Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel at Circular Quay — Hotel in Sydney

This is an old and poorly maintained Marriott hotel. The location is great for tourists and that’s probably the primary clientele of the hotel. Tourists may only come once to Sydney, and they will not tale their business elsewhere upon their return, as they probably visit only once. As a business traveler, I would not recommend this hotel, and as I will come back to Sydney I will find alternative accommodation.

The hotel appears not to have been renovated since the 80’s. Throughout the hotel you will find signs apologizing for slow elevators (supposedly being renovated, but we could only see that one of six elevators was being renovated). The real issue is that the elevators are so old and slow that the capacity is insufficient. During our stay it was not uncommon to have a 3-5 minute wait for an elevator, and when it finally arrived it sometimes was full.

The gym is small and has mostly now windows to the outside. The walls are stained and broken. The entrance door is broken so you need to give it a good push to come in. The air conditioning system is poor and there is an awful smell in the gym. Some equipment is newer, some quite old. The equipment is Technogym throughout, which normally is of a very good standard. There is a sign in the gym apologizing for the poor appearance, stating “we are renovating”. We couldn’t see any renovation activity anywhere in the gym.

The rooms are small and old, and ours had a pungent smell. The carpet is dirty, and we were happy to be able to use slippers in this room (we always do regardless). The bathroom was in a terrible condition. The bathtub is so old that it has a yellow layer of dirt on the inside. It is a 3/4 size, so even if you would overlook the disgusting look, it wouldn’t be very comfortable. The toilet had a newer toilet seat which, unfortunately doesn’t fit the toilet at all. The toilet itself was poorly cleaned and also had yellow discoloration on the outside. The fixtures are ancient and feature one hot, and one cold water faucet. The amenities in the bathroom are very basic.

The bed is decent but not up to normal Marriott standard. The pillows are okay, four of the same size and hardness (also not state of the art). Normally, there are tea bags and a boiler as well as a coffee maker on the room, but not in this hotel. In fact, there weren’t even water bottles in our room. There is a mini bar, but it is empty.

If you don’t have breakfast included in the room you need to cough up AUD 45 for a basic buffet. We recommend booking only the room and then getting breakfast in one of the many great, and significantly cheaper, breakfast restaurants around the hotel, most within 5-10 minutes walking.

This hotel is an embarrassment to the Marriott brand, and we can’t recommend it to anyone.

Location: 5/5 Ambience: 1/5 Staff: 4/5 Rooms: 1/5 Fitness room: 2/5 Food: 3/5 Price/quality: 1/5 (expensive and...

We booked adjoining rooms for 2 couples on the 8th floor which included an accessible room for my hubby in a manual w/chair. A fun weekend away with friends during Vivid certainly began well with an early check in and friendly concierge greeting complete with a tray of complimentary drinks to chose from! All interactions with staff during our 3 day stay were positive and I cannot rate highly enough the warmth, friendliness and helpful attention we received throughout our short stay. The rooms are, as others have mentioned, in need of a 21st century update but both were clean and serviceable and the beds were wonderfully comfortable. As far as wheelchair accessibility goes, the heaviness of the doors made it impossible to negotiate alone and space inside the entrance is extremely tight to the point of almost needing to climb onto my hubby’s knee for us both to enter…..an option to have it held open in place would improve this radically. Once in the main room the configuration worked well for manoeuvres with the KS bed to one side, a single lounge chair & stool near the large window and a desk and second chair along the wall which also housed a wall mounted TV. The bathroom provided sufficient handrails, a fold down bench in the shower and a lowered sink for good access. The tiled entry was slightly raised, presumably a later add on to save water run off from the walk in shower, but which for my ‘sometimes ambulant’ partner, not altogether safe. I’m sure we could have asked for more towels, but those provided were far from soft & fluffy. No minibar in the room and a sparse choice of coffee, tea and long life milk but fresh bottled water daily and a bonus during our stay of free popcorn, chocolates and lollipops on offer in the front foyer which may have been a Vivid thing I think! We dined in the restaurant for lunch and were impressed with both food and service but there are also many dining choices within a short walk of the hotel and it’s close proximity to Circular Quay and the sights was our main reason for selecting the Marriott. We were very impressed with the attentiveness all front of house offers to assist my husband with entering and exiting the hotel each time and always with a smile…..sadly this has not been a common experience since travelling with a wheelchair in recent years. We would certainly stay again and...

Date: 21 to 23 January 2025 Nights: 2 nights

Our experience at this hotel was less than satisfactory. Although we chose it for its prime location in the heart of the city, we ultimately did not enjoy our stay. We were relieved to switch hotels after just two nights.

Location: Situated in a highly sought-after location in the heart of the city, just a short 5 to 10-minute walk from the harbour.

Services / Team: We believe there is a significant opportunity to enhance our services in various ways. Unfortunately, our experience with the reception team was disappointing, as we found them to be one of the rudest teams we have encountered in all our travels. This created a very negative impression overall.

Check-in Process: Our check-in experience was incredibly disappointing. The hotel’s proximity to the harbour attracts many cruise passengers, resulting in chaotic check-in and check-out processes. We faced long queues and a lack of organisation, which only added to our frustration. Unfortunately, the reception team was not helpful; they were both rude and inefficient. This negative experience has led us to decide that we will not return to this hotel in the future.

Rooms: The rooms are satisfactory—functional and clean, though rather average overall. They feature comfortable beds and provide a reliable internet connection.

Views: We were fortunate to have a room overlooking the harbour. After a few discussions about the room's location, we secured a room with stunning views. Cleanliness: The cleaning team works very hard to maintain the hotel well.

Highlights: Unfortunately, our experience at this hotel was quite disappointing. From the moment we arrived, the reception team treated us in a rude and patronising manner, which left us feeling unwelcome. We encountered issues with our room's location and, to make matters worse, they misplaced our luggage for several hours. Overall, we struggled to find any assistance from the reception staff, which added to our frustrations.

Quality vs Price: Unjustifiably high prices for the services provided.

Review: Our stay at this hotel was quite disappointing, primarily due to the unprofessional behaviour of the reception staff and the chaos we encountered during both check-in and check-out. Ultimately, we were relieved to move on to...