Meriton Suites Chatswood — Hotel in Sydney

This was my first stay with the Meriton brand and my first stay at Meriton in Chatswood. Travelling from our home in Lake Macquarie, around 2 hrs north of Sydney, hubby and I stayed for just one night in order to meet up for a special dinner event with a loved one. ||Aged in our mid 60’s, ideally we would prefer a 2 bedroom, however with the 2 bedroom units priced at over $400/night, as it was just the one night, we opted to stay in the One Bedroom City Apartment. Was vaguely hoping for a possible upgrade to the 2 bedroom given my membership with the Meriton loyalty program “Eminence”, but maybe this was just wishful thinking & it didn’t materialise into reality.||At just $186 per night for the One Bedroom City apartment, this was exceptional value for money in terms of quality accommodation so close to the Sydney CBD. The One Bedroom City apartments are the second cheapest rooms at Meriton Chatsworth & we chose this city view over the slightly cheaper One Bedroom Modern Suite. Both suites are 54m sq in size & almost identical. The only difference is the view from the City suites is significantly better because it faces the city as opposed to the view of the Modern suites which face a different way and the view from those suites is sometimes obscured by neighbouring buildings. ||In summarising the pro’s & con’s of our stay, my assessment is mostly positive, hence my 4 star rating. Our first minor inconvenience was their policy of a 3pm check-in time. Travelling by train, we arrived around 11am, & we understood that our allocated room would not have been ready at that h, which it wasn’t. We were able to pay for the room & leave our luggage which was good. Reception staff said that knowing we had arrived, they would inform housekeeping & that they hoped our room would be ready within the hour. They said they would phone me as soon as the room was ready however they failed to do that. This was a bit disappointing as being on foot in Chatswood, trying to find ways of killing time, we kept checking our phones in vain to see if they had called. ||We returned to Meriton around 2.30pm & were relieved that the room was ready, & in fact had been for quite a while, despite no phone call.||Meriton Chatswood has a weird lift system whereby there’s an electronic panel in the corridors outside the lifts & you have to wave the electronic key over a given point on the touch pad & then physically type your floor number into the electronic panel. That will then tell you which lift will transport you to your floor (eg, lift A, B, D, E etc). ||So, in requesting a high floor, it was delivered with us being placed on floor 29, very close to the top of the Meriton building. Happy with that. The unit was exactly as described on the website & essentially you are getting exactly what you’ve paid for, .. but nothing more. It was spotlessly clean, with good amenities. The view was lovely especially at night with the city lights. Being high on level 29, you have a great aerial vista over Sydney and the city. ||The living area was a good size and the lounge was comfortable to sit on. There’s a full kitchen even though we didn’t cook anything. There is a small round dining table positioned somewhat out of the way in the far corner of the living area. The King bed was very comfortable with crisp linen and excellent pillows. A good shower with plenty of hot water, even though I have to say there was a small section of grey tiles on the shower floor that had been recently very roughly and messily re-grouted in white grout which kind of stood out like a sore thumb & looked mighty unsightly. But did it affect the enjoyment of hot shower, … no. Wasn’t a big fan of the air con system as it really dried out the apartment.||One small personal gripe for me was the pod coffee machine. Call me ancient & out of touch, but I’ve never been a fan of these machines & I’ve never had anything close to a quality cup of coffee out of them. Give me instant any day but alas, although the kitchen area does include a very small selection of teas in sachets, there’s no instant coffee sachets whatsoever. Not happy Jan!! Tried the coffee from the machine but it went straight down the sink after the first sip.||The location is great, very close to the station, Westfield, & Woolworths Metro. Also great eateries within minutes walking distance which was super handy for us after we woke up the next morning & it was comforting knowing that only a few minutes walk away was a terrific breakfast at a great local cafe on the Concourse which included a “real” cup of coffee. Ahhh, that wonderful cappuccino was definitely worth the wait.||Overall, Meriton Chatswood is a very good value for money accommodation option in a good location. I’d have no hesitation in staying there again, but will definitely bring my own coffee next time & wherever possible, try not to arrive too early. Would have no hesitation in...

Far from a luxury 5* apartment as advertised and formally rated.

First of all, good check in experience. Warm and welcoming. No support offered to unload the car, no valet service. Parked the car, unloaded my suitcases and headed up to apartment 506.

