Heading into the city soon and don’t know where to stay? Don’t worry, I’ve just found the perfect hotel.
I recently got the chance to stay in the newly refurbished Novotel Sydney City Centre and it well exceeded my expectations. The 22-storey building is perfectly located in the Sydney CBD, is less than 100 metres from Wynyard Station and is a short walk to the Wynyard Metro Station, making getting around the city easy.
I got to the hotel on a sunny Friday afternoon and was greeted by friendly staff who checked to make sure my room was ready, all in all it took less then five minutes to get checked in.
While the building is a true skyscraper, I was on level three, but this was for a good reason. The first three levels of the hotel have rooms with the option of a balcony. I stayed in the hotel’s Superior King Room with a Balcony. I was so impressed with the luxury of the room, which hits you as soon as you open the door.
The room went beyond a standard room as it had a lounge with a large TV, large bathroom and a massive closet space but the balcony was really the highlight. It was so spacious, definitely enough room to hold multiple people to enjoy a drink in the afternoon sun. Sometimes when you go on holiday you hear people say ‘The room doesn’t matter, we won’t be there for long’ but the room can be part of the experience itself, and this room really delivers. It almost makes you want to spend more time in the room than out!
I managed to convince myself to exit the roam, and decided to go for a walk and do some shopping. It took me less than 10 minutes to get to Pitt Street but if you don’t want to walk, it is just one stop away on the Metro. There is so much available around the hotel from shops, restaurants and things to do.
After getting back from my impromptu shopping trip, I rested in the hotel room before heading down to the hotel restaurant, Birde Bar & Brasserie. This restaurant is one of the better hotel restaurants I’ve experienced. The design exudes luxury and the food is truly decadent. My guest and I got to try the ‘Canary in a coal mine’ share menu. This is $70 per person and includes six plates of the chef’s selection to share. What is so interesting about this is that the chefs’ selections can change daily, meaning what I got might be completely different from what someone got the night after. It makes it quite exciting!
To start we received some olives as well as duck liver parfait with brioche. For mains we got a tomato risotto and wagyu brisket, and for dessert we got the almond panna cotta and sticky davidson plum pudding, all paired with some sparkling wine. This was one of my first experiences of fine dining and I have to say it was really nice! I definitely recommend checking out the restaurant when you stay.
One of my favourite things about hotel stays is how dark the rooms are, I could have slept in all morning! But I got up and had the hotel’s buffet breakfast, which was another win! There was a lot of variety in food and drink, so there was definitely something for everyone to start their day.
When I was leaving the hotel, I was able to use the self-checkout machine, this took me less than a minute and all I had to do was drop my room key into a slot and I was off! It was so convenient and made the checkout process so streamlined.
Make sure to keep the Novotel Sydney City in mind for your next city stay.
The writer stayed as a guest of Novotel Sydney City Centre.
Emily Chate
Emily Chate joined The Western Weekender in 2024, and covers local news - primarily courts and politics. A graduate of the University of Wollongong, Emily has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and worked as a freelance journalist.