First, the hotel changed it's name: It's now called the Sydney Harbour Hotel…read more This hotel is located right in middle of a very happening neighborhood called The Rocks and you are a Very short walk to the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Bridge, the Cruise Port Terminal, Ferries to anywhere, the Art Museum, a 24 hour convenience store, great restaurants, bands and dancing at night 7 days a week, the Big Bus hop on and off stops, and high end and medium end shopping. In fact some of the rooms at this hotel have a view of the Opera House. I can't think of a better location to stay in for your first or second visit to Sydney than this hotel. This hotel was booked by my tour for a 5 night stay in April 2025. Now having said all this: This Hotel needs some major renovation or maybe demolition? I actually don't think they can knock it down because it's an "historic" property. There was a mold experiment going on in my room and other rooms people on the tour told me. The carpet is old and torn. The bathtub is so narrow that I could not stand without bending my toes. The grout is dirty, cracked moldy. Showers take 2x as long because the temperature controlled by 2 knobs from the early 19th century cannot keep the temperature at one setting--you have to keep on adjusting it. The towels are hit or miss--you feel like hitting someone with them the room needs so much work. The included breakfast is just okay, but the fresh fruit is good, not great. The lobby is drab and uninspiring with a small bar area with happy hour specials. From a bed comfort and room cleanliness standpoint the king bed was very comfortable and sheets and towels clean. My room looked out onto a construction site on the back end and on the last day of my stay (the other days were weekends and holidays), you could not sleep past 6 am when the heavy machinery starts pounding away. Make sure not to get a room facing the construction. The view from the small pool on the roof is excellent and so is the view of the Opera House. The folks that work here run the gamete from helpful to "your bothering me." I regularly asked for extra towels and bar soap at the front desk and got it without waiting for delivery. Basically if you can just stay out of your room here, you will be okay....

I would have to agree with other recent reviews that this place merits a high rating for its…read morelocation and its price. Certainly it's not a "5 star hotel" by any stretch of the imagination, but you really cannot find a better value that is so conveniently located in a historical part of town. We stayed here for the first time many years ago, and on our recent return to Australia we made a point of booking this hotel again. When one looks at photos of Sydney, they often see a gleaming skyline of shiny high rises. In contrast, this hotel is located in an area called The Rocks, which is the oldest part of town and is essentially where the city of Sydney began. This district is full of cobblestone streets, alleyways, and steps, creating a labyrinth among the old and historic buildings. The hotel is just steps away from the Circular Quay, and from the rooftop you have incredible views of the the Opera House to the east and the the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the north. The hotel has a large central atrium, and most floors (except for the very top levels) overlook this atrium. It's a bit dark though, because there isn't a lot of of lighting installed along the walls. The room that we had was small but comfortable, but other than the desk chair there was no other place to sit except for the bed. The bathroom was showing some age and the water pressure could have been a bit better. Nevertheless, for our needs it was just right. Our hotel booking included breakfast, which was a sumptuous buffet with an omelet station and a juicing station. There were many hot and cold options, and a fine selection of breads, muffins, pastries, and fresh fruit. We also ordered room service on our first evening since we were jet-lagged, and were stunned by the relatively low cost of our meal. Basically, the entrees we picked were the same price as eating at the restaurant, with only a nominal (A$3) tray charge. On our last night we ate in the hotel restaurant, and were pleased with the quality of the meal. Our server was a little awkward and nerdy, but endearingly so. Our only issue with our meal was since the restaurant is in the atrium, it was dark at night and rather chilly as well. The staff - front desk, restaurant, bar, room service, housekeeping - was friendly and responsive. We really appreciated the fact that even though we arrived at the hotel at 8:00am (our flight from the US landed just after 6:00am), they let us check in right away, so we were able to freshen up before we headed out into the city to ward off the jet lag. Outstanding customer service overall, and we have no doubt that we'll be staying here again on our next trip to Sydney.

I can't tell you how impressed I am with the helpfulness, professionalism and service provided by…read morethe US Consulate in Sydney. I had to jump thru all sorts of hoops to get extra passport pages and a duplicate passport issued. The American Citizen Service desk agreed to help - even without an appointment and were incredibly efficient and consultative. From the security guards, to the window agents to the Consular Officer, everyone was an absolute model of sterling service. Thank you!

What I remember…read more.. What I remember is a very high ceilinged space decked out in some kind of faux Roman motif, ionic pillars and a decidedly out of place astro turf patch in the middle of the room. What I remember is a wooden bar, that looked like it had been dropped into place, pop-up style, as an afterthought to service thirsty drinkers. What I remember is tall bar stools and round tables at which those thirsty drinkers sat, talking loudly amongst themselves whilst they imbibed Yaks and Rabbits. What I remember is the Rabbits were White, in bottles, not tapped as my companion prefers. What I remember is those fake fanned flame ribbons set in sconces on the wall. Dancing mesmerisingly. What I remember is artwork, displayed and on sale via consignment. Too rich for my tastes. What I remember was we had a good time but this was a pit stop not a destination. .

