Hotels near Bert Ives Gardens, Sydney

With all the lockdowns of Covid and everything this past year has brought I have reflected on past travels and been meaning to get back to my reviews. I was here March 2020 with a friend. I had booked two rooms (1 each) and I was disappointed with the receptionist when I approached him about the noise of the room at the front after my first night stay with the idea of asking if I could downgrade my room from the most expensive to one of the smaller ones at the back, but he took everything as personal. His reaction was off the wall, he was so incredibly rude and nasty that I was shaking, I am quite diplomatic but I was surprised, I was thinking 'Do you speak to your Mother like that”, I was floored. My career has been in customer service training, in very difficult cases, this was not difficult and yet he went nuclear. He insisted that they had double glazing. They DO NOT but yes a 2nd pane of glass was added but not true double glazing and it did little to give me a good nights rest. I mentioned that maybe if one was from a big city noise would be no issue, but Im not from Sydney. I hope this person is no longer working for the hotel. He was not a good ambassador for it. I did finally insist on speaking to the manager, which he did not want me to do, who greatly helped with my move. But the scars of this visit, really are still there. My friend never knew about these issues, she arrived the following day, I was not happy to stay here but did so as to move would've caused issue with her. The manager at the time however was professional. Im sure I've seen reviews mentioning this rude staffer but it certainly looks like they are not here now. All I can say is in my experience it was not a good one, and on that I can't recommend it. I have never ever in my decades of traveling been treated by anyone so aggressively, I still fail to understand this entire episode and hope when travel is back I can go to a place where the welcome remains with me for all the right reasons. If this issue had been resolved nicely, calmly like an adult Im sure the rating would be much better..Rooms are small but clean and the back rooms are quieter....

During the last four years, I’ve stayed at ‘The Hughie’ on 6 occasions, twice with my wife and with a cricketing mate for the SCG test in January on four occasions. The SCG and SFS are an easy 10 minute stroll away, and buses run into the city and Bondi along Oxford Street every few minutes. The building is full of charm and history, and the rooms have been tastefully renovated and are maintained in spotless condition. The staff are courteous, polite and accomodating.

OH! Firstly it is important to note that we chose Oxford House because of its close proximity to St Vincent Hospital. We would normally chose a large chain hotel with the added comforts because, well, who doesn’t like the nicer things when they travel. Oxford house is definitely not your average hotel. Its boutique, artsy, personal feel is felt throughout the entire property. From the second you enter Oxford House, no matter who is at the reception desk, you can guarantee your greeting will be warm and welcoming from the very first encounter. Any interaction with staff thereafter is as warm, friendly and genuinely caring. I read reviews (as you do) prior to our stay and a lot referred to the level of customer service. I, personally like nice linen, a comfortable bed, a good pillow, a pool, view. You know, that sort of thing. Oxford House ticked all my boxes above but it also ticked a box that wasn’t super important prior to this stay. It’s all about the customer service. We loved all the staff but our absolute favourite ladies were Carla and Alisha. Nothing was an effort for Carla and let me tell you, she’s got the skills to get things done. Our trip was complicated with hospital trips several times a day and we were filled with emotion and exhausted . Walking back through those doors of an evening, almost felt like home. Carla was particularly lovely and my 10 year old daughter adored her. By the time we left I felt like I had made a friend. Hotel was wonderful but Carla brought it up that extra level.

Noisy, plain, and tired. Luxury? I've found more luxury in rural South Australia than here. Firstly my room was noisy - Really noisy - mainly from car noise from the Eastern Distributor which runs right in front of it. Clearly this is a known issue as they provide earplugs with a little apology (see pic). The fittings are old, the light switches, the bedside clock / radio. There is not a single USB charging port anywhere that I could find. There was a random cheap Bunnings power board hanging out underneath the bedside table. The shower head was loose and sprayed water everywhere while having a shower. I asked for it to be fixed, which it was by the time I returned, but do you think they replaced the saturated bath matt which I had to use to mop up the water? No, of course they didnt. Older people, be warned. The shampoo/conditioner provided have such fine writing that anyone needing more than +1 reading glasses need to find them to figure out which is which- ideally before stepping in the shower. And then need to find them again to figure out how to peel off the completely unnecessary silver seal ... The bed barley fitted between the wall and it was a squeeze to get in the LHS. No late night food nor drink options in or near the hotel. There are a few breakfast options. Probably my own fault for not checking that out.

The good - the location is pretty central and the bed was very comfortable. The ride to/from the airport was about 20 minutes and about 50 dollars Aus. We could book the room for one night on the New Years' weekend and it was ＜ $200 US. The rest - Overall, the Kirketon could use an update. The hotel facility was retrofitted into the building and while this can produce a fun and funky (in a good way) experience, the Kirketon is more funky (in not a good way). The lobby and room furnishings are tired and weird (not in a ”hip” way). The windows are FILTHY. I think the room and bathroom were clean but the lighting is not great. There is no lift so be prepared to carry you and all your stuff up the stairs. Our room was strangely laid out so that there was about 1 foot between the bed and wall and we had to lift our suitcases over the bed to get them to the other side where we could put them down. We also basically had to walk sideways to move through that opening. The bathroom was a long, thin (~12 foot x 2 foot - think bowling lane) ”room” with a small sink at the top of the corridor and toilet at the end with the shower jutting back into the main room on the side.

