Novotel Sydney on Darling Harbour

The staff at Novotel Darling Harbour were awesome from the concierge and parking to the check in and hospitality staff. The staff sent up a special surprise to our room while we were out and about for our 9-year-old daughter's birthday. Then the restaurant crew delivered another birthday surprise to us after dinner. The room was perfect. Parking was easy and cheap. The location is close to everything in Sydney CBD. See you again soon Novotel.

Lovely room, comfortable stay (except there was no conditioner at all in the shower), the cafe served us the loveliest dinner. Nice happy hour, enjoyed sitting out on the terrace. The pool area needs shade. The pool itself is too small and it’s just a standard rectangular pool, not resort like at all. Pool was so full we gave it a miss.

Satisfactory stay nothing out of the expected, rooms need updating particularly the bathrooms. The gym is very small and could do with been 3 times the size.

In Sydney for an event and traveling with a large group, we found the Novotel Darling Harbour to be the ideal location as it had something for everyone. The rooms are spacious, with a good range of configurations some with great views and the staff go above and beyond to look after every little detail. Our check in was quite complicated, but was handled with grace, competence and great good humour. We enjoyed all the facilities, restaurant, cafe, bar, pool and walked or took the light rail everywhere we needed to go. Concierge helped us with Maxi-taxis and bag storage. There is a little inconvenience getting down to Darling Harbour with the construction works, but we just allowed a little extra time

Everything was good with the hotel except that guest are required to pay for their standard wifi access of $10/day. Across the hotel, Sofitel includes free Wifi for their guests. Very strange why this had to be charged for in Novotel.

This overall experience has been less than satisfactory.

To begin with, the Accor ALL app would not process payment for the 3-night (2+1 free night) reservation, and I contacted the customer care team, but they couldn't help either. I was then transferred to the hotel to make a direct payment.

Upon check-in, the reception staff couldn't find my reservation and later claimed it was canceled due to non-payment after an investigation. After showing my payment receipt, a team supervisor came to help and re-made the booking. I was told it was an error that occurred between different systems, and I was offered a room upgrade and late check-out, for which I was very grateful.

The actual room was very spacious, more than enough for a family of four. However, the bathroom fell below expectations, with stains on the ceiling, a chipped bathtub, and an old and frail shower head. Not to mention, it took almost 5 minutes of running water before I could get hot water for a shower.

The carpet at the room entrance would become wet and soaked at night, and housekeeping had to dry it up for us during the day, but the wet patch would return after a night. I suspected there was a leak from the bathroom. I must give credit to the housekeeping staff for leaving a heartwarming card on the table with some Tim Tams, which the kids absolutely loved.

After the 3-night stay, I was told there was a $30 fee to pay upon check-out. The reception staff claimed the fee was for the room upgrade that I had requested. I explained that the room upgrade was offered at the time of check-in, and there was no fee advised then. The reception staff later claimed the upgrade for the free night would be complimentary, but the $30 still needed to be paid for the other 2 nights. I requested to speak to a supervisor and tried to explain what had happened during check-in. However, the supervisor did not attempt to understand the situation but interrupted and told me she was happy to waive the charge since it was only $30.

I felt extremely disrespected and insulted by this act of charity. I would not have had to go through these troubles if everything had gone right in the first place. I've tried to be patient and understanding throughout my stay. There were certainly some highlights about this hotel, but I won't be coming back until the above-mentioned issues are addressed.

Rooms outdated (shower in the bath, old fridge, very noisy A/C). Close to the convention centre but have to go through a parking lot with terrible signage. Common areas are nice. Expensive for what it offers.

In the heart of Chinatown, nice twin room family accomodation. Drinks and food from the pump house were great. Enjoyed the pool, hotel buffett breakfast and had a relaxing time. Lite Rail, Paddy’s Markets and Darling Square were great to make the trip fun and easy. Will stay again!

Was a nice room but the attention to detail in the cleaning was terrible.table and coffee table always dusty and toilet had empty wrappers in the the whole time we was there and cleaners in every day. Also carpet full of dust under cupboards and tv area.