I made the reservation online (just 4 hours before the dinner), I requested a high chair for my 3…read moreyear old nephew. An hour later, the manager called me, saying that there was only 1 high chair available at the restaurant and a family was using it. Since we were running late, I told him that it's ok and we would roll up late, hoping that the family would be done dining then. When we showed up at the restaurant, the manager told me that he had borrowed another high chair from Hilton hotel (next door) just in case. That was a decent surprise! The service at the restaurant was superb ! Food was very good as well. The dinner special - Homemade linguine with grilled prawns was delicious. (highly recommended! they should put this on the main menu !). The linguine was cooked to perfection and the sauce was really good. For dessert, I had the warm chocolate cake with cream & strawberries. Two thumbs up ! worth every penny! I would definitely revisit this restaurant to try other items on the menu.

Today I went in to apply for a visa for entry into Japan for academic purposes. I was first faced…read moreby the security guard that was very impatient and rude, and asked me to come back later in the day. I complied, thinking that they must of been very busy as I noticed it was packed today. I came back at 2pm and the line has dwindled. I queued up and was served by a lady with black hair. Now, I have applied several times before and had all my documents ready, including my financials, invitations, passport and everything. Based off my appearance, I was straight away met with a look that called for discrimination. She had a really ugly face to behold, and her behaviour was very rude, rolling her eyes several times when looking at my passport. She asked me for another invitation letter, along with three months worth of bank statements. THREE MONTHS? I have never been asked that before. A term deposit account was more than sufficient for my previous visa grants. The whole time I was being served I had kept my patience and cool under control, but her requests were very out of the ordinary. Only when she noticed the reason why I was applying did she ease up on her attitude, but it left a very deep impression. TL;DR: I was met with eyes of discrimination. My application did not get processed and I was turned away twice in a day. Be warned if you ever go to Japan and need a visa from the General Consulate of Japan in Sydney. Believe me, Japan is a great place and very fun, but the process of getting a visa in Sydney, unfortunately, is not.

I second Tim's opinion (the review before me)…read more The process for Visa application is a pain in general, and the visa application process at the Consulate General of Japan in Sydney is a pain on a whole different level. I have applied for numerous visas at various Embassies and Consulates, and none was as bad as my experience with the Japanese Consulate in Sydney. I have been to the Consulate many times and am still unable to get my visa, since I was turned down. I totally understand that they were inundated with visa applications (which they might have been unprepared for), but they could certainly use an online booking system, such as the system currently used by the German Consulate in Sydney, and many other countries' consulates, I believe.

PT Mini Bus Tours is the WORST TOUR COMPANY I HAVE EVER USED. There are a few key features I would…read morelike to clarify on my extreme judgment on this company. To paint a clear picture for anyone remotely thinking of using this company, I would look elsewhere. My experience was as follows, Huu Nghia Huynh picked my party of 9 up from the Sydney airport. We gave him the address to our Air BnB and he drove past it 3 times questioning if it was the correct house or not. That was a tad annoying after early traveling. His bus is very dirty. The outside looks ok. But the inside is very dirty. There was garbage everywhere. He does have a trash receptacle on the van by the door. But he doesn't really empty it. My party was constantly cleaning up and emptying the rubbish. His air conditioning on the van also was not working very well. People were constantly asking if the unit was on. He constantly had the air conditioning high, but you could barely feel it. To make things clear. My party comprised of mostly Vietnamese people. There were 3 people who weren't well versed in Vietnamese or couldn't understand it at all. The tour guide is Vietnamese and speaks fluent Vietnamese. But he does NOT speak fluent English. We asked him several times to speak in both languages so everyone could understand the things he was saying. Which he basically refused. That was really frustrating to me. Much of what he enjoyed talking about was not facts about Australia, rather about his educated daughters and how proud he was of them. That's great and all, but it's not like we are friends and I want to know everything about you. We are paying you for a service. He doesn't provide you with any type of itinerary. So you have no idea what you are going to experience. For example, on our second day, we drove 3 hours to the capital (Canberra). He brought us to the capital building and drove around to see all the embassies. He announced the buildings in Vietnamese as he quickly drove by. He let us explore the capital building and have a guided tour to a few members of our party. After which he quickly rushed us out. We were there probably around 1 hour. He then took us to the Australia Mint. I was very excited to go there because watching the money get printed in D.C. was one of my favorite experiences when I visited our nation's capital. My experience there was less than par. Not because the place wasn't amazing. But because we were only allowed to be there 20 minutes MAX. I wanted to see the coins get pressed. He wouldn't allow us to do so. He looked over the edge and said that a man was fixing a machine and told us to leave. The man was actually getting the barrel of blanks ready to be pressed. I was enraged that this was the second time we got rushed out of a building. He then took us to a museum. Also there, 40 minutes to view. He states he does this so we can see a lot. But then we don't enjoy anything. I should also mention, that he finds you places to eat and doesn't rush you to eat fast. So eating is the only time you are allowed to enjoy and take your time. I will never use this company again. He told us he is the owner of this company. He also complained that since there were mostly Americans in our party that he should be getting a daily gratuity. Note that, a local Australian booked this tour company. In Australia tipping is not customary. Therefore it wasn't added to the price. I feel that is extremely frustrating and unprofessional for him to discuss that with us. I feel that he acts as if he's doing you a favor. I think he forgets that he's getting paid for his services and we aren't just hanging out. If you are Vietnamese (and cannot speak English) with LOW EXPECTATIONS, this company is perfect for you.

I had the privilege to be in the Consulate for the first time…read more I needed to renew my passport. This just remained me of Poland. Very quite, but at least they were helpful - got used to in Poland to very nasty people working in those organizations. Maybe because they live in Sydney - beautiful Australia county - they are more happy. Hopefully...