Mould in the bathroom - grout was filth. Shower also leaked significantly no matter the pressure or direction of the shower head. Water would go everywhere in the bathroom when showering and then I’d soak it up with towels.

Awful weather in Sydney when I was in (storms, rain, wind). I was on the 5th floor. The living area window was leaking, significantly (constant large drip no more than a second apart, puddling on the floor. Very annoying constant drip sound). Called down to reception to let them know (around 10:30pm) and they were quite unbothered and dismissive, and happy to leave it until I check out, until I pushed a bit harder and suggested that perhaps a bucket is provided to go under it as the leak was so significant and will damage the curtains and floor; to which security came up and gave me 3x towels to put on the floor. He was just going to remain at the door and walk away after handing the towels, to which I suggested that maybe he actually look at the issue (he then came in and looked, said maintenance can deal with it after I check out). No offer of changing rooms to get away from the annoying sound! Wind also created a lot of noise and with the drip and rattling from the wind, it made for a sleepless couple of nights. It was however nice and dark which I like for sleeping.

The balcony window latch was broken and so that external window wouldn’t stay closed, which made the internal sliding doors rattle and knock in the wind.

No face washers provided in the linen service (towels, hand towels and mat only).

Website advertises GHD hair dryer - there was a cheap old BigW VS Sasoon dryer in my suite.

No daily housekeeping (which is required to achieve a 5 star accreditation as this property is advertised?).

Parking on site $30 per night.

Internet wasn’t stable - streaming services kept cutting out to a painful point of not being able to watch Stan.

Bed wasn’t the best but not the worst either. Pillows were comfortable.

Later check in (3pm) than most accommodation services provide; yet the usual 10:00am check out applied unless you want to pay more.

Didn’t use any of the shared facilities (pool, gym etc) so can’t comment. Also didn’t use the washing machine or dryer.

Location was good - plenty of transport, food, groceries, liquor etc in walking distance.

Would have happily given this feedback on checkout, but they never bothered to ask how my stay was - handed me an invoice and wished me a nice day.

Overall, not what I’d call a 5* apartment or experience, and wouldn’t come back at that price point. Property needs some significant maintenance and updates, needs daily room service implemented, and it really should be re-rated to a 4* at most until when/if...

I am a regular guest of Meriton Chatswood having stayed there on multiple occasions. In living at Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, whenever I need to go to Sydney and require accommodation, chances are Meriton Chatswood is always my “go to” option. Why.?… well, frankly, it ticks a lot of boxes. I’ve always stayed in a one bedroom City apartment because quite frankly, it’s on the better side of the property with far better views than the “modern suites and the price difference between the two is minimal. The apartments are spacious, clean, modern, with cooking facilities (even though I have never cooked anything in the apartment), a generous shower, good quiet air con, and nice balconies with great views. The beds are comfy, with a tv in the bedroom as well as the lounge room.

What you pay for is essentially “the space” and it doesn’t come with any extras like you’d find in a hotel (such as room service, breakfast, a restaurant etc). Speaking of price, and that’s an important one these days which is another reason I choose Meriton at Chatswood over city hotels. It’s almost always a fraction of the price you’d pay in the city, and more often than not, it’s under $200 a night. As a member of Meriton “Eminence” program, which is free to join, you pay than the normal public rate. It’s also only a few minutes walk to Chatswood station with quick train or metro access straight into the city. Also just a few minutes walk from the train station is “the concourse” with a large variety of cafes, restaurants, take away outlets, as well as Westfield Chatswood. Like I said, it ticks a lot of boxes.

Parking is only $30 a night which is cheap compared to most other places, however, access to Meriton car park ramp is tricky with very awkward twists and tight turns to negotiate especially if you happen a large car. My only small personal gripe is being aged in my mid 60’s, I prefer to wear a shower cap in the shower so that my hair doesn’t get soaked. Whilst Meriton provides small toiletries such as shampoo, conditioner and body wash, there’s no shower caps and for me personally, it’s one very small thing that makes a big difference because I have to keep remembering to bring my own. Again, call me weird and ancient, but I don’t like pod coffee which is their only option for coffee. I prefer instant. I’ve always believed that surely it would no trouble or expense for them to provide a shower caps and a few sachets of instant coffee.

Otherwise though, it’s pretty much faultless and an excellent value for money quality accommodation close to the city. ...