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We arrived in Sydney one early fall evening and the first thing I wanted to see was the much talked about view. It did not disappoint. The Bridge is on one side the Harbor and Opera House on the other. There were also two occasions where I needed assistance, once with the internet and once with a sewing project and both times, the staff was very helpful. We did not partake in the food at this location but breakfast smelled good. We chose to buy juice, fruit and muffins at a local store and use the in room refrigerator for breakfast and then splurge on lunch and/or dinner. We highly recommend this hotel.

The hotel is perfectly located in The Rocks so its easy to get to from the airport and to travel round Sydney. The staff were very friendly and always had time to chat to our son and of course the view from the pool was spectacular. The pool area is not attended and the water a little cold but still welcome after a day in Sydney. We had breakfast, which was again good with a wide choice of food and attentive staff. There is only a bar menu for evening food but loads of places nearby to eat.

Everything was excellent, but the bar was poorly attended, despite frequent calls to reception. Rooms were spacious and the beds were very comfortable it is in a wonderful location, next to circular key, Sydney Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. Easy access to all transport so you can get around Sydney very easily. The rooftop pool is wonderful and everyone should take a look. To conclude, if you're willing to pay over the odds in Sydney then is fantastic, brilliant location.

By far the best roof top view! Great location for Opera House, Bridge and ferry crossings all within a short stroll. Didn't feel as traffic congested unlike other central locations. I stayed in four hotels during my visit to Australia this time, one of them 5 star the other 4 and I can say without a doubt that the breakfast in this Holiday Inn was far superior. All the regular breakfast foods you would expect from a hotel, but there was plenty of it, it was all hot and didn't look like it had been left sitting there for a while as some breakfast items tend to look like. It was all very well laid out with loads of choices. The hotel lobby was fantastic a lovely feature. My only criticism was our bathroom which is in need of some serious updating. It was functional, but not in keeping with the look of the rest of the hotel. I would definitely stay at this hotel again when visiting Sydney.

Well, we checked into our room (331) at this hotel (because of the location) about 5 weeks ago and ironically logged onto trip advisor to see the reviews. We found user JetA1too's review (they rated it as 1star-terrible) and thought I would provide an update to Trip Advisor readers what actual changes the hotel had made in the last two and a half months since that review and our stay (especially since Acting Manager Mitchel Turner answered the review and claimed that the management team took it "very seriously").While I find many of the points in the review valid, I also realise that this is NOT a 5 star hotel, so my personal opinion is that this is not a "terrible" hotel, but an "average" one: It gets the job done, with both rough and rounded edges, but its what you expect for this class of hotel (remember Holiday Inn is not budget, nor is it premium).So, back to the facts. Firstly, the lift DOES access the third floor, BUT half the rooms (INCLUDING 331), require navigating 7 steps. (Yes- this layout suprised me- and I've stayed at a lot of hotels). I wheeled my bag down/up them, but it is an inconvenient flaw.Light globe, luggage stand, cobweb: fixed. (Incidentally, I've found broken/failed globes in Hilton hotels too: when housekeeping clean the room by daylight in the middle of the day they won't know a globe is blown unless you tell them!)The windows glass is still, unfortunalety, cracked, and the window is filthy with a white cloudy residue.On this point I thought I'd elaborate: the windows in our room were two-panes with a wooden venetian blind sandwhiched in the middle. Unfortunately the blind only has tilt open/close strings for the guest: the raise/lower loop is in the middle of the two panes and GUESTS CANNOT ACCESS/OPEN THE WINDOW WITHOUT A SPECIAL KEY. This is my biggest gripe with this hotel, is that if the windows can be opened (as Assistant Manager Mitchell admits they can), why can't guests open them!?!? Some people prefer fresh air yet the windows have opening mechanisms that require a key of some sort that isn't provided!!!On points 5 and 6 (noisy AC and room size), I beg to differ. The AC can be noisy on HIGHER fan settings, but when I've stayed in the older hotel buildings, this tends to be the normal infrustructure. The AC fan speed IS CONTROLABLE, and on the lowest setting was quiet! On the highest, ok it drones moderately, but most aircons make a consistant white noise.As for the room: quite simply it's more than adequate, and I have no idea what JetA1too was measuring it against! (A 6-star palace?) The layout was more erganomic than some hotels I've stayed in! The bathroom is a little small, but normal for most hotels in smaller buildings. The shower is that standard bath and curtain affair.Housekeeping is still scratchy: the bathroom only had ONE towel, and the two teaspoons were dirty! (ewww!)I cannot comment on the price guarantee as the rate I paid was the cheapest I could find all the way to checkin.As for the photo, unfortunately it doesn't appear to be available via the mobile version of the website: maybe Holdiay Inn have sensored it!?SO, in a nutshell: AVERAGE (remember that's an OK word!), for this class of hotel. Although deficient in a few areas, I would stay again if I needed to. Mitchell, if you are reading this, your windows (function and cleanliness) are a mess and need to be reviewed, and house keeping on basic items is still hit-and-miss!!!!