Erin D.
Yelp
I checked in with no line on a Monday about 5PM which was good. As a diamond member, the guy spent quite a bit of time explaining I could be upgraded to the relaxation spa room for an extra $260/night. In the states, the hotel would have just upgraded me. So much for being a Hilton diamond member!
The location of the hotel is excellent. You are right in the heart of the city, and since I was only staying a couple of nights, it worked out. There is a stop for the hop-on-hop-off tour a couple of blocks away from the St James station nearby. An uber to the opera house only takes about 15 minutes if that in no traffic. I will say though Pitt street is the pits for traffic since the next street over is closed for the light rail. It may be better to walk to the end of the intersection or even force uber to pick you up at the hotel door (rather than on the street) in order to drive onto a street with no traffic. That is, if the uber driver can even turn into the hotel due to pedestrian traffic.
I booked an executive king bed room, and it was pretty small. The bathroom is so small that you cannot open the shower door and still easily reach the sink, e.g. turning on the water to warm up while brushing your teeth. The drain is located under the shower stall door, which is odd to me. This means water gets all over the bathroom essentially because it splatters when taking a shower. Trying to lay down the bath mat in a dry spot is difficult in such a cramped space. For this, I give 3 stars.
The executive lounge prevents me from docking another star. There are lots of choices for non-alcoholic beverages, more than you can imagine, for breakfast. Each morning there are eggs, sausage, potatoes, lox (no bagels or cream cheese though), fresh fruit (ate a couple of kiwis each morning), cereals, pastries, breads, etc. The food was pretty familar, as per standard executive lounge food.
I think overall my stay was alright. Diamond members receive 2 free bottles of water each night of stay. Too bad there is not a fridge to put the water in, since the fridge is full of mini bar drinks and snacks. Oh well, at least I was able to stay for cash + 60,000 points for two nights!
GUEST ROOM $148.77
GUEST ROOM $148.77
CREDIT CARD SURCHARGE $4.46
TOTAL $302.00