I got allocated this hotel for my 14 day covid-jail prison sentence. I really couldn't fault the hotel at all (the Government, on the other hand.). I had very specific dietary requirements, and a bunch of packages etc delivered (and a coffee every day) and everything was extremely prompt delivery and catered for. Food was great. All of the hotel staff were an above and beyond level of pleasent when you spoke to them (on the phone) and they orgaised wine tastings, quiz nights, yoga etc for us detainees. I'm personally traumatised by the HQ experience being locked in a room with no fresh air for two weeks so I probably couldn't handle being in a room there again but would recommend to others when they don't have to spend 336 hours locked in there with no escape! I was on the "back" side of the hotel so didn't have a great view but have seen pics from others looking over to Darling Harbour and it looks beautiful

Staying here for hotel quarantine. Withholding our uber eats delivery for over two hours which was the stale and cold. Providing a couple in a room with only the same amount of water as the single person rooms. Not providing any drinks water with meals e.g no juice with breakfast and no drinks with lunch and dinner. No opening windows in rooms. One towel each and one pillow each. Terrible service.

Great experience so far! I am on day 8 of my 14 day mandatory quarantine and I am feeling so lucky to be staying here.
The rooms are clean, I have an amazing view of Darling Harbour and I cannot speak highly enough about the food. It's of such high quality, not to mention you get to choose between two menu options for both lunch and dinner. They also accommodate all dietary restrictions, yet still maintain such high quality dishes for all meals.
The staff have all been very friendly and requests I have put in are tended to immediately, which makes me feel like they genuinely care about the experience all of their guests are having, especially during this strange time.

I was basically there for my quarantine stay. Could not avail all the services of the hotel. The staff were cordial and cooperative. Thee was not much interaction due to quarantine protocols but I was able to get immediate help from the staff and the in house nurses in cases of issues. That's a plus. There were events held for the guests for.their entertainment via zoom. The staff really tried to make the guests feel at ease. The food was good as they catered to the food preferences of every guest and me being vegetarian. Did not find any food issues at all. Thanks Novotel for making my stay a not so painful experience.

It was a special occasion 40th wedding anniversary. We were met with a welcome smile and were asked what our occasion was in staying there. Once we explained we were upgraded to darling harbour view and a bottle of wine met us at our room.

I feel very lucky to have been here for my 14 day quarantine, as it's been extremely comfortable, clean and the rooms & facilities in them are excellent.a large fridge big enough for my 'care package' items & even had a bath! The staff are brilliant & so helpful, with any request I made to the Housekeeping team delivered straight away. The food was great & having a choice of 2 options was very unexpected.a highlight of my day was the meal 'knock' on the door! Large room (with 2 very comfy beds) & a large window, so I didn't feel claustrophobic at all and could easily exercise. Great idea about the extra Zoom activities. If it wasn't for missing my husband, the cat & fresh air I could have quite happily stayed another week! Thank you to the management & team for an enjoyable relaxing 'stay':)

Rooms fantastic, very clean and stunning views. Staff always willing to assist and very friendly. Worthwhile dining there too - delicious.

Windows dont open.no fresh air. Harbour view is somewhat to enjoy.location is on harbourside. Rooms are decent. Bathroom needs an upgrade. I have not met the friendly staff but the service they provide is good and they seem to be polite over the phone.
On 26th March, my wife and I faced a very unpleasant experience at the hotel. My wife an asthmatic and I a claustrophobic on anxiety medication, were forced to stay in room filled with paint fumes. There was a paint job carried out in the hotel without any prior notice or our consent. Despite the fact we couldn't breathe inside the room, the police forced us to stay in the room. We had to take refuge in the bathroom as the fumes were comparatively less.

I stayed at the hotel with my family last year before COVID hit. And Elijah and Desmond were amazing to my family great place to say

Great service the food was immaculate. The staff was really friendly and Elijah one of the staff, really helped me around and made my stay a trip to remember. I went in December 2019 and i’m sure the staff and hotel has gotten much better and kinder.

One of my family members stayed at the hotel for quarantine. There was this boy he was Fijian was very kind and was very caring and gave me everything I wanted will be staying here again when the quarantine was over