Zol

I booked into the Heritage Deluxe due to better layout and pics on the website which I preferred over the Waterside. Not sure if there is much difference other than view direction

mpw81

Here is the 3rd (top) floor layout. Bottom side overlooks the water. Top side faces the street and the bridge. The last few rooms on the top end would have water and bridge views. The hotel is right at the base of the bridge so any "bridge views" are going to be looking up at it because it's very high. My waterside deluxe (yellow ) looks like one of the biggest rooms on the floor outside of the suites on the end. All 3rd floor rooms (I assume) also have very high angled ceilings that coincide with the peak of the roof along with exposed beams that run across the room about 10ft high. You can see some examples in the property photos.

Zol

This is helpful thanks, are you an Ambassador?
Those rooms numbered 328 - 337 look tiny !

mpw81

Nope. Just gold, but booked this room type.

We saw in some of the other rooms as we were walking by, being cleaned and they seemed to be an ok size for a big city like this. Certainly not NYC small. The room we had was just really big, in my opinion, for a non suite.

kgkg

I am taking my kids(5 and 8) and my wife to Sydney in August next year. This is our first trip to Australia. Should we stay at Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay for easy access to all the sights? Thank you!

mpw81

We stayed just around the corner at the Pier One and we found it to be a great location to get to everything with a 10 min walk to Circular Quay so the Marriott at Circular Quay would be even better since the short walk might get tiresome with kids if you have to tack it on, both ways, to every time you leave the hotel.

I initially thought we'd take the trains quite a bit but found that almost everything we wanted to do was better accessed by the ferries, both of which are easy access from Circular Quay. The area functions as Central Business District/Transportation Hub/Tourist area and gets quite busy, if that's what you are aiming for. I also wasn't overly impressed with the food options around Circular Quay but found tons of great options in The Rocks, which is the next area over.

kgkg

Thank you so much!

dkerr

Wife and I stayed at the Pier One in late October and were very pleased. Three night stay using free night awards (Amex + Chase + reaching Titanium) and then layered on a Suite Night Upgrade which was confirmed 5 days before arrival... into a Walsh Bay Suite on the first floor (for Americans that is one level up from the ground floor). The Suite was very spacious, so much so that it felt sparsely furnished -- they could easily have fitted in for example a work desk in addition to the tables and sofa / chairs. Large bathroom with separate bathtub and shower, two sinks and upscale amenities (Dyson hairdryer!). On the negative side our room was right above the bar patio area and Friday happy-hour timeframe was quite noisy... the windows on our room were very old single pane, which also did a poor job of insulating from the sun beating down on them so AC struggled until after dusk.

As Titanium we received a bottle of wine, cheese plate and a pair of socks with anchors on them!! We also got two drinks vouchers (for the stay, not per day), free breakfast which was excellent, and a 20% discount on restaurant/bar applied at checkout.

Others have commented on the location. I liked the location, it was an easy walk to the ferries... under the bridge, past the Park Hyatt, the cruise ship terminal and you are there. Two of the days there was a cruse ship was in port and on those days you have to walk around the landside of the terminal rather than straight through the docks. Using the ferries and public transport is easy... if you have a contactless enabled credit card just use that to tap in / tap out... if you use the same card all day it will cap at the maximum daily charge. Only negative on the location is that Darling Harbour is awkward to reach... we did it by bus but there is walking at each end... Uber/Taxi is probably better bet.

All together I thought it was excellent value for our free night awards. Would definitely stay there again.

DELee

As a follow up to my questions [1, 2] posed in this thread when planning travel for Oz Fest 16 as well folks poking me about what my [redacted] service from our SOTP stay that's in my Personal Data Report from the trip, I thought I'd toss my two cents in for posterity regarding some of the hotels, Marriott and otherwise, in Sydney's Central Business District. Of course, we'll now see how things will have changed after COVID but at least from our visit to Sydney in May 2019, here's a few observations (from an American and his wife who visited Sydney for the first time) regarding some of the hotels.

