Madison Carrington Apartments

The standout for me was how well connected the location is. Wynyard station, train lines, light rail and buses are close by, with Pitt Street about a 5-minute walk and Circular Quay 10-15 minutes away. The apartment is comfortable, has great facilities, and feels much nicer than its 3-star rating, especially for the price. The receptionist was exceptionally friendly and helpful, and I’d happily return to Sydney and stay here again. There is one issue: the smoke alarms are very sensitive and go off too often. If the fire department is being called multiple times a week, something clearly needs fixing. Management or the owner, please address it. If you do, contact me and I’ll update this feedback.

The building looks modest from the outside, but the apartments are a pleasant surprise: spacious for central Sydney, tidy, and comfortable. Reception is friendly, and the value is excellent. If you like fancy, pretentious surroundings, this probably isn’t your place.

The location is really great, and Trevor, the building manager, is a wonderful and helpful guy. The rest of the place was fine, and it’s good value, but the rooms and equipment are very old. The balcony looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years. One side of the bedroom also had an old, musty smell. The TV setup is frustrating. It gets two satellite channels, Fox Sports and Discovery, and only some local channels. Neither digital nor analogue tuning finds the others because of how it’s configured. Avoid a rear-facing room if you want privacy or quiet. All the rooms and balconies overlook an alley, about 10m from an office building, so people can look directly into the apartment unless the curtains are closed. Garbage trucks and street sweepers pass through very late or early, around 1m, almost every day.

The room was very spacious for central Sydney, but the traffic on this major city road was noisy all night. We were on the 5th floor, so it might be quieter higher up. The windows weren’t double glazed, and garbage trucks started coming through in the early hours.