ibis Styles Sydney Central — Hotel in Sydney

As a loyal Accor member, I’ve always enjoyed staying at Accor hotels, especially Ibis Styles properties, and have recommended them to friends and family. I’ve stayed at Ibis Styles Sydney Central before without any issues. However, during my recent stay, I encountered multiple challenges that left me frustrated and questioning whether I would return to this location.

The problems began during check-in, which occurred late at night, around 11 PM or midnight. I planned to use an Accor gift card as partial payment for my stay, with the remaining balance to be paid by credit card. This arrangement had been confirmed via email with Accor’s central reservations team prior to my arrival.

To my surprise, the front desk staff told me that the gift card could not be used and insisted I pay the full amount with a credit card. Despite showing them the email correspondence confirming the gift card was valid, they initially refused to process it. After some back and forth, they finally allowed me to check in but informed me I’d have to return in the morning to complete the gift card payment with a different staff member. This was an unnecessary inconvenience, especially given the late hour and my efforts to clarify payment beforehand.

During check-in, I also requested to shorten my stay from three nights to two due to a change in plans due to flight changes. The front desk assured me that this would be adjusted without issue. However, when I checked out two days later, I was informed that no record of my request had been made, and I was charged for all three nights.

Despite explaining that I had requested the change at check-in, the staff insisted I had only informed them that morning, which was not true. It was clear the issue resulted from poor communication or record-keeping on their part, leaving me feeling dismissed and unfairly charged for an extra night.

Despite these frustrations, the room itself was lovely—clean, modern, and comfortable. The hotel amenities met my expectations, and the housekeeping staff maintained the room to a high standard.

The buffet breakfast was another highlight of the stay. The variety, quality, and service exceeded expectations, making it well worth the cost. It’s clear the dining staff take pride in delivering a great guest experience, which I greatly appreciated.

While I enjoyed the comfort of the room and the breakfast, the difficulties during check-in and check-out tarnished my overall experience. As someone who has had positive experiences with Ibis Styles Sydney Central in the past, this stay was disappointing and not up to the standard I associate with the Accor brand.

Moving forward, I hope the hotel management addresses these issues, particularly in staff training and communication. Clearer procedures for handling payment methods and guest requests would prevent similar frustrations for future guests.

Although I remain a loyal Accor member, I will be hesitant to book at Ibis Styles Sydney Central again without reassurance of improvements. I may explore other Accor hotels in Sydney for...

The only saving grace for this hotel is its location. Very convenient to all the places you want to go in and out of the city. Direct buses from nearby bus stands and walking distance to a train station that runs to the airport.

Other than that however, service was abysmal.

Number 1: We got in about 2 hours early and decided to drop off our luggages to explore as our room wasn't ready. But we noticed that the staff just gave us two tags, asked us to write our names on it, asked us to tag it ourselves and place it in the room. I'm absolutely fine with it but when the next couple came in, she wrote it for them, tag it for them, and placed it in the room for them, while we have to do it ourselves. Not sure where the discrimination is coming from.

Number 2: Asking us to enter the room where all the other luggages are stored without supervision is a definite security breach in my opinion. There were not only luggages but handbags. Anyone permitted to enter (apparently it's literally anyone) could come in, steal something and got out.

Number 3: Reception is always unavailable. Kept calling them from the room and no one is answering the phone. Had to head down to reception to get a roll of toilet paper, which is my next point.

Number 4: We don't usually get our room serviced/cleaned up because we keep our room fairly tidy and neat, and reuse our bath towels. But since it had been raining for the period we were there (21-24 May 2025), we decided to get our room made-up. Coming back from our day, the room looked pretty great. Blankets were made, towels refreshed and toilet rug also refreshed. Great! Oh but how wrong we were. When we decided to take a shower, bath towels stained with red and brown spots. Hand towels not refreshed. Toilet rolls not refreshed (that's why I had to go down to get them myself). Oh and maybe I forgot to mention, this hotel does not provide basic toiletries such as disposable toothbrushes, toothpastes and shaving kit. Oh but they do provide shower gel and shampoo, so plus point for that? Going back to the blankets, it seemed well done. But when we tucked in for bed, we realised that they didn't make the bed but they just stuffed everything because it was a mess underneath.

Number 5: Hygiene. Everyone's favourite topic. Going back to housekeeping and wondering what they actually do for the 3 hours allocated (check-out is 11am and check-in is 2pm). Basic cutleries are provided and one-time dish soap is also provided. However, the glasses had white stains on the insides of it (we suspect the previous guest drank milk, let it sit and the stain set). Why was this not properly cleaned?

I rarely write reviews but this was quite bad that I knew I had to say something because something had to be done to improve the conditions of the hotel for the guests. Because if glasses are not cleaned, what else could they have...

Worst Hotel Stay Ever||Boyfriend emailed hotel, when he booked our room, (earlier this year), to request for an earlier check in, because we were due to land in Sydney around 7am. He said he was willing to pay a small fee, to get our room earlier. Hotel did not respond to boyfriend's email. FIRST sign of poor customer service. ||When we arrived and asked for our room, the receptionist told us “We don’t have a room ready for you yet. You need to wait!” - This showed that the hotel does NOT care about their customer's needs. Sigh!||We had been flying from Bali, the night before and experienced the worst flight ever. We were absolutely exhausted and in much need of a shower and rest, as soon as we arrived. ||We waited for more than TWO hours at the restaurant for our room, after we went out to get breakfast. This was the SECOND sign of poor customer service.||When we got into our room, we were shocked at how small our room and bathroom was. I suffer from Claustrophobia and this was the worst case of it, I have experienced in a hotel room. The bathroom was absolutely tiny. My Claustrophobia was extremely heightened, every time I stepped into the bathroom. ||Boyfriend had a nasty fall, the afternoon we got into our room, when he stepped out of the bathroom. The shiny concrete he stepped onto, looked like a carpet. He was absolutely exhausted from the travelling. The nasty fall left a massive bruise on his left upper arm. This shiny contrete is a massive hazard!||There was no night stand at Boyfriend’s side of the bed. There were no hand towels provided. When I asked housekeeping the next day, I was told that they do not have hand towels. ||Housekeeper chapped our door, one morning, when we had our sign up to not disturb us. We were really annoyed, as we needed to rest. ||The only things we liked about our room were:|1. The microwave |2. Sink in our room|3. Plates, glasses, dish towel, dish detergent and tea towel |4. Central location, handy to get around Sydney's CBD||The worst thing was this:|1. For whatever reason, our duvet was not inside a duvet cover. There was a sheet on top and a sheet beneath the duvet. Everytime we got into bed, we had to make our bed and this really, really, really annoyed and frustrated us. The sheets were out of alignment with our duvet and this is unacceptable. |2. The water pressure in the shower was so weak, it was annoying to take a shower and wash your hair. Plus the shower head is attached to the wall. I still felt dirty after a long shower, because I could not wash my undercarriage thoroughly, ||I would avoid this hotel at all costs. It cost us a hundred and forty pounds per night. Extremely poor...