Q Station Sydney Harbour National Park — Hotel in Sydney

A friend of ours, told us about the ghost tour and history tour held at Q Station. They totally won us over and we had no hesitation and booked the two tours online as well as a two-night stay at Q Station. Unfortunately, most rooms were already booked out but there was one available with external bathroom – don’t like the idea but it was only for two nights and at least we still get to have a bathroom and it’s not a community share. I didn’t know that Q Station existed really and had to check whereabouts it’s located… North Head at Manly. There is a decent sized carpark when you arrive at reception. You need to park your car there, private cars are not given access to drive through, but they do have a free shuttle bus to take you back and forth on the premise as well as taking you to and from Manly CBD – check their timetable at reception or at information desk on-site. Reception is impressive - love the murals surrounding the building, very talented artist and captures the place really well. Q Station is a National Park and is heritage listed with historical significance / history attached to this site and it’s opened to the public. We were greeted by a super friendly Milan at reception, he beamed with confidence and professionalism and quickly checked us in, provided us a map of the area, highlighted the key areas of where we were staying, the café, Boilerhouse Kitchen and Bar restaurant and lastly organised a shuttle bus to take us to our accommodation. Again, the person driving the shuttle bus was super friendly and professional. Our accommodation was of decent size, considering it was once used for quarantining people – it’s not modern, but the room was very clean, had all the necessities you need (body wash / shampoo and conditioner, coffee/tea condiments and the necessary appliances, ceiling fans, ironing board / iron) to make our stay comfortable plus complimentary Wi-Fi and a television and I did like that personal touch in the lounge room - a welcome sign on the tele with your name on it (like on the cruise ship). The bathroom was spacious with a shower, a toilet and a washing basin with a side table to put your toiletries on. Here comes the ”but…”, the shower has no screen doors, hence the water literally goes everywhere and the tiles are rather slippery – either install screen doors or replace the tiles with other non-slippery tiles to prevent from slipping. Did I like the external bathroom? Not really. Considering the place is haunted, it’s not a pleasant feeling going outside, late at night, for a toilet break. My suggestion is, to call to book accommodation and be sure that your room has an ensuite bathroom. We have also paid extra for a full buffet breakfast at the ‘Views Restaurant’ – lovely display of hots and colds (Hot food: bacon, scramble, mushroom, grilled tomatoes, hashbrowns and DIY toast with spreads. Cold food: fruits, cereals, natural yoghurt, sweet mini pastries; mini chocolate and blueberry muffins and of course your teas/coffees, apple / orange juices, water – still / sparkling). It’s a National Park, the area is secluded and surrounded with beauty. Lots to do at Q Station and plenty to explore for free and if you want to know a bit about the place, go to the Visitor Centre and their heritage collection and artefacts – interesting read. A must do… you have to walk up and down the Funicular Stairway at least once – 234 steps! Not easy walking back up those stairs. Almost forgot, bring your swimmers, you pretty much have the Quarantine Beach to yourselves – not overcrowded, no need to go to Manly beach. The ladies at the Visitor Centre are super friendly, very helpful and always with a smile on their face. I really can’t say enough about the staff at Q Station – they are simply amazing and professional individuals. You’re not too far from Manly CBD. From Reception, it’s only a 15-minute walk or check the timetable to see when the next shuttle bus is ready to leave for Manly CBD. If you head the opposite direction, you will be heading towards ‘Fairfax Track’ and see spectacular views at Burragula Lookout and Yiningma Lookout – it’s a fair distance, I suggest to wear good walking shoes. Check-out was super easy and fast, we just handed our keys to reception and left. It’s amazing whoever was responsible for this project, changed a quarantine area into accommodation for people to stay… well thought out with comforts at your fingertips, not just for recreational purpose but to explore the beauty it has to offer - genius. I highly recommend Q Station for young and old, couples and families, well-located and conveniently close to the CBD, reasonably priced and perfect place to relax - it’s truly a sanctuary and most definitely...

