Thoughtful review. Indeed, if you are in a street view room, you might as well stay elsewhere.
Addressing Offerendum's comments, over the years, I've stayed at nearly all of the four and five star hotels in Sydney. Without question, this is the top property in town. It isn't at the level of a FS-Paris or Pen-Tokyo, but it is very, very nice. You are paying for a very particular view here.
We stayed at the IC (I hope I don't get banned from this forum as a result) over NYE this past year. For New Years, the IC has the best view....and even on regular days, a fine view with a different perspective.