The Glenmore Hotel — Restaurant in Sydney

Popped into The Glenmore on Friday night and my goodness, what a truly delightful and memorable evening it was! I decided it was high time to take my darling daughter Suzy and her husband Jason out personally to celebrate the beautiful new home they bought in Camden South. They did of course do the whole housewarming thing, but I wanted to take them out just me and them (and of the grandkids LOL). You know, it’s not every day one buys a first home, and I simply could not let such a milestone go by without marking it properly!

From the moment we stepped through the doors, we were greeted with warmth and friendliness. The lights were soft, the music just lively enough to feel cheerful without being overpowering, and the whole place smelled faintly of fresh wood and something sweet from the kitchen. It was quite charming, really.

A lovely young lady was working and she was still being trained, but I must say she did very well. Polite, attentive, and eager to help, she reminded me a little of my granddaughter Hannah when she first started ballet, full of promise and enthusiasm. She seemed like a beautiful girl, raised right which is hard to find these days.

I chose to order something called "THE REDEEMER" which was quite nice, while Suzy opted for something called a "WISE MOUNTAIN" and Jason went for the "BEDOUIN ICED TEA" because he will drink anything with bourbon in it (LOL!)

As we settled in at a cozy table, I couldn’t help but notice how well the new worker balanced her attention between the bar and the tables. Kudos to her!

I must say, the whole experience felt remarkably personal. Suzy and Jason were delighted, of course, and I was simply thrilled to see them enjoying their special night. It’s rare these days to encounter such friendly, competent service, and I’ll be sure to tell all the grandchildren about Ava (that’s the young lady’s name, if I remember correctly!) - and perhaps even encourage them to come in next time they visit, just to see how wonderful she is.

We left feeling cheerful, well-cared-for, and with very full hearts (and stomachs). I will most certainly return to The Glenmore, and I hope Ava continues to shine in her new role — she truly made our little celebration feel like a proper occasion, full of warmth, laughter, and a...

Nope. Uninspired cocktails and grumpy service makes this a “no thank you” with so many other great places in town and even in the Rocks. I understand what all of the fuss is about, with the three levels, and the rooftop with the amazing views, but the vibe was really off. It definitely felt like the type of place that people came to be “seen”, and the couple next to us were sucking down bottles of Veuve like it was their day job. So perhaps a demanding crowd? I love people watching. It’s not the crowd that was so bothersome, so much as it was the servers. When we asked about being seated, one of the girls just sort of growled at us. She didn’t even answer. She pointed to a table. Later we saw her and a few of the other servers hustling around (trying to kick some people out of the tables that were in by the view, because they had been reserved) it was just such a negative experience to witness. The servers were angry…each other, at the group. Clearly and visibly frustrated. Really awkward and uncomfortable. When I went to the bar to get my drink, the same server who was grumpy turned around when I asked her a question. She literally just turned around. So I asked somebody else, and they answered me with a short response. Everyone seemed so miserable.

On to the cocktails. I ordered a couple of different drinks, which were uninspired. And unless you order something simple, like a beer that they can pour at the bar, it takes about 25 minutes for your drink to arrive. They give you a little number. The only good thing was the view, and that’s why the place is getting three stars. Because the view was incredible. I understand it’s difficult working with the public. And especially this crowd, which looked like it was dressed up and probably a bit demanding of the servers, but to be angry and yelling is just uncalled for and makes everybody’s day miserable. We’ve been to plenty other bars in the neighborhood with the same price point of drinks, and the servers were delightful. Even if the crowds seem to be the same crowd. Also, the price point of the drinks was the same at some other great cocktail places in the rocks, and again, these were a bland offering. You are paying...

We attended a New Years Eve event last night at The Glenmore Hotel and it was just disgraceful. We paid $400 per person for this event and when we arrived at the rooftop venue we noticed there was hardly any tables or any chairs to sit on considering the amount of people that were there. I mentioned this to a staff member and she informed that they decided to make more space for a dance floor which is fair enough but then they needed to sell less tickets. They expected for $400 per person for someone to stand up for 4.5 hours holding our bags, coats, drinks and plates. We tried to sit on the levels below and those levels were also packed out and if we were to find a seat downstairs we would have missed out on the canapés which we also paid for. Regarding the canapés in the past when we attended the Glenmore Hotel the waiter/waitress would go to each guest and offer them the food. However, this year the waiter/waitress would just rush past everyone and we would have to wave them down to stop at us which again we paid $400 for. In regards to the drinks package, in the past when we attended this event the drinks package included beers, wines and house spirits however this year the drinks package only included beers and wines and when I went to the bar to order a house spirit they informed me I had to pay which was not specified on the ticket which is misleading advertising to all guests. We ended up leaving early as it was such a disgraceful evening. We should be refunded...