InterContinental Sydney Coogee Beach by IHG — Hotel in Sydney

I’m an attentive to details person and I’ll try to describe what I’ve noticed.

Starting with my arrival, I have to mention my very first impression. The hotel looked old-fashioned from outside and too simple inside, as it was an office open space. As I am keen on architecture, I would say this hotel doesn’t look like one of the Crowne Plaza places. Simple and cheap materials prevailed in both exteriors and interiors of the hotel, it looked more like the Holiday Inn Express hotel.

Moving next to my check-in, the front desk staff looked tired was frustrated and the whole process took quite a long time. I was not recognised as an IHG Gold member, none of my room preferences were acknowledged. Personally I admire when people are aware of service standards, when they are amiable, helpful and don’t pry, but here it was a total disappointment. No bellboys available in a lobby, I needed to find my way on my own, which is a really unusual thing for any 5 star hotel and especially for Crowne Plaza.

Speaking about the room, it was spacious but design looked a bit odd. Cheap-looking sofa in the middle of the room with a plastic tea table. Light controls, air conditioning panel, desk were out of modern trends. Getting to a bathroom, both rainforest and hand-shower are options for you. Just simple as it can be and all the toiletries are provided on request as it’s done in all the Holiday Inn Express hotels, but not at at Crowne Plaza. No price list for a mini bar was available in my room and it took some time for a front desk staff to find one for me, however I was charged a deposit for mini bar upon check-in. How I was supposed to use it without prices remains unknown.

Though, I would like to mention a CP’s professional hi-end bedding. Since all people are different, some prefer to sleep on the back, some - one the side or on the stomach. Though, the secret of a good sleep is in quality of bedding materials. All the sheets, pillowcases were made of natural fabrics, but the pillows and blanket were down/feather free. I didn’t feel sweating under the blanket, nothing disturbed me, which means the blanket kept me warm and “breathed” at the same time.

Regarding the restaurant, it wasn’t a big dining space, no place for tourists groups was available in there, so it was at the same daily restaurant. Buffet breakfast was provided with a limited range of options. Hotel staff couldn’t tell me whether it’s going to be a buffet or a la carte, they’ve changed their mind few times.

This Crowne Plaza didn’t has any leisure and sport facilities except a pool outside.

Grounds and facilities looked really simple in terms of design and materials used everywhere. Condition of the whole building leaves much to be desired.

Considering all the above mentioned, this place can be barely called a decent representative of IHG Crowne Plaza 5 stars hotels. I wouldn’t recommend to stay there, it doesn’t worth...

Crowne Plaza at Coogee Beach is an exceptionally lovely hotel and considering this was my first time in Sydney. I really enjoyed my stay here (not until the last day- sharing my disappointment towards the end).

The location is incredible and the beach next to the hotel is to die for!

The hotel rooms are incredible.

Rooms are cleaned really well and your personal items are always untouched and exactly at the spot where you leave it so you know your things are safe here!

The staff at the reception are really good and they are super helpful!

Here's the disappointing part-

I stayed for 3 nights with breakfast included. On my last day Saturday (16th/03) I was rushing to wrap up breakfast and enjoy the beach sight one last time before leaving. When I reached the breakfast area, no one was there to verify if (1) I was a guest at the hotel and (2) if I had breakfast included with my room. As someone who is running late for check out obviously I was not going to wait for someone to come by as literally no one was there when I had walked in.

After I walked in and started helping myself, a female staff walked to me and asked my room number, I answered and then she asked me to walk with her outside for her to verify if I had breakfast included with my room. I feel this was unncessary as I had told her my room number and she could have just gone and checked that and the fact that she was already loud and people were looking at me as though I was a 'freeloader' was EMBARASSING! And walking out with her was equally humiliating! What frustrated me even more was that she did not even apologize for the inconvience that she caused me. Also, if she really wanted to ensure this situation did not occur to begin with, she should have been at the spot to check everyone else's room number and confirm whether they had paid for breakfast or not. I also do not think she asked any other guest to go out and verify this too. Is this because I am a person of colour? I do not know but this was a very unforgiving experience and leaving Sydney on this note was really not pleasant at all.

I highly recommend the Hotel Manager to revise the staff training processes and check if their staff really are equipped to serve guests up to the standards of the Crowne Plaza franchise. I can only hope no one goes through such an experience.

I was really looking forward to write a really positive review until the experience I shared above made me change my thoughts about this branch.

I hope to hear from the owner/manager...

Our company recently hosted a business seminar at this hotel, and we were very impressed with the experience. The staff was very professional, courteous, and responded very quickly whenever we had any questions or issues.

The only issues we encountered were with the internet service, and whenever we had issues, the staff was very quick to remedy them.

The hotel is walking distance to the beach, and a ton of local shops and restaurants. It was a great location, with minimal street-traffic noise (we didn't hear any from our room at night.)

The guests (70+) were all very impressed with the venue, the food and the service. We had several guests stay at another hotel, and remark that they wish they had stayed here instead! Additionally, the concierge was accommodating to those guests, storing their luggage during the last day of the seminar without issue.

The quality of the breakfast and lunches was good. Breakfast was included in our room rate- however if purchased separately was $34 (it was not $34 good). The hotel has a juicer, and several types of fresh juice were available every morning, in addition to custom orders (omelets, pancakes, coffees etc.). The buffet-style lunches worked well with our crowd, as we had a few Gluten free and Dairy free guests- the lunch buffet included options for both, in addition to vegetarian.

The hotel provides a business center for printing boarding passes, business work etc. It was a nice amenity, however it seemed like the computers (2) were utilizing dial up internet... it was VERY slow.

On several occasions our group wanted to take advantage of the pool/hot tub, however these closed at 9PM, which was somewhat disappointing.

The rooms were very cleanly, with nice quality linens, pillows and furniture.

The furniture in the hotel lobby was extremely comfortable. Several of our guests joked that they would like to take the couches/chairs home!

Aside from the initial issues we encountered with the internet for our event, everything went very smoothly. Our group is looking into the possibility of hosting 2 additional events in Sydney/Australia in 2014, and if we do follow through on those, we would definitely be interested in hosting them at this hotel.

We are a US based company, and planning a seminar/week long event sight unseen is somewhat difficult. This hotel exceed our expectations, and the staff was incredible. I would highly recommend the Crowne Plaze Coogee Beach to anyone looking for leisure or business travel...