Friendly, helpful staff and comfortable quiet room. In fact the service was beyond my expectations, after checking out, reception looked after my case whilst I went site seeing. When I returned, having spilt sauce on myself at lunch, they offered me a towel to have a shower (no charge). I stayed here with my sister and we had no problem walking through Kings Cross at night so don't let it put you off. Plus, there is complementary wifi at a slower speed, fine for emails.
To check in they want a 'photo id', by default driver's licence. It's something I loathe and object to. The sort of thing some real estate agents do to get your details on a database. The hotel assured me the photo-copied or scanned image would be destroyed. These days a verbal assurance isn't good enough without a privacy policy. Sad that the world's come to this, but well, it has. If this is what any hotel wants to do, I'd like them to be upfront at booking time.
To make it worse the man behind the desk thought to patronise me by maintaining that all hotels do that. 'How many hotels have you stayed in', he asks. 'Over 30 in the past year', I reply. Not a good start.
Fortunately the hotel itself is good. Granted I had a room on the Macleay street side so it came with a view of the city skyline, harbour bridge and harbour. And across to the apartments off to the left and the street down below. Impressive.
A lazy11am check out, but judging by the text, don;t contemplate staying beyond 11am.
It is a serviced apartment, so no room service, but you can order breakfast. The prices seemed reasonable. I went across the road to Woolies and bought a few things; probably a waste of money for one night.
The room was on the small but the space is well used, except for the bathroom where you're fighting to find a spot for a washbag.
A minus is there's no control over aircon other than fan on or off
It's not cheap, but cheaper on Saturday night than elsewhere in town on the night I was there.
It had a real queen bed, not two singles tied together.
Clean looking, clean smell, carpet looks new.
The room had a sink, fridge, microwave.
The area around the hotel great to walk around, great old buildings. It's just down from Kings cross which has changed for the better over the years - although the old locals hate its being gentrified - despite the bad publicity coming from some gratuitous bashings; booze-related. I still think it's safe but just beware of your surroundings as you should in most places anyway.
Credit to the wife for tracking this hotel down prior to our recent visit to Australia. Great location in 'funky' area on the cusp of King's Cross and Potts Point. I'd been to Sydney before but for wife and son this was a first visit and the Macleay ticks a lot of boxes.
As mentioned, the location but also the views towards the Bridge/Opera House in one direction or the Heads the other way. You'll need to be 6th floor and upwards to maximise the views. You can take the bus, train or walk into town via the Botanic Gardens to reach the Circular Quay and its various transport/sightseeing options. If walking back, beware the McElhone Stairs (or Stairs of Death, all 112 of them) quite daunting if you've already done some walking during the day.
The three of us shared a family room and found the Woolworths across the street invaluable for snacks and nibbles to eat in. There is a large and varied selection of eateries locally. You pays your money and takes your choice.
The front of house staff were friendly and helpful. There is a constant flow of taxis past the hotel and we had no need to book for our transport to the airport. Allow around 20 minutes off-peak.
We would happily stay again.
Daughter and i only stayed for a couple of nights, middle of December 2013
Served our purposes well,
The taxi ride to the hotel through the very busy red light district of Kings Cross on a Friday evening was entertaining, but the area the hotel is a more up market :)
25 mins stroll into the city centre, Darlings harbour, Opera house etc,
Apartment was clean and tidy, simple but fully usable, We were on the side of the hotel, with just a view of the harbour,,Staff friendly and helpfull, good supermarket just over the road, many restaurants in the area, but would book, as all were busy,,
Would stay again,
This hotel ticked all the boxes for us . Katie ,Vishal and Paulo at the front desk were always very helpful and friendly and are a great asset to the hotel . Our room had a wonderful view of the city skyline and harbour and although small it suited us perfectly for 5 days .We loved the fact you could open the windows if you didn't want the airconditioning .The bathroom is small and the shower adequate . I would definitely return
Staff remember regular guests at the front desk and are very attentive
Harbour views are a well kept secret at that price you can see across to Sydney heads
Close to a choice of restaurants just across the road and short walk to train station Great cosmopolitan area
