Penrith : book your hotel

Penrith is one of the fastest-changing urban centres in Australia, sitting just 55 kilometres west of Sydney CBD where the Cumberland Plain meets the foothills of the Blue Mountains. From here, one of the world’s most accessible World Heritage wildernesses begins just a 10-minute drive away. Culturally, Penrith is one of Sydney’s most diverse postcodes, and it shows in the food. You can eat Afghan mantu dumplings for lunch, Lao barbecue for dinner, and still find a proper pub schnitzel too. The Nepean River is a working part of daily life. The Great River Walk traces its banks for kilometres, with sculptural seating, river lookouts, and excellent coffee stops.

The Nepean River precinct is the city’s spine, with walkways, playgrounds and cafés running from Tench Reserve to Yandhai Nepean Crossing. Adventure seekers head to Penrith Whitewater Stadium, a former Olympic venue now open for rafting and kayaking. Sport dominates nights at BlueBet Stadium, home of the Panthers. Base yourself nearby at Pullman Sydney Penrith for walking access, or choose Mercure Penrith for value close to the action and the river corridor.

The city centre has an arts precinct where the Penrith Regional Gallery sits quietly by the river with changing exhibitions and sculpture gardens, juxtaposed with specialty museums like the Museum of Fire with its collection of firefighting vehicles and hands-on displays that delight both adults and children alike.

The Rock Lookout is reached via a short bushwalk of a few hundred metres from the end of Fairlight Road, and offers uninterrupted panoramas of the river snaking through the landscape and the distant Blue Mountains rising on the horizon.

There’s boutique shopping and casual cafés beside riverside tables, craft brewery stops in the industrial fringe, and playground-spotted parks that hint at a community that’s family-oriented without feeling overly sleepy. Local initiatives range from heritage walks that trace the city’s evolution to sculptural installations along the river path.

The city's premium accommodation offering, Pullman Sydney Penrith, is designed for people who travel often and notice the details. Rooms are generously proportioned, properly soundproofed and finished with beds tuned for a great night's sleep and blackout blinds that do what they promise.

Downstairs, the full sized gym is spacious, well-ventilated and fitted with a proper mix of cardio machines, free weights and strength equipment. There is room to move, stretch and lift, and the layout makes it easy to maintain a routine even on short stays. Early-morning access suits business travellers working across time zones, while the hotel’s overall quietness means you are not competing for equipment.

For business travellers, the meeting and event spaces are modern enough to attract conferences that would once have defaulted to Parramatta or the Sydney CBD. Pullman Sydney Penrith sits close to the Western Sydney industrial belt and key arterial roads, making site visits and regional meetings straightforward. Secure parking, strong Wi-Fi throughout, multiple meeting configurations and smooth check-in all reduce friction.

Outside the hotel, the walkable food and coffee scene is buzzing. Theo’s Rooftop Bar and Percy Plunkett are great dining options within a short radius, while Mr Watkins and High Street Depot cover the coffee and breakfast brief with consistency and speed. However, Pullman’s in-house dining is strong and the hotel’s rooftop bar, Marcel, pulls double duty as both a social space and a decompression zone, with long views across the Blue Mountains foothills that make it feel distinctively Western Sydney.

Mercure Penrith pairs modern, well-designed rooms with thoughtful comforts. The hotel has 222 rooms, all sensibly proportioned for a midscale stay, which means there is enough space to unpack and spread. On-site parking smooths arrival and departure, and the in-house restaurant is an easy win after a long day, serving familiar crowd-pleasers done with care rather than corners cut.

Set directly adjacent to Penrith Panthers World of Entertainment, the hotel works well for families, sports fans and event-goers who want everything within easy reach. Facilities include a gym for morning resets, a good-sized outdoor swimming pool, and a BBQ area that adds a relaxed, social option for longer stays. These shared spaces give the hotel a resort-adjacent feel, striking a balance that suits mixed-purpose trips.

For time outside the hotel, Mercure Penrith sits close to the Nepean River precinct, where flat walking paths, playgrounds and open green space make it easy to burn off energy without committing to a full-day itinerary. Coffee stops like Henri Marc and the casual dining scene along High Street mean you can eat well on the fly, while still having the option to retreat back to the hotel.