While most top-end hotels make every effort to keep paying customers happy, fed and watered on-site, the InterContinental Sydney is taking a very different approach from this month in pushing guests out the door on a food-centric tour of the city.

The hotel’s Sydney Gourmet Tour costs from $511 per night and includes a stay for two, breakfast at the Café Opera restaurant and the main attraction — a choice of two tours of Sydney’s finest eating and drinking spots.

Expert guides from tour operator Ultimately Sydney pick up guests by limo at the hotel after breakfast and usher them round either the Asian and Mediterranean riches of the South Sydney Tour or the European accents on the Inner West Tour.

Each four-hour-plus excursion promises seasoned buying and tasting guidance on bounty from Taiwanese dumplings and Lebanese snacks to handmade chocolate and local wines.

sydney

Migrant heritage

Back at the hotel, the InterContinental’s chief concierge, David Patt, explains the appeal of the Gourmet Tour.

“Generations of migrants settling in Sydney have created a vibrant blend of international flavors and experiences available across the city,” he says.

“The new tour unearths these authentic hidden gourmet experiences, offering both a fantastic introduction to the cultures … and a great chance for locals to discover the culinary delights in their own backyard.”