Shakespeare Hotel — Restaurant in Sydney

Disappointed with my stay here as Tripadvisor states it has free wifi - however, upon arrival, I was told that the wifi was not working and the closest place would be the bar up the road. If I'd have known in advance I would have not stayed here, as I like to go online the moment I wake up and last thing at night (and numerous times in between!). It was inconvenient to not be able to check social media and emails as soon as I woke up. I ended up sitting in the pub up the road for far too long looking for good seats for the concert that I was in town for. The bathroom was also grim. Dirty with a bunch of little flies/midges in the bath round the plug hole. When I first pulled back the shower curtain I was horrified. As an animal lover (even flies), I also didn't want to just turn the shower on and drown them, so it was hard to know what to do! The bathroom floor edges looked particularly dirty and the sink was not very clean. It also had a small blockage so water built up in the sink and took ages to go down. There are 2 other toilets with sinks, although those sinks had no lock on the doors (only on the toilet door, which is separate to the sink), and the door didn't stay shut, so if you wanted to brush your teeth or wipe make-up off in one of the sinks by the toilet it was hard to know whether anyone else might just walk in! One of the sinks (I only went in one of the toilets) had no hot tap, just a gap where it had been removed. The windows were stiff to open/close. The bedroom window was open when I arrived but as it was so noisy outside with the pub drinkers underneath, I chose to close the window, only to then not be able to get it to stay open on its own the next day. The bed itself was nice, and one of the few clean things (along with the towels). The room has an old leather sofa and armchair, but they are so worn you can see some of the inside stuffing through rips. I also looked under the armchair and found someone else's drink glass! The room door creaked every time I opened it. The room was a little dark, but does have a few lights. I didn't try the TV or the coffee/tea at the coffee/tea station. Best thing about the hotel is the location - less than 10mins walk to Central Station. If I go back to Sydney, I would not stay here again. I had high hopes, but sadly, was...

Stay away from this hotel if you can! it is way too expensive for what you get. This hotel should be shut down for renovation.

First of all, I would not call this accommodation a Hotel but rather a low end Hostel that requires extensive repair.

This place is owned by an old lady (not a corporation or company), she is also the owner of the pub underneath the rooms.

All rooms (they have 6 of them on the top floor have shared bathrooms), and be prepared to take the stairs with your luggage to the top floor. There are only 2 toilets and 1 shower for 12 people and it is disgusting to use because ot lacks maintenance and renovation.

There is no reception, you ask for your keys at the bar (Kate was the only good thing from our stay).

There is no shared kitchen.

There is no fridge, no kettle, no bathroom or toilets in any room.

The kettle and packs of coffee are in the corridor next to the shower.

The paint in the room and common areas is pealing off, things are broken (night stand, blinds, closet), spider webs, dust, coackroach in bathroom, floor tiles missing, mattress with yellow big stain on it, there is mold in the shower curtain, bad smell, missing window in toilets, there are no door knobs anywhere! etc… see pictures.

If you can make any other accommodation arrangements other than this place please do so to have a much better stay.

Conclusion: This is an over priced hotel. It should be called hostel since all rooms have shared bathroom. It is dirty, no fridge, no kitchen and should be shut down for renovation and major repair.

This was the worst experience so far for us and the owner refused to refund us...

The Shakespeare Hotel is not for everyone (what is?) but it perfectly fitted what I wanted. ||I was traveling alone and wanted to get to know old Sydney, and get in touch with Aussie life, and was planning this as an economy trip.||The SH is a charming historical Victorian era building in an historic Victorian era part of Sydney (Surry Hills) that has gentrified and has a very active social scene.||The SH is close to the Central Train Station from where any part of Sydney and environs can be reached quickly, easily and cheaply. The rooms at the SH are also budget priced.||The rooms are above a very active Aussie pub and so are noisy in the evening. This was no problem for me, in the evening I was out seeing Sydney (the Opera House, watching fruit bats, etc.) and came back at night not long before closing to pick up a little something from the pub before bedtime.||Be aware that since this is an historic 150 year old building you will be climbing narrow stairs to get to your room.||And it you want to you can hang around the SH in the evening shooting the breeze with locals who frequent the place.|| You key gets you in a side door if the place is closed if you return late at night.||I was very pleased with my choice. If I return to Sydney traveling under similar circumstances, I would definitely...