Stayed here in a studio apartment for two weeks over Christmas and New Year, and have to say much the same as some other reviewers.

I'll start with the good ....

- location is excellent, a block from Town Hall Station, five minute walk from Darling Harbour, plenty of convenience stores nearby that are open late

- check-in: we arrived in Sydney at 9am, officially their check-in time is 2pm, but they had our room ready for 12:30. They didn't have to do this, and I appreciate the effort they made.

- complimentary Foxtel TV

- in-room CD and DVD players

- modern, clean, the kind of place you should really enjoy spending time in


Now, in no particular order, the bad ....

- both of our room key-cards had to be re-programmed by reception every two or three days. So frustrating, and unnecessary, these should easily be able to retain all the information on them for two weeks. If they can't then there's something wrong with the cards, so stop re-issuing them. Throw them away and get some new ones that work.

- apartment floors are served by five elevators, one of which was permanently out of order. I can accept that Christmas isn't the best time to get a repair company out, but they charge the earth for rooms around New Years Eve and the place was full so it's not like they couldn't afford it. But they would rather deny guests 20% of the elevator capacity at the busiest time of year.

- I have to agree with what somebody else said, they have a whole load of daft rules, and if you break any of them you're fined a hundred dollars! Like if you lose your room key (which is just a plastic key-card, which costs pennies to replace) it's not worth a $100 fine - sometimes people lose things, it's not malicious, it's just human nature. And are they also saying that if you're unlucky enough to have your wallet or purse stolen and your key is in it, then Meriton Towers are going to take another hundred dollars from you as well? Come on!

- another rule, which was on posters all over the place reminding their guests was a "no parties, no loud noise" rule, the penalty for which was immediate eviction and no refund. Which seemed a bit harsh, but if that's the rules then that's the rules (though we weren't going to have a party anyway). Except that when I complained to reception about neighbours having a party in their room (and I didn’t want them evicted, just given a warning) I was told that there was nothing they could do as "theirs is a residential apartment". So Meriton Towers set the expectation that they have a zero-tolerance policy towards in-room parties, only for them to turn round and say that this applies to me, but that my neighbours could do whatever they liked! Unacceptable.

- folder with details of all their draconian fines also had "helpful" details about how to operate the oven, dishwasher, etc. Except that the person who wrote it obviously didn't try to follow his own instructions, as the ones that were allegedly for our dishwasher bore no relation to what we actually had to do. OK, figuring out a dishwasher isn't rocket science, but it just shows a lack of thought towards the guests.

- you need to be a giant to reach into the kitchen cupboards. I'm 6 foot (1.83m) tall and I was standing on tip-toes and barely getting my fingertips to the shelves. No doubt if I had caused a plate or cup to smash because of this, they would have fined me a hundred dollars!

- two people are staying in a room for two weeks, so give them a wardrobe with three coat-hangers in it. Ridiculous. It's not even like some had been pinched by previous guests, as these were the unstealable ones where the metal ring bit is on the pole (and can't be removed). It's not right that one of the first things we had to do is go out and buy coat-hangers.

- you've been out all day, you get back at about 4:30 or 5pm, go for a shower, pad about the apartment wearing not-a-lot, and generally relax and unwind. You don't want a knock at the door and have housekeeping come in to make your bed and vacuum the carpet and mop the floor, all with you watching them. They’ve had all day, why wait till after 5pm? This wasn't an isolated incident, it happened again and again and again.


You'll notice that none of these things would cost a lot to fix. Which is the frustrating thing - these are first-class apartments and I enjoyed the time I spent in them. But there are just too many little niggling problems that, when looked at together, leave me with the impression that there's no real care or consideration for their guests. And for that reason I won't be back.

We had a 2 bedroom apartment on the 54th floor for the week of NYE ; spectacular view, but blocked by the adjacent World Tower and the Ernst & Young Buildings!

Very well appointed and modern; lounge was a bit small if there had been 4 in the apartment (there was only 2 of us) ; large mirror sunk into the ceiling above the master bed was a fun touch!!

Great location in the CBD - though the noise of the emergency vehicle sirens can still travel to that height at 4 in the morning! Useful bottle shops, bars and restaurants in the area, especially Japanese, Korean and Chinese restaurants, and a 10 minute walk from the restaurants and bars in Cockle Bay Wharf.

Staff were efficient rather than friendly (it was the end of Dec and start of January - so very busy) Our only complaint (apart from no cocktail shaker or cocktail glasses or champagne bucket being available in this 'luxury' accommodation) was the failure of the staff to provide a working stereo unit, which maintenance and front desk staff promised to provide to replace the faulty unit in our apartment. A working stereo never appeared ; but then, there was that mirror on the ceiling for entertainment!

Stayed in 1 bedroom apartment on 36th floor with good views over harbour area.Excellent kitchen area with high spec appliances, dishwasher etc
Apartment was cleaned daily and left spotless every day
Only thing I did not like was the bond that was held on my visa card for a week, would recommend to anyone visiting Sydney as the location was excellent 10minutes walk to Darling Harbour with ferry access to all other areas
It is worth paying a bit more for a 1 bedroom apartment rather than a studio

This place was great, remember it's a service hotel and you will be pleased. Clean, New, Bright, Good security, elevators were not bad.
Pool was on the cool side, but had it's charm for my daughter.
The real deal is in the price, location and newness. Great bars around and lots of food choices.
We had 3 rooms which included a mix of all available options and all were a bargain in relation to full service hotels.
I would not hesitate recommending this hotel to everyone.

P.S dont get locked out on the patio, it locks behind you.