2001: Top of the Town Restaurant Closes

Before conversion to apartments in 2003, the Top of the Town Motel (Originally Top of the Cross Motel) at Darlinghurst operated between 1966 and 2001. 

It was famous for its restaurant on the 14th floor with expansive views into central Sydney, Sydney Harbour and the eastern suburbs. 

In July 2001, the famous restaurant closed. In its final years (1998-2001), it had evolved into a "Manhattan-style nightspot" and was trading as a restaurant bar. Businesswise, the venue had done well, but the motel itself had fallen victim, like its nearby competitors, to competition from central Sydney CBD hotels and a post-Olympics oversupply of hotel rooms. 

Source: McCabe, K. 2001. "Nightspot to close". The Sunday Telegraph, June 10:20.