InterContinental Hotel Sydney

Staying at the Intercontinental in the club rooms. Service in the lounge is the best. Just saw one of the staff move a guests chair to avoid an earlier accident with spilt liquid. Class and style. Well done. Have used Intercontinental world wide and this compares very well with the best establishments. Very friendly staff from the front entrance door up.

Unique Quality: The best lounge in Australia.

They took our luggage to the room. I had to unpack the scooter so we could go out but it was easy to plug in and charge it because they had a converter plug in the mini-bar to convert US plugs to Australian. There were also bathrobes in the closet and we could make tea in our room. I liked to sit on the bench seat by the window.

Unique Quality: I liked the TV and I had a switch by my bed that I could open and close the shades. We also ate some stuff from the mini-bar that I really liked. There was a scale in the bathroom and we had to figure out how to convert kilograms to pounds.

The bellman took the luggage and took it to our room and we checked in. Our room was ready even though were well before the check-in time. We are on the 23rd floor with a nice view and by looking sideways we can see some of the harbour area. We have to use our room key to get the elevator to stop at our floor. As soon as we got to the room, I got my granddaughter's converter plug to plug in and she recharged her electronic items.

The room has a closet with an iron and my granddaughter has hung her suit bag in the closet. There is a long window seat bench, and there are two shades that can be pulled down. I haven't tested the inside one to see what it does yet. We have an automatic window closing button by the bed. There are bathrobes in the closet and a big minibar. There was also a converter plug in the minibar.

There are two double beds, a big TV and a long desk. There are so many light switches that it is hard to figure them out - some of them are for the plugs to be turned off.

I could not figure out how to flush the toilet - my granddaughter had to show me. It is a silver thing sticking out of the wall and I wasn't pushing it hard enough - you really have to put some muscle in it. She came back and said the scale was way off as she weighed much more than it said, and we figured out that it was in kilos and not pounds, so not really off at all.

There is a tub and shower of course, , plus a drawer, which I have put my pill box into and a window from the bathroom to the bedroom and speakers from the TV in the bathroom. So you could really watch or at least listen to the TV from there.

It was cold - the thermostat was set at 20 deg C, so my granddaughter turned it up to 23 deg.

Unique Quality: The internet is $50 for three days, and is a LAN cable instead of wireless but works fine. The LAN cord wouldn't reach me on the bed. Eventually we rolled the bed nearest the door over to the other wall so the computer cords would reach and that meant that my granddaughter has the bed near the window and TV which works out better for her. (I'm not that interested in seeing TV shows) I called housekeeping to get my bed made up with the head at the foot so I could do the computer in bed with my feet up. My ankles have swelled from the plane trip, but not as much as they have done before and are getting better. I also ordered breakfast from room service but there is a $6 fee for that. We saved the toast and croissants and some of the fruit and the granola bars from the breakfast.

The Concierge desk was EXTREMELY helpful always. They lent us an umbrella, they got us tickets, and did their best to solve any problems that we had.

They also had a thing on the phone called "Instant Help' I got up about 4 am to go to the bathroom and didn't push the silver thing in the wall hard enough. I picked up a glass to get a drink and realized that the toilet was stuck running and went to fix it and the glass slipped from my hand and hit the tile floor and shattered into multiple small shards.

I went carefully back to bed and called the Instant help and they sent someone up to clean it up.

Directions: A short walk from the harbor

This is a pretty nice hotel to stay in. The train station is only about 2 blocks away, it right next to the CBD and right next to China Town. I wouldn't suggest renting a car in Sydney as parking can be tough.

There is some debate as to whether this is a 4 or 5 star hotel based on the hotel facilities. I don't know , I can only say that this was among the best hotels I have ever stayed in, and is rated among the ten best hotels in Australia. We arrived at 10 am on a Saturday and got a room immediately. As we arrived the doorman reminded us to check our luggage and handed over a card with the time of day, cab company,cab number and phone numbers. And this happened every time we arrived back at the hotel in a cab. The hotel reception is quite small with elegant minimalist furnishings. To the side is the Portile, a stylish cafe with an atrium roof.The rooms are just large enough but the bathrooms are small.From the window seat are views of the Harbour Bridge and many of the Balcony rooms have views of the Opera House as well. The hotel is only a brief walk to these sights as well as Circular Quay ferry terminal and train station. The Art gallery is also only a 10 min walk away as well.The room cost $300.00/night and I thought good value.

