The Clarence Hotel Sydney by Accor

If you just need somewhere convenient to sleep and shower, this is a good option, especially if you don’t plan to spend time in the room. The welcome was warm and service stayed good throughout. There’s no restaurant on site. The area has lots of cafes, but they don’t open early on Sunday mornings or public holidays, though it may be different on regular weekdays. If you need breakfast to get going, this place may not suit you. The room was small and well renovated, but felt completely dysfunctional because too much had been squeezed into too little space. The TV could only be watched while standing in front of it, not from the sofa or bed. There was hardly any gap between sofa and bed, and nowhere to set up a workspace for a business trip.

The location in the CBD is very good, and the front desk staff are friendly and helpful. But the rooms are the tiniest I’ve ever stayed in. With a suitcase, good luck getting around the floor, and you’ll have to live out of it because there’s nowhere to unpack apart from a few hooks. You’d better like your bed, because there’s nowhere else to relax in the room, aka the cell. Don’t expect amenities: not even a bottle of water or a fountain to refill one. You can pay $5 for a minibar bottle, as if the room weren’t expensive enough. There’s a window above the bed, so you can’t see out, and it’s hard to open and close when trying to sleep. Basic things just weren’t considered. This is a place to sleep for one night in the CBD, nothing more. Keep your expectations as low as possible. It feels like a hostel at a 5-star price. Accor should be ashamed to put its name on this comically poor property.

The area was interesting, with lots of restaurants and easy access to the QVB, other CBD shopping areas and the Light Rail. There’s no on-site parking, but a parking station is nearby. Breakfast nearby was lovely. I had a very enjoyable stay last week. The recently refurbished rooms were funky and functional, and from booking through departure the staff were thoughtful, proactive and kind.

The bathroom was great, with plenty of space and clean shower facilities, while the room itself was very small. I hadn’t expected the cheapest room to have only a single bed and so little room to move. It felt a bit like a renovated utilities room. Overall the stay was decent, the hotel was nice and the receptionists were helpful. Housekeeping could have been better. They knocked even though I’d put up the do-not-disturb sign, didn’t restock the in-room fridge, and couldn’t provide another shower cap because they were all out. The blanket setup was annoying too. I think they use a single fabric sheet to cover the blanket, and when I pulled the bottom side out from under the bed, the sheet came with it. By morning it was completely separated from the blanket, so housekeeping had to remake the bed every day.