The location and the history of this site are just amazing. If you are interested in the history of colonial Australia it's a must. Stay in one of the old buildings, be prepared for the quirks, and do as many tours as are on offer while you are there. Spend time in the museum. The buildings are wonderful and the grounds are delightful -- but you do have to put up with possums and bush turkeys trying to get into your room and leaving their droppings on the verandah carpet.|The little beach is a delightful sheltered swimming spot. |But don't expect it to be the kind of luxury hotel that it looks like on the website.|Don't forget that there are no evening meals on site except at weekends. It's Manly or Uber Eats during the week. The rooms don't have anything other than mugs and teaspoons, so anyone wanting to eat in might like to pack a picnic basket.|It's easy enough to get to Manly from here, either on foot or by 161 bus. But that 161 bus stops running in the early evening, so, unless you are staying at a weekend, you will have to get a taxi back from dinner in Manly.|The cafe at the Wharf is a basic coffee shop. It's okay, though the salmon bagel I had for lunch was not great. I don't think it had been a good bagel even when it was fresh. Yorky food van, just down the road at Barracks Precinct is very good, by the way.|Two cafes on site are open from 8 am for breakfast (though on the website it may say 7 am). The Views restaurant serves only a $30 buffet.|I would like to know more about which features of the rooms are the result of bad maintenance and which are the result of the requirements for conserving the architecture. I chose to stay in one of the old buildings and I realised that the bathroom was not going to be en suite. It was amusing to discover that you actually get a private toilet and a private bathroom, separately, in the historic bathroom block at the end of the verandah. That's clearly to do with preserving the heritage. But the toilet was not at all up to standard. I didn't expect it to be quite that retro. The heritage chain pull did not have a loop or handle to pull. That should be added. The pedestal was not firmly attached to the floor. There was a rust mark down the inside of the pedestal. Surely the hotel are allowed to replace toilet pedestals? A simple handle can easily be added to the chain without damaging the old cistern.|The over-bath shower worked well, but water pressure was very low in all the washbasins (1 in the toilet, 1 in the bathroom and 2 in the room).|Unlike others, I had two power sockets in the living room and two in the bedroom, which was fine. |It was warm spring weather when I stayed and it was just a little too warm overnight. I knew there would be no aircon, but I do think there could be a window that opened. |In summary..... choose your room with care depending on your preferences. Stay here knowing that the site is amazing, and don't expect a luxury...

The Q Station Manly is a beautiful place to stay with great accommodation, the most beautiful views of Sydney Harbour and so much to see and do while there. Very conveniently located close to Manly and the Northern Beaches but yet so very peaceful if you just want to enjoy a tranquil holiday away from it all. My wife and I are return visitors, having stayed here twice previously because we love the place, the atmosphere and the tranquility. We enjoyed a fantastic 4 nights this time around thanks to Arnoud the resort manager and his team who made our 30th wedding anniversary lovely, especially Cara in reception for looking after us, Hugo the manager of the Boiler House and his team for a beautiful dinner and evening and and Luna and Leo for driving us up and down when needed. Also special thanks to the nice folks at the Wharf Cafe and the yummy food there too 😀 A couple of small negatives to mention was our first 2 breakfasts at the views restaurant were not great in regards to to food quality provided. Had we not stayed previously, we may not have had anything to compare with but in our experience on this occasion it was sub standard. However we didn’t complain formally, but coincidentally were speaking with Arnoud while down at the Boiler house to confirm our evening dinner booking. Not realising that he was the resort manager he asked us about our eating experience so far. We were honest about it with him and he thanked us for our feedback and then identified himself and assured us to make things right and he did and more so. Arnoud arranged our breakfast the following morning at the wharf cafe which was yummy. We did check out the views restaurant on our last morning and not surprisingly the food looked delicious, so we decided to eat there again and we were not disappointed. So either coincidentally or feedback to Arnoud, the breakfast food standard and quality improved greatly. One other little point worth mentioning but again only because of prior experience was that some of the board walk access or the quarantine buildings being inaccessible due being run down or damaged walkways etc, for example the board walk at the hospital precinct. When last there 2.5 years ago everything seemed to be in better repair. Getting people to come visit or stay once is easy, but getting them to return is based entirely upon their vacation experience there and connecting with that experience. Would we recommend Q Station Manly to others…Absolutely Would we return again…Most Definitely Our holiday was very enjoyable with great memories made and our overall experience was positive at the Q...