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I stayed in this hotel several times in different types of rooms over the years . They have a few larger rooms and mostly small ones.First the positive part: 1) It is very central located, a couple of minutes to David Jones, Meyer, Pitts St (walking streets), Woolworth, Queen Victoria, Hyde Park ..., and the train station. You can also walk to Darling harbour, the Quay and the botanic garden...2) If you appreciate the old style hotel, it is in an old building with high ceilings and many of the rooms have old beautiful furnitures. The lift is old and slow but functioning well.3) Many of the staff have worked there for a long time. I feel that most of them are friendly. It seems that they don't want to say too much if they don't know you well. They are a bit reserved but are helpful.4) The bathrooms are rather updated, bright and clean. The water is very hot (be careful). I read somebody's comment that there was barely toilet paper. Actually I noticed that the maid put an extra roll in the cabinet under the sink. 5) Airconditioner works very well both in summer and winter.Now the down side:1) Most rooms are very crowded. It would be ok for one person. With a second, you will struggle a bit to get out of each other's way. The bathrooms are small too. They have some bigger rooms. If you don't mind spending a little more, then they are better choices.2) The rooms are dark. There are windows but the walls were painted dark yellow (or other colours which I can't remember well) and the lighting is poor. I have to say I found many hotels are like this and cannot understand it. It is so easy to use brighter bulbs without causing the bill to rise much. There are lamps for reading but the whole room is always dark. Furnitures, walls, curtains, beddings, floor all look outdated and as a result look a bit dirty. They should repaint the walls, replace or remove the carpet and clean or replace the curtains. It will make a big difference.3) Facilities have been down graded although they are 4 star certified now. In the past they put more amenities in the bathroom. Now they only give 2-3 soups, a tube of shampoo and a tube of conditioner. There is no even shower cap. You can find a few convenient store nearby but it is not an excuse. They provide free coffee and tea bags.4) There was one restaurant in the past which was rather nice where they also serve breakfast. It doesn't exist any more. You have to pay your breakfast, which they charge a reasonable price and you have to book in advance. There is a bar or pub where they serve food between 6 and 8 pm with a fixed short menu. Room service is within this time only. The last time I was there, the menu was the same the whole week and the taste was average. The lady's room is in a dark function room opposite. You can hardly see the steps.5) A minor point, every time I went there, mostly in summer, the lobby is very cold. I feel a bit mean to criticise them after staying there over the years. But I hope this helps them improve. I still like this place and would recommend it. At least the location is unbeatable, service is reasonable and the price is not bad under Sydney standard.

Spent 2 nights during April holidays. Grand dining room experience very special. Staff very helpful and made our stay most enjoyable. Ideal location. Handy to monorail and short distance to Darling Harbour and the Rocks. Will definitely stay there again.

From the outside, entrance and reception area it looked great (very hard to get suitcases up the front stairs), but when opening up our room - a slightly different story - the room was very dark, curtains only opened one way and then the light that did come in through a frosted window was not sufficient so needed lights on all the time, small bathroom and elevated so you had to remember to step up or down., Reception staff were friendly, This was only a quick stopover as next day we had to be at the cruise terminal so all we needed was a bed to stay overnight and for this reason it was OK.

I recently stayed one night here on a stopover in Sydney and I wish I had stayed at the airport instead.My room was so dusty that I sneezed all night, had dreadful hayfever and swollen eyes the next day. I discovered dirty sheets from a previous guest were rolled up on the floor, there was barely any toilet paper left and the wifi was useless.Seeing I felt so sick, I decided to order room service, after dialling the number (there was no menu in the room) on and off for 2 hours, I called reception to find out if they were busy. He informed me that the restaurant was closed for the holiday so nobody would answer. Um should you divert your phone to reception??After this I went down to reception to see if they could help me order take aways. The man was incredibly rude to me, would not look up any phone numbers even though I couldn't get my wi fi to work, and wouldn't provide me with the hotel's address for delivery?! It was so strange, I have never come across anyone to be so incredibly unhelpful to a young girl travelling along and feeling sick.I told this guy about my lack of toilet paper and dirty sheets and he just laughed it off.I spent the following month travelling in South East Asia at $7 hotels as opposed to $170, and I would NEVER stay at this hotel again, it was the hugest waste of money ever and the staff should be sacked.The rooms are tiny, dark and old fashioned. Don't bother asking them to order a taxi with your 4 bags of luggage, I was told to find a taxi stop myself.

Nice reception area and carpets in the corridors looked new. We took a queen room which was of average size with a large bathroom. The room was clean enough and the bed comfortable but it was dark and you couldn't see anything out of the window as it was frosted. The WiFi didn't work and there was a noise all night long from outside the building which, I imagine, was the air conditioning system. I would only recommend this hotel for its very good location.