The Erko Hotel — Restaurant in Sydney

Absolute worst pub with the most horrible staff. Four of us came for lunch and ordered food with a drink each. Halfway through lunch, I went to the bar to order another round of drinks for us, and the waitress said, “Sure, just one moment,” and disappeared. When she came back, she was with another guy and he asked what I would like to order, so I told him our order for 4 drinks, and he said, “I’m sorry we can't serve you, you’ve had too much to drink”. I burst out laughing and told him he was funny, but he actually wasn’t joking, even after I said to him, “Is this a joke?”. I was absolutely confused, so I went back to the table and told my friends they weren’t serving us a second drink. One of my friends went up and we watched, and the guy said the exact same thing to him, and that’s when I walked back to the bar, still so confused, and started explaining to the guy that we had only just ordered one drink with lunch. I honestly didn’t understand why we had to explain that in the first place. I told him that none of us have ever been refused a drink in our lives, anywhere. We still thought he was joking and told him that he must have us confused or something. There wasn’t anyone else in the pub for lunch we were the only ones so that just made it even more confusing. He refused to tell us his name but he was a tall guy about 6 foot but so rude. My friend and I went back to the table and told the others what was going on, and they were just as confused as we were. All four of us ended up talking to the guy, but he continued to say he wouldn’t serve us. In the end, we just left our lunch behind and walked up to King Street. We ended up having the best arvo at another pub, however, we will never ever set foot in this pub ever again. What an awful experience, that guy made us feel like crap. No wonder the pub was completely empty when we arrived, we should have known that was a red flag. Stay away from this pub! Such horrible staff! What an awful...

A very disappointing stay. We arrived just before 10 am. The manager saw but ignored us. When the door finally opened, I asked if there was a possibility to check in early (would have paid extra) but it was not possible. We walked around the area until 2 pm, came back and were showed to our room, “Frankie” (we paid for 20 square meter room with a double bed). This room was 2.5 x 2.5 meters - not kidding.

I noticed the draft coming from the gap in balcony door and entrance door! For such a tiny room (with a pad locked balcony door overlooking the untidy balcony), I was astonished at how cold it was. It was colder in our room than outside (and got to 6 degrees at night). We asked ‘reception’ for a heater that evening but we’re told to use extra blanket and that, yes some rooms have drafts. Were told that their ‘smart TV’ only is a TV and can’t connect to internet. There were only two showers and toilets for 30+ ppl. It was a sleepless night, the most uncomfortable bed that had me in tears. I got sick. My partner and I waited till ‘10 am reception time’ to double check we can cancel the second night (as per terms and conditions).

Food & drinks: thankfully I didn’t eat there. After we got 2 ‘Bloody Mary’s’. Asked if possible not to add Worcestershire Sauce. Bartender takes out a 5 l tub of Aldi/Costco sauce and says it’s all premixed and this is their ‘special’ recipe.

Overall - not a great experience. And I’ve stayed in budget places before.

Update: The management did honor their statement though and I have received a full refund. Thank you. Perhaps another thing to mention - please double check QR code in the rooms as the ‘food’ option in the menu connects to...

This is an awesome venue. We didn’t book ahead but turned up at a quieter time, and luckily got a table. It took a little while to be served/helped by the security at the front who were manning the door, as they were speaking to a friend nearby for a fair while, but everything picked up once we entered so it was easy to brush aside.

The Erko Hotel are utilising an impressive service called ‘ME&U’, which seems to be great at helping ensure the safety and well-being of their patrons. Once you enter, you’re guided to a table. You stay seated for pretty much the whole time, as per COVID standards, but they coped with this well. There’s a QR code on the table, and through the ME&U platform, you can easily scroll through the entire food and drinks menu on your phone, and you then pay by Apple Pay. The staff then bring the drinks and food to your table, having received the order and table number information through this platform. It’s pretty impressive. Especially when I think we’ve all had times when we’ve received the wrong order, been misheard, been unsure of the menu, the prices, the options etc. this eliminates all of that!

Police frequently dropped in on the bar, assumably to check COVID regulations, but with the security not allowing more than the recommended amount of individuals inside and the presence of this ME&U platform, everything was fine.

The food was very nice, decently sized portions for the schnitzel and the steak. They also pumped FANTASTIC tunes the whole night. The staff inside the venue were exceptionally friendly and cheerful too, especially the bartender and the individual with the buzz cut....