kirkwoodj

Stayed here many times with early morning arrivals. Sometimes there's a room ready, sometimes not. When not, I go camp out in the EL until the room is ready. If I have pressing events, I'll book the night before as well--only way to guarantee that room is available.
EL has breakfast, afternoon tea, and evening cocktails/reception.

outgoing

Thank you. This is helpful. It seems that there are plenty of rooms to be booked for a day before so I guess we'll take a gamble.

No idea about Hilton yet, but I was always very happy with Sheraton. Stayed there 4 times as Titanium and always got upgraded to a suite (including twice to one with large balcony/patio). Breakfast is a comped impressive spread. Also pre-Covid the happy hour was nuts with free flowing booze and oysters (but I guess these times are gone everywhere). The evening spread even post-Covid was good the last time I was there in 2022. I really like their rooms with balcony and that there are balconies in the lounge with park views. It's actually a really nice place to hang out.

Update: ended up re-routing because of delays so we arrived in the evening. Thus, no issue with early check in. The only upgrade offered was to a room on a higher floor so this was disappointing (other rooms available in the app). The lounge is too small and gets overcrowded easily. The food was ok. Did not use restaurant for breakfast. Room was small - much smaller than in the Sheraton - but functional. Late check out was denied. Unless Sheraton is super expensive again, I will most likely stay there rather than in the Hilton.

EqualOpp

Stayed here several days ago as a Hilton Diamond. 1 night, transit from Tasmania back to USA.

Arrived early evening. Booked using Aspire FNC.

Hotel was 100% sold out. Was told they would normally upgrade Diamonds to a Jr Suite or Corner room. Nevertheless, I was ok with my room. On the small end for a std room, but nicely appointed. I did not have high expectations at all coming in....

Did not realize hotel rooms started on 18th floor or what not. Pleasantly surprised. Was given room in mid 20s...

Given late c/o of 1pm - which I was happy with. Though I wished for 2pm. After checkout spent a couple of hours on EL before heading to SYD airport for flight.

Paid 10 AUD for buffet bfast -- which I thought was great. Not going to quibble about $6.50 USD. Will happily pay that...now if it went up to $10 USD!!? hahahaha....saw a menu that said buffet bfast is normally 52 AUD / $35 at 1.5:1 xchg rate. So at some point if they raised this co-pay, I would be unhappy.

Hotel is more/less right next to Town Hall metro -- which is very nice if you have lots of baggage. The location itself is in the middle of many tall bldgs, so I didn't care for that - but I knew that coming in. Rate was close to $400 USD for a std room the night I was there when I checked the preceding days....so very high demand.

If you don't care about being in the CBD, numerous other MUCH BETTER and MUCH CHEAPER choices in suburbs. Ryde / North Ryde being where I spent one of my nights earlier when I had a rental car - though it was also very close to metro line.

m0hamed

This is terrible advice. No-one stays in Ryde unless your company HQ is there and the quality of hotels is much, much worse.

I'm no fan of the Hilton SYD, but staying in Ryde is not good advice to others.

:D!

Well it depends on what you want to do in Sydney and, as mentioned, having a rental car may influence your choice

EqualOpp

YMMV.

Stayed at a hotel near Macquarie Park Metro / North Ryde...it was awesome. Upgraded to a 2BR - full kitchen with huge dining room (Table for 6) and a balcony, perfect for my situation. I would recommend a car. But -- if you pack pretty light...and don't mind a relatively short walk/train time to CBD or other nearby (If that's what you want to tour)...then it's doable. One could pay much less for multiple times the quality, use some of that toward a rental car and still come out ahead!

Since the price is a fraction of the CBD...one could stay longer in Sydney-area as well....to account for this transit time - and have a more relaxing stay dollar for dollar. And visit nearby attractions without relying on trains, etc...Ku-Ring Gai, Royal NP, Blue Mtns, etc...Wollongong.

And actually...I visited all those places - but not from Ryde....traffic would be bad...so I wouldn't recommend it unless one was willing to wake up early, etc...to avoid peak traffic times. Well..Ku-Ring Gai and Blue Mtns would be ok...but going south to Royal or Wollongong - better to just stay near those places.

Canarsie

As a Diamond, I will be in Sydney next month.

My choice is as follows for one night:

• Hilton Sydney: AU$275.01 or 44,000 points or non-refundable AU$249.00
• West Hotel Sydney, Curio Collection by Hilton: AU$255.76 or 40,000 points or non-refundable AU$224.00

Which should I choose and why?

:D!

Add 2% card surcharge to those cash amounts, but you are still getting less than 0.5c per point so redeeming doesn't make sense.

I would be happy to pay A$20 or so for the lounge, so my choice would be the Hilton, unless you are arriving too late to use it.

As for upgrades you will probably get a slightly better room at both but nothing too exciting. Hilton location is marginally better but again not too much difference.

Only you can put your own value on flexibility. I predict that AUD will continue to rise against USD, and if you agree, paying sooner may be better.

Canarsie

The flight on which I am arriving is scheduled to land at 10:15 in the evening; so I would be arriving too lat to use the executive lounge.

Good thought about paying a lower rate now versus a more expensive rate later due to the currency exchange. Thank you.

dwcatty

We're looking at a trip down under early next year and trying to decide where to stay in the city. I have enough points for a five night stay at any Marriott or Hilton property, and have pretty much narrowed my choices to the Sheraton or the Hilton (giving the Curio an outside shot). What I'm looking for most is a convenient location to sites and attractions with easy access to and from the airport, a nice size room, and a good breakfast.

I'm not expecting any major upgrades. This isn't like a trip to Hawaii where I'd like to sit on the room balcony sipping coffee or a cocktail. We're not lounge rats; we like to swing by in the afternoon and grab a Coca-cola and some nuts or snacks but don't try to make a meal out of the offerings for dinner.

Given the foregoing, which would you choose?

Canarsie

Based primarily on cost, I stayed at the West Hotel Sydney, Curio Collection by Hilton hotel property. It was only a few blocks and five minutes from Wynyard Station, from which I rode the train straight to the airport. The room was reasonably comfortable; and breakfast was decent enough.

The walk to Circular Quay was 21 minutes.

The stay was not perfect; but not once did I think that I should have chosen to stay at Hilton Sydney instead...

kirkwoodj

Both Sheraton and Hilton are super convenient for anything you'd want to do, Sheraton seems a but nicer, so on equivalent cost and elite perks, might stay there. Both are essentially on top of transport to the airport.

adlibitum

Hi,

I can't speak to the Hilton properties, but since you mention you have Marriott points, and it looks like you have Bonvoy status, I have stayed several times at the Marriott Circular Quay. It is close to the airport train and very convenient to the ferries, Opera House and other central tourist sites. The lounge I found good, and service in general was fine. With an early arrival from the US, they will try to accommodate you, but if no rooms immediately available you could wait in the lounge. I do know the Hilton location, which is closer to the shopping district if you prefer that. If you can get a room with Opera House view at the Marriott, I find that a more iconic kind of experience. YMMV

kirkwoodj

NB the Marriott is often (almost daily) flooded with a horde of cruise ship pax filling the lobby. Additionally, the lifts are perpetually being repaired. Can be a huge PITA. This trumps the location by far. Stayed here once, never again.