Sofitel Wentworth, Sydney

...hotel break away in the Sofitel for four nights as our Christmas present

-------------------Our arrival--------------------

We arrived into Sydney from Bali, but arrived at the domestic terminal as we changed at Darwin in the early hours of the morning. We jumped in a taxi straight outside the airport. Taxis appeared to be plentiful which can be rare at airports sometimes. The taxi driver instantly offered us two routes ...
...in any hotel room. In Sofitel rooms you slept with a duvet underneath you as well as on top. This helps make it extra comfy. One thing I also find in hotels is that you don't always get enough pillows and have to call and wait a long time to get a couple of extra ones, However the extra pillows were there waiting for us in the wardrobe upon arrival.

Within the room you are given a fine coffee/tea making facility. This is located in ... more

So myself and my girlfriend went travelling around the world visiting 29 countries from July to December. We stayed in budget accommodation all around the world, some of it was good enough and the rest well thankfully we survived unscathed. However when we arrived in Sydney things changed. My girlfriends mum had treated us to a hotel break away in the Sofitel for four nights as our Christmas present

-------------------Our arrival--------------------

We arrived into Sydney from Bali, but arrived at the domestic terminal as we changed at Darwin in the early hours of the morning. We jumped in a taxi straight outside the airport. Taxis appeared to be plentiful which can be rare at airports sometimes. The taxi driver instantly offered us two routes to get to the hotel. These choices were simple the cheap slow option or the expensive route on the highways and as I'm from Yorkshire we of course chose the cheaper option. This cost us $37AUD.

As soon as we arrived at the hotel a member of the concierge service brought a trolley out to the taxi and unloaded our bags for us, which felt strange bearing in mind we usually carry it all on our back. He simply asked us the name of our reservation and then we had them delivered to our room after we had checked in.

Upon making our way to the check in desk I was simply very impressed with the layout of the reception area as we walked past a sofa area which was nicely decorated with a display celebrating the Eifel Tower. The reception area was crammed as it was just after 2pm, which is the time you can check in from. However the reason for this was that some Air Emirates Air Stewardesses were staying the hotel and took up most of the room. However when we joined the queue another receptionist appeared from nowhere to check us in - Something that doesn't happen in hostels!

Within the reception area you could pick up maps of the city, book local things to do and of course book all of your taxis around the city if needed. At reception you are asked to leave some money or credit card details to cover expenses incurred on your stay. Any outstanding balance is refunded to you upon check out.

-----------------Getting to our room------------------

From reception we made our way over to the four elevators on the ground floor. When we got in the lift you could select to go up to the 5th floor, but you needed to insert a key card to get the lift higher then this floor. This is because this is the location of one of the restaurants. We were on the seventh floor so felt re-assured by this fact (as I say we have to think of things like this is hostels).

The lift was great and you could tell this was a classy place. When you walked in it had a detailed map showing which rooms were on the floor, which restaurants were on which floor and where the bar was. However the thing that really gripped me was the fact that it was all mirrored. It was quite scary seeing myself about 10 times in the mirrors but it made the lift feel even bigger and helped my girlfriend who suffers a bit in small enclosed spaces.

When getting out of the lift this mirrored feel was continued as we walked passed 3 full length mirrors on the walls en-route to our room.

------------------Our room------------------

My main criticism of many hotel rooms is that they don't give you a homely feeling; however this room is the first time I think I have stayed in a hotel where I actually felt at home. The room has a great king size bed which lets be honest is very important in any hotel room. In Sofitel rooms you slept with a duvet underneath you as well as on top. This helps make it extra comfy. One thing I also find in hotels is that you don't always get enough pillows and have to call and wait a long time to get a couple of extra ones, However the extra pillows were there waiting for us in the wardrobe upon arrival.

Within the room you are given a fine coffee/tea making facility. This is located in a cupboard. Here you are given decaf and regular coffee, 5 flavors of tea, biscuits and Hot Chocolate. This also leads onto the mini bar which had a fine selection of nuts, choc's, soft drinks, wine and beers. This was reasonably priced, as was the stronger alcohol which was placed on a shelf higher then the kettle out of small peoples reach.

Within the room was a great 27" flat screen HD ready TV which was connected to Foxtel, which is Australia's equivalent of SKY, which showed all the usual TV as well as local Australian stuff as well. This of course has the usual videos on demand facility. The room also had an internet cable to us as required and wireless throughout the hotel. In the room was also a safe in the wardrobe, an iron and ironing board.

