Originally Posted by
sydneyboi
has the renovation been completed ? what is the new lounge like?
Thank you
All done, although construction still underway in other areas. I was there for opening day a couple of weeks ago. The new lounge, is, well, new and big. Or big and new. But nothing special in terms of view, since its move from top to bottom of the tower. In terms of other offerings: abundant, varied, well-prepared--a constant no matter where the previous or temporary lounge spaces were located. The wines are just fine, although not fine wines. Great staff that unfortunately is not empowered to enforce the "smart casual" dress code. This hotel gets lots of cruise ship passengers in season, the kind who "buy up" into the lounge versus knowing how to behave in one. So: bare feet from discarded flip-flops, sleeveless t-shirts, backwards baseball caps, and you get it. Demolishing platters of food from the buffet, stuffing beer bottles into purses, letting kids zig-zag around. My conclusion? Proximity to Circular Quay drags it down in terms of clientele. I'm going to try the Autograph Collection property in Sydney next time.