Hotels we stayed at:

• SOTP is an awesome hotel. If I had small kids with us, the opportunities to explore Hyde Park, its museums, the Royal Botanic Gardens, are immediately available right outside the hotel. And, yes, St. James Station is across Elizabeth Street. But there are a few drawbacks.
• Marriott Circular Quay's location next to all of the attractions of the Circular Quay, its metro station and access to ferry lines all around Sydney's waterside environs are unmatched. It too has a number of drawbacks.
• Hilton Sydney's external façade significantly constrains the sizes of windows and what you can see from your room but if you're into shopping and want decent access to Darling Harbour and Town Hall Station, it ended up being our favorite on this trip.

A few other hotels we went to, walked by:

• Pier One has a truly unique location. However, getting to and from that location to anywhere else in Sydney would have probably tried my patience.
• Park Hyatt Sydney too has a unique and awesome location. However, I'm not sure I'd want the amount of walk by and looky-loo attention that you'd get especially if your room was on the ground floor at this hotel.
• Hyatt Regency Sydney is even closer to Darling Harbour (east side) but getting to a metro station from there proved a bit more work.
• There are some rather large hotel complexes on the west side of Darling Harbour we walked past but never ducked into.

There were a few other hotels that those at Oz Fest stayed at such as the Four Points, Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, Pullman, Sofitel Wentworth as well the West Hotel (Curio) that we likely passed during our walking excursions but didn't get a chance to go into or consider on this trip.

Specific to the three hotels we stayed at, here are some additional notes:

• If you're more in the mode of an American style tourist who likes to get their own items in a lounge, the CL at the Marriott CQ and the EL at the Hilton are/were probably more toward your liking (we'll see what happens post-COVID). However, you also get the bad as well (lots of folks who simply abandon plates of dishes with a fair amount of uneaten food).
• If you're more of wanting to get "proper coffee" and have lounge attendants who are there to serve and provide, the SOTP is likely more your style. Additionally, while we didn't get a chance to see the breakfast buffet at the Hilton, I would rank the SOTP's higher than the Marriott.
• In terms of room amenities as well as room quality, furnishings, and upkeep, we were happy with the room we were given at SOTP. Having stayed at the Hilton in a pre-renovation Relaxation Room, I'd be curious to see how well that hotel's rooms have been since updated. I was least happy with the condition of the room we were given at the Marriott CQ.
• With respect to Metro access, after a while, doing the full walk through the older St. James station as well as having to wait the light to cross a fairly busy Elizabeth Street began to wear on me. The access to CQ Station and City Hall Station at the other hotels I felt was easier and more direct.
• If you want quieter, SOTP is the place. If you want access, I'd agree that Marriott CQ is better. If you want to be in the middle of a whole bunch of hubbub, Hilton is our pick.

Final comments:

• All three hotels were booked on points so relative costs in AUD if you have to pay the going rates may affect your ultimate hotel choice.
• Our stay at the SOTP was for 5 nights whereas we only spent one night each at the Marriott CQ and Hilton so I probably saw more of the relative uneveness at the SOTP than the other two hotels - which may be why I haven't completed a review of SOTP unlike the two I've already posted for the other hotels.

Anyway, hope this summary helps others planning their next trip to Sydney.

David

Xiaotung

W signage is up.

Radiation Station

Anyone know if the W is likely to open on time this November? I have a trip to Sydney planned with the A* fares for Jan 2023 and I’m hoping to try the W out.

IainF

I am good mates with W hotel manager and its extremely unlikely that the W Sydney will be open in 2022. Best guess right now is April 2023. Problems with original builder have meant huge time/cost overrun.

Radiation Station

Thank you very much for the insight and update, I really appreciate it. We got a great price for Pier One, from what I can see, so that’s some consolation.

Xiaotung

Just heard that W Sydney has been caught in the collapse of Probuid and contructions have halted. Do you know the fate of the project and the IMAX inside it?

SkyTeam777

Can anyone comment on the club lounges at Marriott and Sheraton? Which is nicer or more generous with their breakfast and evening spreads/hours? I know Marriott has a closer location to the ferries, but interested in titanium benefits and lounge perks on the weekend. Thanks!