Originally Posted by StayingHomeIsBetter

Stayed three days. Very low points requirement for redemption. Now I know why.

Was told I had a "upgraded" room because it had a balcony (not on ocean side). Best I could tell, all rooms have a balcony. Furnishings were pretty basic. Nothing impressive.

Was provided bathrobes. One could have used some bleach to restore it to an actual white vs yellow condition.

No executive lounge. In lieu of this, was given one coupon for a free bar drink (limited selection) and one coupon for a non-alcohol drink plus appetizer. This was for two people for a three-night stay. Parsimonious.

As others noted above, the thermostat leaves a lot to guess. No temperatures, just a one-to-five scale. Bigger issue... A/C does not work unless you are in the room. So, 15 minutes or so of heat and humidity when you first enter the room.

Biggest issue... virtually no wifi service for 3 days. Alibi: "We are in the process of upgrading our service and are experiencing difficulties." Hotel put a signal repeater in the room, but a signal repeater needs a signal to repeat, and it was not receiving a sufficient signal. The only place in the room where we could receive a (somewhat) reliable signal was a one meter square area right in the vicinity of the door to the room. My wife and I determined that it was rather inconvenient to co-occupy that small area of the 21st century.

When it became apparent that the wifi service would not be improving, I asked to be moved to the Hilton. Was told that I could do so, but that I should not expect this to solve my problems since the Hilton, too, was experiencing wifi reliability problems. When will Hilton, as a whole, get serious about wifi service? (Rhetorical question)

Went to the business center to check in for our flights... computers in the business center were also out of service. To their credit, front desk staff were able to check us in and print BPs.

All-in-all, the stay made our return to the Sydney Hilton all the more pleasurable.