Hotel Ibis di Sydney

OK, so this review is through the lens of a Diamond Accor member. This means that, yes, I have stayed at Accor hotels a lot and so have become used to certain things as being standard across the network. But going to this ibis, and it's like it almost doesn't belong in the network. Starting with the good - the location. Easily walkable from Museum station if coming straight from airport, and not far at all to buses, light rail etc. Shopping options are good for essentials (over the road in World Square mall, downstairs is a Coles) and plenty of places to eat out (Chinatown). I probably should have sussed something might be wrong at check-in. One person serving one other guest. Three others in the back room just talking. After a couple of minutes, one comes out to serve. Must have had her attention for about 30 seconds before she walks away, and someone else comes out. It didn't end there. Three people to check us in. No acknowledgment of Diamond status. No mention of the promised room upgrade as a member benefit (I know they can't guarantee it, but customer service would dictate to at least acknowledge they checked). The fact that I had checked on the Accor app before arriving and seeing that there were rooms in the higher brackets available during our stay, it was a surprise to not be offered one, or to not even have it mentioned. We did get the welcome drink voucher, but upon getting to our room, there was no welcome gift. This is usual in all Accor chains - even the ibis and ibis Styles! I just think the mgmt here is looking to cut corners wherever they can. Getting these little acknowledgmentsof loyalty make the difference and in this case, would make the other things like a tiny bathroom and no working AC a little more tolerable. An apparent 'upgrade' to their fire systems means you are now advised to shower, hair dry, and even deodorant spray all inside the tiny bathroom, with the door closed. Or risk a $1600 callout fee which will be charged to your account. Erm, maybe get better fire systems that aren't activated by deodorant? The TV had a dangling sensor underneath it which when all the lights were out, made for a torch-like presence so the TV plugs had to be switched off each night. There are blackout blinds which work well, and there is a nightclub/pub next door for which you can hear the sounds but nothing too disturbing. Especially when you can hear the next room's convo word-for-word and nighttime coughing! Breakfast on L2 does the job - buffet style, cereals, pre-cut fruits etc. Just don't ask for anything that isn't in front of you...it doesn't exist. I asked for a coffee...was pointed to the coffee push-button machine. Not quite the fresh experience I had wanted. Asked for fried eggs - not possible and got pointed to the scrambled eggs (which I had seen and did not want). Asked for oat milk...pointed to the machine with cow's milk. Hello, griping stomach pains. The machine only made coffee or tea. No warm milk on its own

This hotel by far exceeded our expectations. In a fantastic location 5 minute walk from Darling Harbour and its bars, restaurants, nightlife, boat trips and tourist attractions. The bedrooms are quite small, but they have everything you need and although traffic was wizzing past outside our room, it did not disturb us. There’s a cosy lounge and bar area plus a gym with a shower, which we were able to use to freshen up after checkout before our evening flight, The staff were so friendly and helpful, especially Peter at reception who gave us maps, tips, advice etc to help make our stay as good as possible.

The food was great,the staff are great but there's some area need fixing like the aircon, they put us in another room unfortunately the first room and the second room was not working properly third time room lucky though While in the restaurant looking up you could see the dirt from the exhaust or aircon filter it is slightly dirty. But one thing though is the staff are very accommodating and friendly.also just check the fridges that it is not clogged with frozen ice as we cannot use it for frozen items

Great, cheap hotel, right at Darling Harbour. 5 minutes from everywhere. Very helpful, friendly staff. I only stayed one night because that’s all I needed but it is always my ‘go-to’ place in Sydney.

Worst hotel I have stayed at by far. Could hardly wash my hair in the shower due to the water only drizzling out and no pressure. The bathrooms are TINY. Parking is absolutely ridiculous. I was on a trip for work, parking paid for with the room, only to be told that the carpark was full and I would have to park down the street (1km away) and pay for parking myself down there. Then when the parking was open, the card they gave me wouldn’t insert into the machine. Will never stay here again or recommend to anyone else.

First: the good. The reception staff were lovely, friendly and helpful. The air conditioning worked well and the room was quiet. The not-so-good: I found the bed very uncomfortable and woke up with a back ache. Just one rather flat pillow too. I know mattress firmness is an individual thing and maybe some people find these beds comfortable, but not me. The actual bad: there were no bedside tables in the room. I’ve never ever stayed at a hotel with no bedside tables before. I was travelling with my mum who needs to use a CPAP machine and she had to push her bed across the room so she could use the built-in desk by the window to rest and plug in her machine. The bathroom was a weird sort of dropped-in prefabricated quarter-circle that you have to step up into, and the shower floor was plastic and spongy and felt like I was going to fall through. There was a sign in the bathroom warning us that steam from the shower could set off the smoke alarms and if that happened we would be liable for the fire brigade call-out fee of $1500. Despite this there was no extractor fan in the bathroom! There was also a sign asking us not to boil the kettle under the smoke alarm for the same reason. But that’s where they keep the kettle… The room also had an unpleasant musty smell, like the carpets had got wet and mouldy. We tried to open the window for fresh air but it was so noisy we had to close it again. So here are my suggestions for making this hotel a more pleasant place to stay: Add some bedside tables. Even just one to share between the two beds. Get the carpets cleaned, or replaced. Change the smoke alarms. Most smoke alarms aren’t triggered by shower steam! Replace the pillows, or at least have more than one per bed. I acknowledge that this is a budget hotel and a no-frills approach is expected, but I’ve stayed in much cheaper places that were much more comfortable and welcoming!