[2] Demolition and excavation for the project began on 1 July 1963 by A. Bradshaw (Excavations) Pty Ltd, and construction commenced from April 1964 by T. C. Whittle Pty Ltd (Construction), with the design echoing the desire of Qantas to have the character of the hotel be "distinctly Australian in character, using Australian timber, marbles, and stone".

[2] The Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Hal Missingham, was engaged to advise on the choice of artworks for the hotel, with one of the most prominent commissioned artworks being the Australian wildflower tempera mural by Dennis Adams placed in the foyer of the convention hall.

[12][13] Other artworks and decorative elements included heraldic tapestries of Australian cities by Margaret Grafton, and a sunflower-lighting unit by Edison Price of New York.

Not long after its opening, the Australian Women's Weekly reported: Sydney is sure to take the Wentworth Hotel to its gay, pleasure loving heart, for within its red brick walls may be found the essentials high life - luxury, glamor, and built-in discretion.

The Wentworth Hotel is aesthetically significant for the huge copper canopy over the entrance, which at the time of construction, was one of the largest completely fabricated awnings in the world.

The distinctive horse shoe design of the Wentworth Hotel is significant as a familiar architectural landmark in Sydney.

It derives social significance from its long-standing status as Sydney's hotel for the rich and famous, for the continuity of the name Wentworth Hotel, and as the venue for the annual Black & White Ball, the major fundraising event of the Black & White Committee, the most patrician of Sydney's charity groups.

[27] In 2006, Tourism Assets Holdings Limited bought the hotel title for a price reported to be around $150 million.

[26] In May 2010, LaSalle Investment Management bought the title to the hotel for $130 million from Tourism Assets Holdings.

In October 1969, Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins stayed at the Wentworth during their Apollo 11 Moon landing world tour.

[31] In December 1970, Pope Paul VI was a guest of the hotel on the occasion of the first papal visit to Australia.

[32][33] The hotel hosted Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh for Royal visit state receptions in 1973, 1980, and 1986.

Other visitors have included Bill Gates, Audrey Hepburn, Marlon Brando, Sophia Loren, Margaret Thatcher, and George H. W.