The Darling — Hotel in Sydney

We initially booked a King Room at the Darling Pyrmont for 2 nights at the beginning of June through Luxury Escapes which we later upgraded to the Jewel Spa Suite. Similar to our stay at the Star Gtand Pyrmont the previous week, the Inclusions with this deal were pretty generous. Apart from free self parking, breakfast for two people, late midday checkout, the daily food and drinks allowance was increased from $50 to $75. The large living area had space for a full size dining table and chairs with a tea and coffee making space with sink and what I believe is what they call a wet bar. The only fridge space is fully stocked with alcohol. No room for anything you might want to put in it. Like fresh milk or leftover pizza from lunch. Warning: apparently moving anything to make space for your needs automatically triggers a mechanism which charges your room number with the cost of said item. And as with the Star Grand the hotel is really only set up for short term stays. Again, no cutlery no plates just a kettle and a couple of cups. Oh and a coffee pod machine. No frother though. Shame. The Jewel Spa Suite exudes luxury in every detail. Bedroom area is separate from the living area. The Bed was sumptuous, comfortable pillows. Ensuite was huge and well appointed(loved the rain shower) with high end toiletries and a handy space to stow away suitcases and other paraphernalia. We had significant city and harbour views from generous size windows from the living room and bedroom. The pool and hot tub area is an interesting space. Very nice garden and seating next to the pool, if it had a cafe attached I imagine it would be a nice place to sit and enjoy a coffee or sandwich on a nice sunny day. No such luck. Weird thing is no change room lockers or showers within the pool area. You have to exit the pool area to find a place where you can change into/out of your cozzie. It’s just a toilet and a sink. That’s it. Like I said. Weird. The Star grand is very much superior in this regard. However, nice gym, small space totally separate from the pool area but clean and fitted out with bikes treadmills and rowing machines. Almost forgot. Big tip: don’t get any accommodation on the same level as the pool. The pool is set a half dozen steps up and there are rooms surrounding the pool area. Which means anyone walking around the pool deck can see directly into the rooms that are those same half dozen steps below. Incredible. All in all though, my partner and I very much enjoyed the exceptional luxury accommodation. We found all the hotel staff we dealt with extremely courteous with a special shout out to Jam on the concierge desk who was a hive of useful information including good places to eat. We followed her advice and were not disappointed. The 2 nights cost $859. After allowing for the inclusions the nightly cost for the room rate comes to...

We initially booked a King Room at the Darling Pyrmont for 2 nights at the beginning of June through Luxury Escapes which we later upgraded to the Jewel Spa Suite. Similar to our stay at the Star Gtand Pyrmont the previous week, the Inclusions with this deal were pretty generous. Apart from free self parking, breakfast for two people, late midday checkout, the daily food and drinks allowance was increased from $50 to $75. The large living area had space for a full size dining table and chairs with a tea and coffee making space with sink and what I believe is what they call a wet bar. The only fridge space is fully stocked with alcohol. No room for anything you might want to put in it. Like fresh milk or leftover pizza from lunch. Warning: apparently moving anything to make space for your needs automatically triggers a mechanism which charges your room number with the cost of said item.|And as with the Star Grand the hotel is really only set up for short term stays. Again, no cutlery no plates just a kettle and a couple of cups. Oh and a coffee pod machine. No frother though. Shame.|The Jewel Spa Suite exudes luxury in every detail. Bedroom area is separate from the living area. The Bed was sumptuous, comfortable pillows. Ensuite was huge and well appointed(loved the rain shower) with high end toiletries and a handy space to stow away suitcases and other paraphernalia. We had significant city and harbour views from generous size windows from the living room and bedroom.|The pool and hot tub area is an interesting space. Very nice garden and seating next to the pool, if it had a cafe attached I imagine it would be a nice place to sit and enjoy a coffee or sandwich on a nice sunny day. No such luck. Weird thing is no change room lockers or showers within the pool area. You have to exit the pool area to find a place where you can change into/out of your cozzie. It’s just a toilet and a sink. That’s it. Like I said. Weird. The Star grand is very much superior in this regard. However, nice gym, small space totally separate from the pool area but clean and fitted out with bikes treadmills and rowing machines.|Almost forgot. Big tip: don’t get any accommodation on the same level as the pool. The pool is set a half dozen steps up and there are rooms surrounding the pool area. Which means anyone walking around the pool deck can see directly into the rooms that are those same half dozen steps below. Incredible. All in all though, my partner and I very much enjoyed the exceptional luxury accommodation. We found all the hotel staff we dealt with extremely courteous with a special shout out to Jam on the concierge desk who was a hive of useful information including good places to eat. We followed her advice and |were not...

Honestly was disappointed with The Darling. For what is ment to be a 5 star hotel is not quite up to par.

The foyer looked amazing and immaculate in how clean it was. The staff are wonderful and I commend Ben and Brad for their level of service and how well we were treated on arrival and departure.

However when I booked, I booked a twin room with a view. I called a few days later to confirm everything and again asked for a view and was told this would not be a problem and he would write it on our room requests. Upon arrival I was informed that none of the twin rooms had the option of a view. Now this would not have been a problem had been told on booking when I called. We had also requested early check-in. I understand this is an inconvenience on the hotel. Our room was not ready at 10am when we arrived which we had no issue with because we dropped our bags off and went into the city. However we arrived back at the property at 3;30pm which is a half hour after their check-in time only to be told our room was still not ready. We had to be moved floors and rooms to be able to check-in.

When we arrived at our room we found that the mirror was dirty with hand prints or smudge marks and there was a layer of dust under the TV. The beds were also not made very well with the sheets not tucked in or presented neatly. I have then gone to have a shower only to find that the shower drain was rusty and there was mould or something black in the grout of the shower.

The beds were comfortable however the only available pillows were feather pillows. My mother and I are allergic to these and we were having breathing problems all night which made our stay even more uncomfortable. Would have been nice to have the option of pillows for a situation such as this.

The light switches are beyond confusing and im not sure why they have different settings for different times of day. My mother could not figure out how to turn them on or off if she and i had trouble with this I hate to think if an elderly couple stayed how they would have managed.

I paid $300 for this room and this was ment to be the early mothers day get away for me and my mum and honestly it was a complete let down. Overall it was good location if you were seeing a show with really nice staff but that's about where the good stops with this place. Will not be staying here ever again.

Edition Since my review my review the manager of the darling hotel has contacted me and discussed my concerns and issues and have been very professional and helpful with addressing my concerns. I commend their professionalism and will endeavour to give thw darling hotel another try...