Sydney hotel recommendation

[MFR]

Hi--sorry I know hotel recommendations have been extensively discussed in the past, but.....

We had reservations at the Holiday Inn the Rocks prior to our cruise, but due to change in ownership and recent reviews saying the hotel is badly in need of refurbishment, we are cancelling that reservation.  I'm looking at reasonably priced hotels within walking distance of the OPT, and have narrowed it down to the Sebel Quay West and the Four Seasons.  Does anyone know if, with a partial harbor view room at the Four Seasons, you would be able to see the harbor and the pier?  I'd love to be able to watch our ship coming in the morning we are due to sail.  Thanks!

[MrsWaldo]

Yes you should be able to see harbour and CQ make sure you request a high floor to get a better view.

[Chiliburn]

3 hours ago, MFR said:

Hi--sorry I know hotel recommendations have been extensively discussed in the past, but.....

We had reservations at the Holiday Inn the Rocks prior to our cruise, but due to change in ownership and recent reviews saying the hotel is badly in need of refurbishment, we are cancelling that reservation.  I'm looking at reasonably priced hotels within walking distance of the OPT, and have narrowed it down to the Sebel Quay West and the Four Seasons.  Does anyone know if, with a partial harbor view room at the Four Seasons, you would be able to see the harbor and the pier?  I'd love to be able to watch our ship coming in the morning we are due to sail.  Thanks!

If you can afford the four seasons it’s the most central to the rocks and circular quay.

 It has some of the best harbour views and It had a renovation last year.

To me the best hotel.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Chiliburn

[MFR]

Thanks for the recommendations.  I looked up the time of sunrise in March and it's not until about 6:30, so it would still be dark when our ship comes in at 6 am.  Based on that, decided to go with the cheapest room, city view.  We'll be out exploring Sydney for a couple days before our cruise and not spending that much time in the room.  The price we got is actually less than what we were going to be paying at the Holiday Inn. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Actually you would get very good views of the ship coming in at 6am. It wouldn't be full daylight but pre-dawn, so enough light to see outlines of harbour and opera house, and the ship would be lit up. I've seen photos of ships arriving in those conditions and it looks stunning, almost better than in full daylight.

 

This is a picture from one of the Sydney webcams from a Carnival ship arriving this morning. The ship is blurry but it will give you an idea of the light conditions.

Edited February 6, 2020 by OzKiwiJJ

[MFR]

Well, unless we are upgraded, we'll have to get up early and go to an upper floor to see that.   Probably won't happen since we may still be jet-lagged from our flight from east coast US .  Or who knows, maybe we'll be so jet-lagged we'll be getting up in the middle of the night!   Thanks for the info though.  I follow the webcams myself,  so in a sense I've already seen our ship come in--that may have to suffice. 

[buchhalm]

If you consider the Four Seasons reasonably priced, then thumbs up!

A nice upgrade from the Holiday Inn!

🙂

[sippican]

On 2/14/2020 at 4:28 AM, buchhalm said:

If you consider the Four Seasons reasonably priced, then thumbs up!

A nice upgrade from the Holiday Inn!

🙂

 

And if you can get the Four Seasons for a comparable price to Holiday Inn, grab it!

 

[MFR]

Yes somewhat less than the Holiday Inn AND with breakfast. Only drawback is that it's not quite as close to the cruise pier as we plan to walk there.

BTW we are neighbors to the south of you (Mass), but you are probably in FL now and hopefully enjoying warm weather.  Very cold here today.  

[Chiliburn]

4 hours ago, MFR said:

Yes somewhat less than the Holiday Inn AND with breakfast. Only drawback is that it's not quite as close to the cruise pier as we plan to walk there.

BTW we are neighbors to the south of you (Mass), but you are probably in FL now and hopefully enjoying warm weather.  Very cold here today.  

To the actual check in for OPT there would only be a extra 50 meters from the four seasons compared to the Rydges 

 I f you can get the four seasons I would grab it.

[sippican]

On 2/15/2020 at 12:04 PM, MFR said:

BTW we are neighbors to the south of you (Mass), but you are probably in FL now and hopefully enjoying warm weather.  Very cold here today.  

 

Well howdy neighbors! We just left NH for FL this week (we are skiers!) But out 1st home was MA, working and raising the younguns there until retirement. (Plymouth)

[MFR]

20 hours ago, sippican said:

 

Well howdy neighbors! We just left NH for FL this week (we are skiers!) But out 1st home was MA, working and raising the younguns there until retirement. (Plymouth)

We used to ski NH (broke my arm on Attitash) and VT (Killington) but less enthusiastic as we've aged.  Will ski only if 1.  Good conditions, 2. Weather above freezing, 3.  No crowds i.e . weekday mornings!

Would love to move somewhere warm but family all up here.  Enjoy FL.

[clcmdse]

A plug for Shangri La which is only a couple of blocks further up the hill and facing the water. It has outstanding views from the rooms facing the Harbor. 

[sippican]

17 hours ago, clcmdse said:

A plug for Shangri La which is only a couple of blocks further up the hill and facing the water. It has outstanding views from the rooms facing the Harbor. 

 

Thanks, looking forward to staying there in April. We booked an upper floor, harbor view.

How do you advise getting to port?

[clcmdse]

That is what we had – upper floor harbor view – and we loved it. We would have taken taxi or uber to the port (they are plentiful) because I am not the lightest packer and I would not have wanted to walk the streets with the luggage!  But as it turned out having the view of the port was a lifesaver for us as well!  I had assumed we were leaving from that port, and we woke with anticipation the morning we were to board to view our ship docked at the Quay only to see another cruise line’s ship in its place.  Doesn’t everyone dock at the Quay? Apparently not.  Our port was 15 minutes away.  Thankfully we had a view early in the morning that corrected my false assumption.  

 

Catherine

[iancal]

We have stayed at the Pier One Sydney Harbour.  Just around the corner and under the bridge from the Int. cruise terminal.  Highly recommended.  Last winter we did five nights at the Sheraton Four Points Central Park.  Great stay, good location.  Also stayed at the Radisson in the CBD.  Room was dark...building nearby.

[kccrzr]

Thank you for posting about the great rates at the Four Seasons.  Our cruise ends in Perth but the flight schedules back to the states from Perth were less than ideal and would make for a grueling two days.  We now plan to fly to Sydney the day of disembarkation and spend the night at the Four Seasons before catching a late morning flight out.

[Heartfelttraveler]

We loved Pullman Quay Grand Sydney Harbour. Perfect location.  We walked to the Harbour for our Celebrity cruise. 

[pink845]

We absolutely loved the Marriott Harbour Circular Quay.  Basically a block from Circular Quay and we had a high floor with a lovely view and the buffet breakfast was fabulous.  Get it part of your room rate otherwise $42 per person I believe.   We loved the location!.  I believe rate was $252 per night at least this past March anyhow.

[Mandalay1903]

We loved the Marriott Harbour Circular Quay as well. Great location to the ferries, trains, downtown, opera house, and our cruise ship terminal.  There was some construction going on across the street at the time (1-1/2 years ago), but that might be finished up by now.