Rydges Darwin Central

Thank you to the great staff at Rydges Darwin. We had a lovely experience. Service is outstanding. To be able to bring our pet is really appreciated. The room was spacious and clean with everything we needed. Everyone was really helpful. Thank you

Staff is polite and cooperative. Clean facilities. Building, rooms and lobby are old and not modern. I chose room with kitchenette. Onsite parking available at a cost. Location is excellent in Darwin CBD. Its categorised as 4 star hotel but old style building, room and furniture speaks otherwise. Overall stay was fine and had no major issues.

Darwin Central seems to be a survivor of an ambitious vision from 20 years ago to bring modernity, luxury, style and sophistication to the Darwin CBD. The hotel is still very comfortable. The rooms well appointed, large and cared for. Crisp linen and modern decor. The hotel itself though no longer has its own restaurant and bar. Both shuttered up but visible as It is they hold a commanding position over the central atrium, reminding visitors of what once was. Many of the shops including what we're high end luxury goods and jewellery stores are also long closed, adding to that feeling of decline. All that in perspective, the hotel is well positioned in the heart of Darwin's restaurant and bar district, just a block away from the magnificent Esplanade overlooking the Arafura Sea.

Very disappointed with our stay. I've been rydges member for many years and this hotel has seen better days. It has no restaurant or bar facilities as stated on their website, so you cannot enjoy any member benefits ( the reason why we chose to stay here). No reception area you check in and out yourself, no phone in the room if you have a problem although there is a friendly staff member at ground level on call all night. The pool is old and small and the area very grubby. No soap in the toilets. It was very noisy at night especially Friday & Sat with an outdoor bar opposite and a nightclub that had long lines of very noisy people arriving until well after 2am. Would not recommend this hotel.

Rydges used to be dependably provisioned and honestly priced but it now feels like they have as many as the costs taken out of them as the accountants can manage……..|On the plus side|- the location is central|- water pressures great |- rooms sizeable |- beds comfortable|On the negative|- photos look like from 25 years ago and when there was service and attention to customer detail |- pool is much smaller than imagined|- no terrace bar, nor any bar |- all food service is out sourced or non existent|- there is no reception it’s mostly all automated|- payments attract a 1.5% surcharge and there is no ability to choose cheque savings or credit (to gain what should be cost free eftpos)|- rooms do not have phones to call staff or for assistance |- whilst there are hair dryers there are no toilet brushes||This is a room only resource and ok priced once you appreciate that and don’t expect what is described or photographed long ago

Conveniently located in the city centre, the room was large, if a bit dated. Parking was a bit inconvenient as I opted for the public parking option, which was free from 5pm to 8am each day. Otherwise $29/day at the hotel and it’s wise to book if you choose that option. Otherwise public parking has a two hour limit and you have to top up your time to extend. The 3rd level has an ice machine, which is unusual in Australian hotels, but very welcome. Clean and tidy it was.

I recently stayed here with my mum, There was so much false advertising for this hotel and we were very disappointed, There is no bar or restaurant attached when we booked we were under the impression that there would be a buffet breakfast available at the restaurant and bar attached to the hotel, they aren't open so instead we where given 3 options a day at a local cafe down stairs and around the corner, while it was nice after 9 days it got boring and we weren't allowed to use the vouchers for any other meals so we ended up loosing money and giving them to the staff at the Rydges to use. We had to pay an extra $29 per night for car parking, the card details were taken upon check in and since leaving we keep receiving phone calls about payment when it has already been paid for! It shouldn't cost any extra to park as it is. The pool is very small and doesn't look at all like the photos online. The shower didn't drain properly so had to stand in about an inch of water during a shower and no body wash was in the container. The beds were really uncomfortable and my back was killing me the whole time we stayed there. There isn't even a microwave available to use in the room. No cutlery to make anything we had to buy plastic knives and forks. When they clean your room they don't clean the room properly. We had to ask for extra toilet paper after they had already been. Overall very disappointed in our stay and the general consensus with other people I spoke to staying there felt similarly. I wouldn't recommend staying here the city was really dead apart from on the weekends.

Had an unpleasant experience during my stay. While I was quietly sitting in the lobby, a staff member came over and told me to "sit properly" because of their "new furniture." I wasn't doing anything wrong or causing damage-just sitting comfortably. He said, "Mate, can you sit properly please?" The tone was unnecessarily condescending, and the use of "mate" felt patronizing since I'm not his buddy. On top of that, it was obvious he treated other guests differently. Honestly, the staff at the McDonald's next door are more courteous. As a paying guest, I expect basic respect and common courtesy. Being singled out over something so trivial made me feel uncomfortable and unwelcome-definitely not the treatment I expect from a hotel. The rooms were clean, and most of the staff I interacted with were polite and friendly, but this one incident really ruined my stay.