Chatswood Hotel — Restaurant in Sydney

Update 9 months later - went back for a specific night and ti see if anything had changed as the locations is convenient. This is the first time we have tried it again since the review below. Seems not much has changed and in fact has become more about what the manager wants rather than their patrons - you know, the people that put money in your POS. No real change to the wine list - dreadful options and very limited beer and alternate options downstairs. There is more upstairs but should I really have to walk upstairs every time I want to get a drink? The day we went, the sport on the TV is determined by what the manager wants to watch - even if the groups sitting in the area are all asking for a specific game. There was literally no one left sitting in front of the main screen, instead all huddled around a small screen inside. Broke up our group. Service rating down - this has NOTHING to do with the staff behind the bar who are delightful working the best they can with what they are given. This downgrade is purely a reflection of the service of the owners / managers and consideration of their patrons.

Was starting to get good, then changed hands again.... Finally, after a change of hands the owners were doing some lovely things, especially with their renovation of the outside space making it a nice place to hang out. However, since the most recent change of owner a few months ago (believe owned by the same crowd that have the Orchard across the rail lines) the previously great live music on a Friday - gone. A decent wine list - gone -- in fact on my last visit the choice of white by the glass was moscato or chardonnay because the owners were waiting to change over to their preferred brands. The beers we drank - gone - again moving to their preferred brands. Get economies of scale but if have no choice between the 2 hotels close to each other in Chatswood and they both don't serve what you drink - you are now minus a crowd of 10...

We have been coming to this pub for around 5 days in a row for drinks. As they do not have a designated smoking area, we will have to go upstairs to the pokie machine area to smoke. Even buying drinks and playing the machines from time to time. We got asked to leave the smoking area by a Thai staff as we were ordering drinks from her. Saying we weren’t allowed to stay there as we weren’t playing at the time when ordering drinks.

Then we said we were playing just before, she didn’t see and we are also costumers since we were drinking. She took awhile to come back with our order, which we knew that she must be speaking to someone else about the situation. I went to the bathroom and came back to my friend speaking to the security and possibly bar manager. The security with Asian ethnicity, wearing glasses with short black hair. Was saying we need to leave because we weren’t playing, so my friend asked, so if I was to play does that mean I can stay here, he bluntly said no and asked us to leave. Then my friend asked so we have drinks can we atleast finish it or do we need to finish it outside the premises. The bar manager said no definitely we can finish it downstairs in the non smoking area. My friend very politely asked the security what the policy was and why we couldn’t stay if we were to play since that is exactly what he was saying in the first place. He said because my friend was arguing, which is even more funny. As a customer, if I’m just asking about the policy of your service or store, according to him, it immediately means we were arguing. And so what if we were even though we weren’t, we were extremely calm, not raising our voice or cursing. This rookie security who thinks he’s a top dog, obviously doesn’t know how to keep customers. He only wants to use his so called authority because he’s got nothing better to do other than stand at the door, just lost some regular...

The Chelsea Hotel is well worth a visit for a reasonable meal, good drinks, and a friendly 'local pub' feel.

In a terribly convenient location right near Chatswood train station, the Chelsea exudes the atmosphere of a friendly local watering hole. It's not an overly large establishment, and there is a good sized courtyard out the front which doubles as a dance floor for when the Night Fever action heats up. Inside, there are several TVs that play sport continuously, making it a fun place to watch Origin matches in amongst the beer-fuelled middle-aged football crazed bogan blokes standing round the bar on a winter's night. There are three seating areas for various uses; one packed with stools on the ground level with it's own bar, one on the main level adjacent to the main bar for the loud and musically inclined, and a quieter seating area on the upper level, which is ideal for a good meal and some chat.

Speaking of meals, the food here is surprisingly good. I like pub food; it's quick, simple and deep fried and sends you to an early grave, but it feels great going down. The Chelsea is no exception here. Two favourites include the steak sandwich and the Chicken Parmigiana, both of which are normally delicious. Out of the dozens of times I've eaten here, only one or two sub-optimal meal has been experienced. Oh, and the wedges are fantastic.

It's not all good stuff though, the Chelsea used to have another recreational area to the left up the stairs. This area used to consist of comfy couch seats and a pool table. What is disappointing however is that this area has been torn down and turned into a VIP gambling circus. Now most patrons avoid the room like some sort of giant slot-machine shaped plague... It's such a shame they decided to change the room.

Despite this, The Chelsea is an enjoyable place to be for hydration, or for...