Had a good 5 night stay here. Used SNAs to upgrade our basic room. It cleared to Grand Executive Suite which is their baseline suite. Asked at check in if they can upgrade us to Terrace Suite which were available (and pre-covid were in the SNA pool) and was told no. Pushed a bit and was told no again. Asked how much of an upcharge and was quotes 200 AUD even through on the web the difference between Grand Executive Suite and Terrace suite was only 70 AUD. This time I said no. Oddly, if they gave it to us for 100 AUD we'd probably have taken it. I did not want to haggle though. Anyways, we waned a balcony so I took a downgrade from the suite to basic room with terrace. SNAs were not returned but I did not care since they were expiring at the end of the month anyways. The basic rooms, even with balconies, are on the smaller side so something to have in mind but having the balcony is awesome and worth sacrificing bigger room imo. Interesting that previous poster was upgraded to delux terrace suite - we were explicitly told no even as returning guests - so YMMV.

Other than that the hotel is great. Lounge is fantastic and although no oysters or prawns, there was nigiri with prawns. Generally the evening affair spread is good and booze is free flowing (you just need to ask for it; wine was pretty good actually). Also good to know is that there are 4 balconies in the lounge so it's great if you're concerned with Covid as we are. No Covid precautions or accommodations anymore - I guess everyone is now showing middle finger to people with health vulnerabilities (e.g., we asked if we can take food to our room to avoid mingling with people and were told no). We did breakfast once in a lounge and it was not as good as the evening food. Restaurant food is better and you can get it as your benefit. Did not need late checkout so not sure how accommodating they are.

Overall, nobody really bothered us, the hard product is good, and the food is good. The hotel works for our needs. My partner's office is downtown and I have business at UNSW which is a reasonably short ride by tram (two blocks away) or bus (opposite hotel). I found the bus to be generally less crowded and more mask compliant than the tram if anyone cares.