Not worth the 4 stars!

Stayed here in May 2005 for a week. Room was quite small and we had to move luggage stand in order to open drawer of bedside cabinet. Twice had to phone down for towels as none had been left in room for us.

Our room overlooked the street on a very busy and noisy junction. On the one occasion we went to the bar adjacent to the Pump House Restaurant there was a big queue so we walked out after ten minutes.

Breakfast buffet was quite good but same food every day and cooked food was only lukewarm. Staff were polite and helpful.

Seems to be some confusion between this and the larger pyramid shaped Novotel Century in all the pictures of Darling Harbour - the one in Little Pier Street is now called the NOVOTEL ROCKFORD DARLING HARBOUR.

Okay but wouldn't stay there again.

Basic - nothing more, nothing less

Hotel is located really well.... excellent to be frank.

But, rude staff and poor restaurant make it average.

European Style-rooms - Great Staff

This was a (3) night whirlwind trip to Sydney. Hotel is sleek, nice and clean. Rooms were very European and small. They did not change bedding daily; I am sure they would if you asked. Good dine in room service. Very friendly and accommodating Concierge & staff whom provided great overall customer service. They answered all our questions and went out of their way to book an extra last-minute "Blue Mountain" tour for us, which was well worth our time to see. Nice Breakfast Buffets. Easy access to Metro to take us downtown for shopping. The hotel is centrally located so you can do lots of walking, shopping, and perhaps grab some dinner all the while getting some exercise and fresh air on the harbor. This was much appreciated and needed after a very long flight. The views from the hotel were not much but the helpful staff provided such great customer service that it made up for any minor glitch. The staff repeatedly went above and beyond to serve the customer. We were pleased and would stay here again.

Who is this hotel for?

Good location, nice looking hotel, some of the staff were very pleasant. And yet this was the most disappointing hotel I've stayed in for some time. It's basically modelled on the old YMCA hotels, which would be fine for $50 a night. The manager said he would write to me on some of the problems I had - for example, no bath plug! - but of course never did. Avoid.

Good and Bad

Location is excellent for access to waterfront area and city generally as the monorail is on adjacent corner. Staff were helpful and ready to assist. Room ("superior") was smaller than expected but adequate.

Bathroom was in need of maintenance, with toilet seat not securely attached, shower curtain off some hooks, shower rose not a water saver, location of kettle and cups at very bottom of cupboard was awkward, and not enough bench space. Internet access (2 computers) in lobby was $5/half hour,with about 5 mins lost in uploading and navigating between sites due to slow connection; mouse was also faulty and made for some annoyance. It was cheaper and quicker to use an internet cafe in the city. Breakfast was buffet and very good, although some of the plates had not been inspected after washing and had small food remnants. Don't hesitate to complain about this as this is totally unaccceptable.

Overall, the room facilities were a little tired and need a "makeover", but the hotel is more than adequate for access to all the major tourist attractions.

Treated like family

I arrived later 2 days than the rest of my family to Sydney. 1 day later than planned due to a missed connection. I arrived knowing I missed a planned tour and my family wouldn't be there, as I was paying the taxi and looking for the room number, I got out and my luggage was already loaded on a cart. I was greeted by name by the conciere; David and wisked to my room, all the while being updated on my family. After 4 plane trips, missing a connection and being on the other side of the world, what a welcome greeting. The hotel had great location, nice rooms,wonderful breakfast and wonderful staff. One night we came back to our room to find the air conditioner was only giving out cool not cold air. They came but couldn't fix it that night and the hotel was full. Because of the inconvience they took some incidentals off our bill. That's customer service.

Quanta vacation hotel

For a 4 star Hotel, this was the smallest room in our trip. The main bar is being updated so they had a tempory bar located on the 2nd floor where all the meeting rooms are located. Walls are pretty thin and the bathroom, you might want to bring a spear water slippers since there is mold all round the tubs and you don't want to touch the walls. No where to put your suitcase, have to rearrange the furnature to fit our suitcases in the room. This room was part of the Quanta Vacation package for 4 star hotels?!

Disappointing

Location is good but the rooms are showing signs of wear and are badly needing some attention to detail (ie. tiles in bathroom need repaired, walls and furniture are marked). We had one day where no one had come to service our room so called reception who sent someone up. No big deal but we expected better. Moved rooms after first night due to traffic noise. Unfortunately the rooms with any views are exposed to a very busy street.

Location good, hotel average.

We have stayed at the Novotel Century Sydney twice during 2003, both times for three nights. The first time was as a part of a cheap Qantas package, the second was as a member of Accor Advantage Plus. The first stay was terrific with everything coming up to expectation, the second time was almost like being treated like second class citizens. The staff on both occasions were fantastic, but the first room we stayed in on our second stay was not as clean as it could have been, the bathroom had quite a few broken tiles and the bedspread had seen better days with a number of repairs being evident. The noise of the rubbish being sorted and picked up just below our window at 7.00am also didn't help.

After requesting, and getting another room, (staff were very responsive) things really looked up. From then on the stay was great.

We had the buffet breakfast on two mornings of the second visit, the first morning there was plenty to choose from, the second they were a lot busier and had trouble keeping up. The good news was that the food was excellent on both mornings.

As long as you don't pay the full rack rate the hotel is a good place to stay, it's great location and staff are its main features.

Modern boxes

Great location at Darling Harbour. Small cramped sealed rooms. Most with tiny windows, pay extra for partial views. Air conditioning was unresponsive. Quality fixtures, but little room to move in room. Helpful staff.