Booking under Hyatt Privé

We have a long history with the PH SYD, pre and post reno, celebrating many moments of significance. We had always planned to book a specialty suite and given we as Australians are grounded, combined with the Stay 3, pay 2 Privé offer, we jumped at the opportunity in lieu of any First Class international travel in the near future (possibly until 2021 or 2022)

We were looking at the Cove Suite, but it seemed no bigger than a Deluze at 73sqm. We considered the Quay Suite but really wanted the large terrace of the Rooftop Suite.

The suite prices rarely flutuate, but they are slightly discounted atm, however the free night meant saving thousands of dollars. While Privé excludes Specialty Suite upgrades and the PH remains one of the few to not accept TSUs my TA Ash @SojournsOf who I met on FT (and goes to my gym) somehow managed to get the property to agree to upgrade from the Quay to Rooftop in advance saving even more thousands of dollars. He also swapped out the airport limo transfers complimentary with suites to comped valet parking.

As a result, I was extremely excited for this stay. I will, however, state that I prepared myself for a skeleton staff knowing the Covid-19 has changed the World as we know it and to lower my expectations. My priority for this stay was the Suite and the use of the terrace.

Check In

We checked in early at 11AM and were escorted from the vehicle for private in suite check in. We were taken up to Level 4 and through a Private Foyer for just the two Rooftop Suites and Sydney Suite.

Room

The Rooftop Suite is absolutely breathtaking. With high ceilings and the terrace running the full length of living and bedroom and an increasingly large amount of outdoor space it was perfect for this special staycation.

The Terrace overlooked Circular Quay with views of the Sydney Opera House from the outdoor dining table. It also featured two sunbeds, however, the terrace receieved little sun because of the roof. The terrace doors were extremely heavy and took my entire body strength to open 

The Suite featured an expansive living room, kitchenette with Oven and Microwave as well as Wine fridge. The bathroom was stunning with full size Aesop amenities, a rainshower, large bath and the WC had a Toto Washlet.

The Suite was filled with First Nations art throughout and was the epitome of understated elegance, as a PH should be. It was an incredibly special suite, even though we have stayed in far larger ones around the World. It felt exclusive.

It's worth noting that the Cove, Quay, Opera and Harbour Suites are not on the rooftop but throughout the hotel on lower levels. This means they do not have these high ceilings and exclusive floor access.

Service

Ash had arranged a bottle of Dom for our arrival and a handwritten card. The GM also had a handwritten card and a bottle of Vueve delivered later!

I knew service wouldn't be flawless and other than ordering room service we didn't ask for much. When I called for housekeeping an army of five arrived within minutes.

The hotel is extremely quiet during the week, however occupancy jumps on Saturdays with New South Welshman and women doing staycations. The hotel did struggle to cope and on two occasions calls to Guest Services rang out. App requests also weren't actioned, I suspect because the hotel operator doesn't exist and front desk staff answer calls.

All staff members are multi tasking - front desk also serving breakfast, room service etc. The owner of the PH decided she would keep the hotel open and not be a designated government quaratine hotel unlike the other five stars in Sydney. If this is the price to pay for being able to stay in this iconic property at this time I was willing to acccept it.

The PH is taking all Covid-19 restrictions seriously, from requiring you to register for contact tracing to wiping down all tables, chairs even Salt and Pepper shakers in between guest use. All staff are wearing masks and sanitiser readily availabl

Dining

Breakfast was as good as I remembered, the coffee of a high standard and the service surprisngly good given the circumstances.

The room service menu, however, is limited. We didn't feel like a four course meal in The Dining Room, we've done it many times. On one night we ordered take away from our favourite Greek reataurant Alpha that has moved next door to the PH at the Quay. I was able to setup a full dinner service on the dining table. I could have asked a Butler, but decided not to.

We did order a "well done" Burger by the pool which came bleeding and the pool attendant apologised, had the entire meal (2 mains and 2 cocktails) comped and redelivered.




 

Pool

As we generally do at the PH, we spent most of our time by the pool. Even at 19 degrees the pool is shielded from the wind and in direct sunlight is warm. Sunday was 26 which was glorious.

The pool here is defintely the best in Sydney, if not Australia. We got to our sunbeds early on Sunday and glad we did as they were all occupied by 10:30AM.

Amusingly there were a number of 'influencers' in house who spent hours perfecting their selfies completely unbothered by the other guests aroun

Overall

Overall, this was an exceptionally special stay. The Rooftop Suite was spectacular made for an incredible staycation. This will add to the many memories we have at the PH.

Service was not what we are used to, but as I said, I set my expectations accordingly. For those who are visiting the PH for the first time they may well be disappointed.

We drove past the FS and Shang and there were more people in their driveways and foyers than we saw during our entire stay. We wanted to avoid this because of Covid-19 and the entire Local Government Area of Sydney considered

The value we received with the Privé offer and special upgrade provided exceptional value. I would definitely book this Suite again, but during December or January where you could enjoy the terrace during Sydney's Summer nights.