Park Hyatt Sydney

Traveling to Australia – Qantas A380
Park Hyatt Sydney
Sydney – Spice I Am, Watsons Bay, Manly Beach, Cafe Paci
Sydney – The Opera House Black Star Bakery, The Rocks, Sake
Emirates Wolgan Valley – Part One
Emirates Wolgan Valley – Part Two
Kangaroo Island – Southern Ocean Lodge, Part One
Kangaroo Island – Southern Ocean Lodge, Part Two

Sydney has a wide variety of all brands of hotels, and when we were deciding where to stay for our trip, we looked at all the usual suspects and brands in the area – Four Seasons, Shangri-La, etc, as well as a variety of recommended boutique hotels (which unfortunately for cranky us, all seemed to be above nightclubs). Over and over again though, we were told the best hotel in Sydney by a wide margin, was the Park Hyatt Sydney. So when we touched down in Sydney in the early morning, that was where we were headed!

One of the frequently mentioned details about Park Hyatt is its amazing location in Sydney – right on the waterfront, with views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. This was our first look at the hotel.

The lobby lounge area on the first floor was brightly lit with huge windows to show off the view. In the morning there were always some juices, coffee and pastries set up in the lounge – I assume that this was to provide a small complimentary breakfast to all guests.

We were quickly taken to our room, where check-in was performed in the room (always preferred). We were in an Opera View Deluxe room, which I’d highly recommend. Lots of light, and very bright.

The mini bar was nicely tucked away behind a door – I thought it was quite a pretty way to integrate it. I was especially happy to see a fully functioning kettle (metal, not plastic, which drives me crazy to see) and a teapot as well. And of course there was complimentary Nespresso!

The room was quite bright so we had the sheer shades pulled down (there was another set of blackout shades used for when we went to sleep). But right outside was this spectacular view of Sydney Opera House, which you could also enjoy from an outdoor balcony!

To the left was another fantastic view – Harbour Bridge.

All right, now back to the room. More specifically, the bathroom. I loved the tub, which could look directly into the bedroom, and through the windows towards the Opera House view. So relaxing. There was a separate rainfall shower, and of course I had to include a photo of the Toto toilet! Why can’t I get heated seats at home?

And of course, the bathroom toiletries. I was happy to see Le Labo and the Bergamote 22 fragrance was great. It would have been even cooler if there were toiletries from a local Australian brand! I thought the way that the comb, sewing kit, shower cap, etc were arranged was very neat and reminiscent of Tetris.

Overall, we were very happy with our room. I would say that it would be the perfect size for any couple, and you wouldn’t run out of space. A family with one very young child could probably use the same room, but anything more and I might recommend a suite.

I should mention that our trip to Australia was actually a little gift to myself for my birthday. 2014 has been a year of highs and lows. I was really happy to get away and relax…the hotel noticed on my ID that it was close to my birthday, and they sent up this cake almost right after we finished check-in.

Each night, there was also a turndown treat to eat! These were pretty big and almost a full course dessert in themselves, quite honestly.

On the topic of food – each morning, we had breakfast downstairs in the lobby restaurant. It was a huge space with views over the water (though there was usually a huge cruise ship obstructing some views of the Opera House). It didn’t bother me and I still loved looking outside.

The breakfast each day was a very nice buffet, with the option to order additional food from a menu. The items in the buffet were quite yummy and there were new treats each day, such as a croissant custard raisin treat!

The buffet area also had my dream household item – a transparent fridge! I love these so much. I know exactly one person with one of these (not counting Yolanda from the Real Housewives, of course), and I stare for minutes and minutes on end.

Since we were on vacation and love breakfast, of course we also added ordered items each day. My favorite two items were a corned beef hash with poached eggs (oh so good), and french toast with berries and carmelized bananas.

Overall, we were very happy with our stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney. The property is priced quite a bit higher than other luxury hotels in the area (to the tune of almost 3X more), but if you are willing to pay more for an improved experience, I’d definitely recommend a stay here – especially for a first time visitor to Sydney. The location is perfect.

• Positives: A gorgeous location, stunning views, a fairly new and very well taken care of property, good dining options and excellent concierge (if you go please say hi to Jonathan!). The hotel also offers some very unique, complimentary activities such as a walking tour of the local area (more on that to come).
• Areas for improvement: I would say that sometimes the service could be a little inconsistent – but the one very small issue (late turndown) we had was quickly rectified. This is a property with management and employees that obviously care about service greatly, which I would rank as most important.
• Would I stay again: Absolutely!

Thank you all for reading along, and next time I’ll be covering more of our stay in Sydney.