The Regent : a good Sydney hotel on Circular Quay (Hotels in Sydney)

Member Name: ray_moth

Product:	Hotels in Sydney
Date:	23/07/02 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: : Convenient location, efficient and well-run, friendly service

Disadvantages: Room rather small, lack of cupboard space, food rather expensive

My job has taken me to many destinations in the Southeast Asia and South Pacific region and I have stayed at a variety of hotels in Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan. The Regent Hotel in Sydney was probably one of the best I have experienced, all things considered.

I stayed at the Regent for 10 days recently. I selected the hotel and made the booking through the Four Seasons website (this is one of their hotels). There were no hitches and I was able to occupy the room as soon as I arrived at 8:00 am. When my stay was over, checkout was equally smooth.

The Regent is conveniently located near the lower end of George St., on Circular Quay and next door to The Rocks, a well-known historical area of Sydney. It's within walking distance of the train station, ferry terminals and the Opera House, and not far from downtown shopping, the monorail and Darling Harbour.

The lobby was rather plain and barn-like: not particularly conducive to sitting around. My room was one of the least expensive and, although it was comfortable enough, it was rather small. Of course, I didn't go to Sydney to spend all day in my room, so it wasn't all that important to me, but one consequence was that there was relatively little cupboard space. The air conditioning was excellent and did the right thing when I altered the fan speed or thermostat: something I've found to be rare in hotel rooms!

The room had the amenities you might expect from a high class hotel, such as a safe, well-stocked minibar, multi-channel TV with remote control, wall sockets for connecting PCs and mobile phone battery charges, tea and coffee making facilities and an alarm clock. As with all hotel rooms I've ever experienced, it was impossible to figure out how to use the alarm clock! :-) The bedside light switches were sensibly large, not crammed into a panel so small that you can'
t find anything, as some hotels seem to favour.

The bathroom was excellent and spotlessly clean, with a sensible safety device fitted to the shower temperature control to prevent accidental scalding. The water temperature control actually worked at its optimum setting but it was overly sensitive if altered - good thing there was a safety device!

Room service was excellent but the food was rather expensive. When ordering room service, one is told when to expect the food to arrive and it always arrived on time and was still hot. The bell-boy, laundry and housekeeping services were prompt and courteous. It seemed to me that the Regent values its service to guests very highly.

Would I stay at the Regent again? Yes, unless I especially wanted to try one of the alternatives.

Summary: