Come here for the views, but don't expect much otherwise -- that's what you're paying the high prices for. If you get a harbourview room, it's a fantastic outlook! Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Circular Quay and the Sydney Harbour beyond. Gorgeous day and night. (Not sure why anyone would choose to stay here in a room without the harbour view.)
The location is very convenient to The Rocks, the CBD, Circular Quay, and transport. Quiet enough district AT TIMES, but in peak tourist season the boom of cruise ship horns was blasting nearly every single day. The screech and rumble of the train a couple blocks away, along with the engine-revving on the highway below our windows, were all quite disturbing at times, especially late evening.
The kitchen facilities are adequate -- small fridge, stovetop, microwave, sink. Also useful to have in-suite laundry facilities for longer stays, though many loads required as the washer/dryer were pretty much the smallest capacity units I've ever come across.
Was highly aggravated by the "feminist" toilet seat I got stuck with (would not stay in a raised position), though I'm sure it's a hit with the ladies. Provided toiletries were not overly high quality, and toilet paper was rough.
The "gym" wasn't much more than a small side room with a scant selection of equipment, mostly cardio units. No free weights and not much room to move around. Very disappointing.
The hot tub was not hot -- had one lower jet piping in ice cold water (broken?), all but one back-jet were super weak, it wasn't all that clean (high usage or infrequent cleaning?), and the jet timer only lasted five minutes at a time and had to be restarted over and over.
Room service and house restaurant were about average -- not great, not terrible.
Staff was hit-n-miss. Some were super friendly, others quite less so.
The absolute worst "feature" of the property was the Internet speed and connection strength/reliability. COMPLETELY AWFUL! Could not download/upload work files, could not maintain a connection to hold video-/teleconferences, same true of trying to Skype with friends and family, and no chance of streaming anything longer than a short video clip. The staff did all they could to improve the Internet performance, including pushing us to some exclusive higher-speed connection as well as giving us individual connection passwords for each of our devices, but all to no avail. They claimed that the building simply isn't wired up to the highest connectivity standards.
I guess if you're a parent looking for a holiday where the whole family is more or less forced to un-plug ("urban camping"?) there may be some appeal to a situation like this; but I work in technology, and these things are required for my livelihood, not to mention entertainment and staying connected with loved ones overseas.
Overall, I would have expected a lot more, given the high room rates. If you're looking for an iconic view and don't mind paying top dollar for it, this may be your place; otherwise, there are lots better options in the city. read more