However the main reason for the homely feeling was again the fact that we had loads of mirrors and that we had a massive sofa underneath the window in the room for us to sit reading the complimentary newspapers or magazines (like the economist) for reading. The mirrors again helped make the room feel bigger then it actually was.

The lights in the room also helped create a relaxing environment as you could choose the main lights, bed side reading lights or under the bed lights incase anyone is asleep - all from the same switch.

Also within the room you are provided with an in-depth magazine guide to the city that seems to be for every quarter and there is even a tourist channel on the TV that shows the sights every half an hour so if you need some guidance it can be found in the comfort of your room.

---------------The Bathroom------------------

The bathroom was a nice oval shaped room. Within here was a bath with shower above it and all of the usual facilities. Of course when staying in a fancy hotel it is compulsory to take as much bathroom provisions as required so we filled up with shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion to our hearts content as well as sewing kits, soap and the like.

While the bathroom was an adequate size and did the job, it was hear that I felt the room was let down slightly. The bath was not big enough to enjoy a bath in which didn't bother me as I always take showers, but was an issue for my girlfriend. However on the other side of the coin is the fact that the shower was one of the best I have used. The doors were also a bit of an issue and had to be slammed shut to close them.

--------------Room service----------------

As a result of not actually having to pay for our accommodation in Sydney we decided to order room service on our first evening as we were rushed for time. On the first occasion we ordered a pizza with cherry tomatoes, Chips and roast potatoes with parmesan and herbs. This came to $39AUD. The pizza was very good and for the price was actually very reasonable as this is about 15-17GBP! I am currently living in Perth and you will pay more then this for a pub meal.

As a result of our first experience been so well we ordered it again on our final evening. This time we went for Chicken Caesar Salad, Waffles with Maple Syrup and clotted cream and another potion of the potatoes with parmesan. This was again excellent and the waffles were very, very sweet and this time came to $50AUD which for Sydney prices is very reasonable. Both times the meals arrived in a timely fashion and came with everyone condiment you could wish for.

----------------Hotel Facilities---------------

Within the hotel are 2 restaurants, One of these is located on the 5th floor and gives good views over the city with his rooftop garden. It also has a lounge bar on the ground floor. The hotel also has the provisions of a spa and health club and the usual gym access. The gym is free while the health treatments don't come as part of the package.

---------Things to do in Sydney-------------

When we first arrived in Sydney we had to quickly disappear to the Shangri-La hotel to go to a friends wedding from England. The reception was in the bar on the 36th floor and gave amazing views over the harbor and allowed us to see many of the sights at night.
On the day we visited we took a walk around the rocks and Darwin harbor and of course took a while to stop and admire the Harbor Bridge. However one thing we didn't do that I wish we did was the Bridge walk. Climbing over the top of the bridge and seeing fabulous views of the city, details can be found here http://www.bridgeclimb.com/. From here we made our way down to the opera house where you can easily kill a couple of hours simply looking from the outside or maybe even organize to do a tour of the inside (see http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/ for details), This also housed a few stunning restaurants for views of the river.

Right next to the opera house is the botanical gardens which is extremely big and is definitely worth a look. We boarded the tourist train at the front for $10 per person and went on a guided tour of the gardens which lasted around 45 minutes. The train we got was the ladt one of the day, which was surprising as it was only 4pm. However the driver did stop to allow you to take pictures. From here it is possible to get a picture of both the opera house and the bridge in one picture which I think looks great.

The next day we did something not many do, but we headed out of the city and went to Palm beach that is around 40mins bus journey. The reason we went was simple, it is the place where home and away is filmed. As we went on a Monday we actually sat watching some of the filming and visited the surf club. This was a strange surreal experience but it was simply beautiful. The beaches here are empty on weekdays as opposed to places like Bondi beach.

--------Essential facts--------------

Time difference -

Currency - Australian Dollars - 1GBP = 2.25 AUD (roughly)

Climate Averages -
Hottest Month - 25.8 degrees January
Coldest Month - 16.2 degrees July
Wettest Month - March 5.2 Inches
Driest Month - September 3.0 Inches

Getting there - Easiest way to arrive by plane. Flights from England usually change at Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpar.

Website - http://www.sofitelsydney.com.au/

---------Conclusions----------

I will keep this simple as I have written enough. This is the 2nd best hotel I have stayed in after the Malmasion in Oxford!

Price is of course expensive and as it was a gift I haven't enquired how much it cost, but Ciao has found a very cheap offer on the web which is of course worth looking at if your ever over here. 

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