Unique Quality: The service at this hotel was amazing. We had dinner at the hotel and after the meal I decided on a brief stroll. On the way out I had a brief conversation with the concierge ( who addressed me by my name. Did I enjoy dinner.Everything to my satisfaction. Anything I needed. "only milk, we've run out". No problem I'll have housekeepingdeliver some to your room. The milk beat me back.

Directions: Near Circular Quay.

The InterContinental Sydney is a recently renovated luxury property situated near the harbourside with views of the Royal Botanic Gardens, approximately eight miles from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport and seven miles from Bondi. Local attractions include the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Taronga Zoo, and Sydney Tower.

Hotel amenities include babysitting, beauty salon, concierge, florist, currency exchange, gift shop, ice machine, room service, safe deposit box, secretarial services, shoeshine, fax/photocopying services, and business center. Guests may also enjoy the fitness center. Onsite drinks and dining are available at the Caf?? Opera, Mint Bar & Dining, and The Cortile.

Guest rooms feature bathrobes, satellite/cable TVs, coffeemakers, hairdryers, high-speed Internet access, in-room movies, in-room safes, individual climate controls, irons, ironing boards, mini-bars, dual-line telephones, voicemail, and work desks with lamps.

Property Information by Travelocity
Room Amenities

* Air Conditioning (In Room)
* Newspaper (Free)
* Refrigerator
* Iron
* Telephone
* Television (Cable/Satellite)

* Non-Smoking Rooms
* Television
* DVD/VCR
* Daily Maid Service
* In Room Broadband Internet Access
* Safe (In Room)

* Coffee Maker
* Telephone (Voicemail)
* Kitchen/Kitchenette
* Balcony/Terrace
* Mini-Bar

Unique Quality: Hotel Details

* 509 Rooms / 31 Floors
* Built in 1985
* NoOfFloors - 32
* NoOfRooms - 509
* Car Rental Desk
* Family Rooms
* Fitness Facility

* Golf
* Swimming Pool
* Wheel Chair Access
* Tennis Court
* Business Center
* Dining
* Meeting Room

* Free High Speed Internet
* Luxury
* Health Club
* Pool (Indoor)
* Health Spa/Massage
* Shopping Mall/ Area
* Hot Tub

The Intercontinental is more hotel than I can justify but part of the trip was work and the hotel was my employer's choice. Service was great and the place is beautiful. It is built on top of Sydney's old treasury building making a very interesting central atrium where the piano bar is located. It is 2 blocks from Sydney harbor where the Opera House & ferry terminal are located. Across the street are the botanical gardens - check out the Flying Foxes. 'The Rocks' is a few blocks away along the harbor and is a great place to stroll for pubs, restaurants or on Sunday, the artist's market where you will see opals everywhere (90% of the planet's opals come from Australia).

Unique Quality: Go to the Club Lounge at the top of the hotel (drink prices are the same as the lobby) and check out the view of Sydney Harbor. It is much easier to get to than climbing the Harbor Bridge.

Directions: Sydney Harbor

This recently refurbished 5 star hotel is known for its fantastic club which overlooks Sydney harbour and where many a famous star has had wedding photos taken.

The service is not as good as I would expect for the price, however the rooms are nice, very large and modern.

It is worth paying the extra to stay in a club room to get access to roof top club. A fantastic place to take pictures and sip a cocktail.

A good experience for first timers in Sydney, although for the $$ I would recommend other hotels.

Unique Quality: Club Floor

One of the best hotel stays I ever had simply because of the breath-taking view you have in the room. What I also like is the contemporary interior design of the room. And of course, the fact that it is conveniently located at the center of everything also makes it a very logical choice.

Unique Quality: Great view, contemporary design

Probably one of the best hotels I have stayed in anywhere in the world with excellent assistance from the attentive staff. An impressive feature is live live classical music played by musicians in the lobby area.

A first rate establishment but probably only really affordable when special rates are being offered

Unique Quality: The main attraction apart from being a very good quality hotel is that it is right downtown and next to the harbour bridge and quays, opera House, Botanical Gardens and "the Rocks"

The building is a very clasical one and is built on the restored Treasury Building of the 1850's so has some very interresting architecture, especailly in the ground floor and lobby area.

see my video Intercontinental sydney

Directions: The main entrance is near the corner of Bridge & Phillips st but a short cut to & from Macquarie St to the Botanical Gardens can be made through the unobtrusive side portal