On the ambience side, the decor and modern-ish art was uplifting and fun. The room was very clean. But, we were surprised to find the room so small. In order for 2 people to get into the bed, one had to crawl over the other. The very small window sill became the nightstand. There was no room for luggage, and no luggage racks - we were told they didn’t have enough. That meant one suitcase on the floor and one on the very small plastic table. The retro-refrigerator was cool, but my traveling companion kept threatening to move it out into the hall to create some space in the room the whole time we were there. And then, the very small bathroom, the shower door doubled as the door to the bathroom. Have you ever looked into a microwave? The shower and the bathroom walls had the same dot matrix pattern as a microwave door. My companion was surprised to see while showering she could see me relaxing on the bed, and when she screamed “can you see me?” I replied “yes”. My companion now has bathroom-PTSD. Not only was the shower see through, there was a full-room-view sitting on the throne, trying to do your business. Then the realization somebody may be watching. PTSD! Our solution was to use the downstairs public bathroom for major activities. Did I mention IBS???

The best part was when the fish tank maintenance man had a decent chat about the process of cleaning the fish tank that's under the floor in the foyer and taught our children about the fish. The breakfast buffet was a hit with everyone and we struggled to get the children out of the pool.

The room is good, the location is good, the train station and the bus station are just downstairs, 15 minutes by bus to Bondi Beach, 20 minutes by train to the city, 20 minutes by taxi to the airport, the price is more than 700 if you book in advance, the price is good. But as a four-star hotel, the service is not good, and there is no room service for two days. The washing machine and dryer in the room are relatively old and not very useful. I called the front desk and said that I left a message for the staff. After waiting for half an hour, no one came. I asked on the phone and said that we can leave first. The staff will check it when they arrive. . However, when I returned to the hotel at night, there was still no staff coming 😓 I called and said that the staff may have missed the request. In short, finally a bad-faced person came and taught me to use the dryer with a **** expression on his face emmm... I have never used such an old version of the dryer, so is it my fault that I can’t use it😕In short Not recommended, there are better options.

I’ve noticed aggressive feedback below and I want to advocate this awesome place. I’ve stayed in the room in March and then In June with my partner.I confirm that WiFi requires attention since it’s too too poor but I’m glad that while I was here, the management has been working on that issue. That’s true that Reception isn’t 24/7 but this is Boutique Hotel for people who aren’t familiar with term, it doesn’t mean luxury all inclusive Conrad by Hilton hotel that’s why don’t expect room service, 24/7 front desk service, towel swans and etc. In addition, beautiful and friendly ladies at the reception go extra miles to ensure that you feel comfortable and like at home. The room isn’t big but stylish if you’d like more space go for room with balcony and you can enjoy a cup of coffee or tea,which you may find at the reception complimentary, early in the morning looking at the Potts Point. Besides, LOCATION, this is the best,the most convenient location in Sydney! You can walk to Opera House,CBD or get the train to Bondi Beach staying away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Also, Potts Point has a soul and you may be bewitched by the spirit of this area. To sum up, don’t hesitate about the hotel, it’s gem of the area and you can definitely enjoy the time here if you don’t expect more than the hotel positioned itself. P.S. Jensen Potts Point, thank you for complimentary snacks each time when we switched the room and thank you, the entire small team for being nice and positive every day.

I stayed at Crown Towers Perth in Sep 2022 and June 2023. I also stayed in Crown Towers Melbourne in Dec 2022. Thus, the next logical move is to stay in Crown Towers Sydney to complete my experience in staying at all 3 Crown Towers Hotel in Australia. I finally did that. Stayed at Crown Towers Sydney from 3 Nov to 8 Nov 2023. Today is 8 Nov 2023 and I will be checking out shortly. I stayed at an opera king room which has views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House. The room was very well lit and nice. Just the appropriate size for a sole traveller. I also managed to try most of the restaurants in Crown Towers Sydney except Yoshii Omakase which is so hard to book and Silks. I did not managed to book Yoshii even when it opened for booking. Guess too many people booking. I tried Epicurean for breakfast, dinner at A’Mare, Nobu, Woodcut and Oncore by Clare Smyth. I did not try Silks since being an Asian Chinese, I normally do not eat Chinese food when I go holiday. Got to try other food instead. My favourite restaurant is undoubtedly Oncore where I ordered the 7 course seasonal tasting menu. Superb. Woodcut was also good where I ordered their sirloin steak. Nobu was also nice as it completed my tour of all 3 Nobu in Australia having previously eaten at Nobu Perth and Melbourne when I stayed at Crown Towers there. For Nobu , I ordered the X Haku Omakase which is 5 course. The star of the course was the lobster. Overall I have enjoyed my stay in here. As Sarah Brightman is coming to Sydney in Aug to Oct 2024, I have already booked my tickets to watch her performance at Sydney Opera House in Sep 2024 and also booked a 4 night stay at Crown Towers Sydney again. For the future, I do hope Crown Towers Sydney can have a Crystal Club for breakfast like what Perth and Melbourne has. Also, hope to see more shops/entertainment areas at Crown and also a provision/gift/snack shop here at Crown Towers Sydney.