The site was released for development in 1834 and by 1848, Joseph Fowles in his book 'Sydney in 1848' indicates a substantial three-storey brick terrace of 4 bays which comprised a corner hotel joined by a dispensary, a tailors and a drapers shop.

[2] It was twice threatened with demolition in the 1980s: first by a consortium that wanted to redevelop a number of adjacent properties, and then by a proposal from developer Warren Anderson to demolish all but the facade for a high-rise office tower.

[3][4] The Metropolitan Hotel is a four-storey face brick and sandstone building located on a prominent corner of George Street near Wynyard railway station.

The building is designed in the Federation Free Style and features a façade divided into bays by projecting panels topped with sandstone detailed brick parapet decorated with round pediments with plaques, and an octagonal corner cupola with a zinc clad roof and oval cutouts.

The building is significant as a fine and largely intact external example of the style used in a corner hotel, although the interiors have been extensively modified on the lower floors.

It reflects the social character of the area during the early years of the twentieth century and is representative as an example of the evolutionary process of a small corner hotel at the fringes of the city.