes.
Overall the only problem I have with the Eastern Hotel is the fact that its in Bondi. Almost every time we've been their we've needed a designated driver, simply because it takes far to long to get their via public transport. A train to town hall, then another train to Bondi = trek.
Other than that, the Eastern Hotel is a great place to be on Wednesday nights. It has this good feel vibe, that somehow feels extremely safe with an abundance of security. The drinks aren't to expensive, and the music is brilliant. The crowd is also extremely chilled...it seems no one there works on Thursdays?
Isysman.