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- Park Hyatt Sydney Review
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Booking this hotel was actually kind of fun because I could see the actual cost of a room I was actually getting for essentially free. I booked this hotel using my two free nights from the Chase Hyatt credit card, and stacked with with another two nights from my friend’s credit card. That means four nights at a hotel that would have otherwise cost:
I got about $1.5K in value, plus another $1.5K from stacking with my friend’s free nights. I also contacted the hotel in advance to combine the reservations and ensure my Diamond number was on both reservations and confirmed we’d get breakfast all four nights.
I stayed at the nearby Radisson Blu Sydney before moving over to the Park Hyatt Sydney, so transportation wasn’t an issue. I only ever travel with a standard carry-on bag and laptop bag so it wasn’t a big deal for me to roll it along the sidewalks for 15 minutes on the way to the Park Hyatt.
There are two entrances to the hotel – the main one is on a small street, but the most-used one is the one facing harbor and the Sydney Opera House. I entered on the Opera House side and walked over to the front desk where I checked in. I was offered a complimentary wine bottle or bonus points, and since I don’t drink I selected the points.
I was traveling with 2 friends (so 3 of us total) and the maximum room occupancy at this hotel is three, so that means all of us get free breakfast due to my Hyatt Diamond status. I got Diamond status by doing the Diamond Trial/Challenge (read more about that here). Upon check-in I asked if it was possible to have a roll-away bed brought up to the room and they said it had already been done, so I grabbed the key and went straight up.
Park Hyatt Sydney Review
My room was on the fourth floor out of five, but the top floor is only for the pool and spa. Walking into the room reminded me very much of the Park Hyatt Tokyo in terms of style, and the roll-away bed was already set up just like the front desk agent said it was.
There was a sliding door separating the bathroom and bedroom, so note that I left the door open while taking pictures.
The bathroom was very nice and featured two sinks and a separate shower and tub. The shower had the rain shower head that I love so much along with the standard shower head, and they could both be turned on simultaneously. There was a huge mirror on the other side of the bathtub so I took the pictures through that to get better perspective on the whole bathroom. The toilet also had those fancy bidet-seats that was heated and do all kinds of things to your bottom.
The closet was large and featured all kinds of Park Hyatt Sydney-branded items. It also contained a safe, a place to store a suitcase, and an ironing board.
Unfortunately I didn’t receive a room with an amazing view of the Opera House, but I didn’t plan to stare at it out the window all day anyway so it wasn’t a huge deal for me. My room was still facing the harbor with a view of downtown Sydney, but I could easily see the Opera House by turning my head left off the balcony.
Park Hyatt Sydney Breakfast
One of the best parts of this hotel is the breakfast room because it has a killer view of the Opera House. Oh, and they have some great food too. As a reminder, Diamond members get free breakfast and you can order anything you want off the menu, including drinks. It was wonderful to get a $0 check every day :).
Full size image of the menu (click to enlarge):
The view and actual items we ordered:
Quite honestly, breakfast was the highlight of my stay. The food was amazing and the view was even better, and all for free. That’s not to say the room was bad by any means, but that’s just how great the breakfast experience here is.
To give you a better idea of the location of the hotel, I took the below picture from the Sydney Harbor Bridge that’s located right behind the hotel. Note the pool on top, which was unused but had plenty of seating (but no view of the Opera House).
I also took a panorama picture from the roof (click to expand).
Park Hyatt Sydney Review – Summary
I generally don’t like spending a ton of points on city hotels since I’m usually out more than I’m at the hotel. In this case, however, it made perfect sense because I used free night certificates instead of points, so getting the best value was part of my objective. The other objective was to get a great location, and really this might be the best one there is.
When I compare this to the Park Hyatt Tokyo, which I reviewed earlier, the Tokyo property had the best service by far. It’s not even close – that hotel remains one of my top hotel experiences. The problem with the Park Hyatt Tokyo, however, is the location. It’s not the best for public transportation or for walking around. The Park Hyatt Sydney, however, might have the best location of any property there is. The breakfast is amazing and the service is still really great as you’d expect from a Park Hyatt.
This property is well worth your free night certificates, but I wouldn’t ever spend 30K Hyatt points here unless it was for a very special occasion. Still, it was one of my favorite hotel stays I’ve ever had and I hope to return one day.
Have you stayed here? What did you think of the hotel?
Sounds very nice, we are staying there this Sunday for 3 nights and really looking forward to it. We are also staying at the Park Hyatt Melbourne, which I haven’t read much about. Thanks for the review.
Awesome! I’m certain you’ll have a great stay. With stays at those great hotels, I’d recommend signing up for the Diamond Challenge if you don’t have status yet!
I think for non-Diamonds, this hotel is very average, and not the wonderland that so many bloggers gush about.
I believe that would be true for most high-end hotels as well. The breakfast is amazing and the view from an upgrade is as well. Without those it wouldn’t have been the same stay for me.
With that being said, a commenter from yesterday’s post on the Radisson Blu Sydney said the following:
“I did 2nights at the Blue and 4 at PHS. The Blue is in a great location and we received a high floor room with a decent view. However, the PHS is on another level. The service was impeccable. Ex. They would drop off bottles of water twice a day. They would give bath salts(the small things). Everyday when coming back my clothes that were laying around were folded and organized.
Moreover, my shoes were shined. But even conceriage was amazing. I needed a cake sent up for a surprise and they included champagne with it. Costs as reasonable at $35.
Next day there was some noise and they refunded me a certain cost. Simply amazing. Oh and I wasn’t diamond. If I was then I don’t want to know how much better the service would have been. Please excuse spelling errors.”
So perhaps it is just amazing for everyone.
Definitely brings me back. Did two days there on Diamond Trial using free certificates in July. Had a great opera view room on first floor. Service was one of the best I’ve ever seen.
I did that in Feb 2013. I used two free certificates while on Diamond trial and then added another night with points. Was hoping we wouldn’t have to change rooms since we had a room on the first floor w/ view of the Opera House. Luckily we didn’t. Loved it.
By the way . . . the link to “Smart Gate in Australia for Global Entry-Approved Travelers” is not working . . .
Thanks…corrected the link.
Perfect timing on this! I’m planning a trip next year and we will also have 3 adults in a room. Good to see that there’s still plenty of room to maneuver even with the rollaway.
There’s plenty of room, and I imagine there would be even more if you booked a King room.
Just a quick question, when you receive free breakfast and you are served by a server do you tip? I recently stayed at a Hilton (as a Gold) and I was presented with bill after breakfast to which I added a tip. I was after all served by another human being who was just an employee of Hilton not even making minimum wage. When the final bill for the hotel came (under the door) the tip was there but not the breakfast charge. What do you think is the correct thing to do?
I would tip in countries where tipping is normal/expected. In Australia it’s not as common to tip as it is in the US. Leaving a small tip of 10% or so would be appropriate here in mind, but I certainly don’t think you should feel bad for not tipping.
Yep hotels are great – and Airbnb properties will never be able to match them for comfort and convenience. For people considering renting through Airbnb but want the benefits of staying at a hotel, check out http://www.cushie.com/guest-services. cushie provide a heap of guest services, like premium toiletries and linen, breakfast, concierge service, all added to your Airbnb booking!