Rydges World Square Sydney Hotel

Nice location, nice employees, nice enough rooms. So– nice overall. The room was clean and comfortable enough and we didn’t hear our neighbors. Our room had a huge TV, larger than other TVs in hotels I’ve stayed in. That was probably the most special thing about this place (other than the friendly employees and the location).

Seemed decent overall but I had some aggravating issues. The staff seemed friendly and the location is excellent for the city center. Clean modern rooms, big TV, large bathrooms. However one of the reasons I stayed here is because it said guest laundry and during a month long work schedule, I needed to rely on laundry access on the weekends. It happens both dryers were broken with no real idea when they would even be looked at. And the AC in my room never really worked that well. It was certainly tolerable but not really blowing cool air during the three hot humid days while in Sydney. I had it looked at and supposedly it was fixed but only slightly. Also was here during the NRL finals in early October and nobody had any idea what channel in my room had the match. Never could find it so saw none of it.

Spent two nights here.
A very nice hotel in a great location.
Staff were great and happy to accommodate where ever possible.

Seems like this hotel is hit-​and-​miss depending on which room you get. I was staying in the CBD as it was our company Xmas party and I didn’t want to get a cab home. Most hotels were in the «ridiculous» price category for this night (16 Dec) but I got a room online on the Rydges Website for $ 149.00 which seemed good value. Check-​in was quick and efficient. The same staff member (Sheree? — A lovely Chinese girls anyway) served me the next morning and was friendly, smiling and helpful. Room was great. Excellent water pressure in shower. Responsive air conditioning. Rydges «super bed» or whatever it’s called was very comfy and restful. Room was very clean. Only negative thing was the floor numbering of the hotel — it’s deceiving. I was on the «15^th» floor, but this is really the 5^th floor — rooms start on floor 10, which is the 1^st floor. Weird system. Also, when I wanted to sleep-​in the next morning, housekeeping staff in other rooms doing their job were VERY noisy. I know they have work to do and need to do it quickly, but there seemed to be an army of them, and they were really chatty, noisy and banged things around a lot. Really minor detail but thought I’d mention it. Parking at $ 50 is way over-​priced, but that’s Sydney for you. Location is excellent, although can be difficult for cabs to stop outside the hotel at times. Mini bar priced quite well considering it’s a 4-​star hotel in downtown Sydney. Would stay again if I needed to. Just another Rydges Hotel — but consistent and nothing to really complain about.

Excellent customer service and my room is always comfortable and clean. I stayed at the Sheridan on the Park on one trip to Sydney and it was dirty and the service was lack luster. I spent the whole trip wishing I was at Rydges.

We enthusiastically embarked upon a 14 hour plane ride to Australia where my husband was to judge a dog Specialty. Well, our hosts generously paid for 6 days at the IBIS on Pitt St. in Sydney. When we arrived and went to the room I wondered if I had committed some terrible crime and sentenced to 6 days in solitary confinement. OMG, what a shitbox. After a walk around the neighborhood we spotted this lovely lobby that was the Rydges Hotel. We went back to the IBIS and got the bad news about prepaid reservations. There is no refund. So, then we thought about the possibility of switching to the IBIS at Darling Harbor. We checked it out and it seemed a notch above the one on Pitt St. We decided no matter what we would just pay to stay at the Rydges. We went there and they had a room for Sunday-​Thursday. After telling Esra about the nightmare we were thrust into, she took pity on us and actually said we could have an upgraded room for no extra charge… we hadn’t even asked for one! We went back to the IBIS for Saturday night and my husband went to the hotel manager and explained that his wife was miserable at their hotel and he offered to refund us in full… kudos to the IBIS for that! We had dinner on Saturday night at Rydges and the host was beyond charming, the waiter was an absolute doll, and the food very good. We checked in on Sunday night and Esra had upgraded us to an EXECUTIVE SUITE with a balcony on the 20^th floor. What a gorgeous room! There are not enough stars to convey how we feel about the Rydges Hotel and their staff. They literally salvaged our trip to Australia and turned it around from being a disaster to being a trip we’ll always remember as wonderful. I loved every minute at the Rydges and if we ever return to Syney, it will be the place we stay!

I was surprised by the price when I booked my room here, it seemed really reasonable for the location and I booked a Friday night at the last minute. I was even more surprised when I received $ 10 off for being a Rydges member.
So when I arrived I was expecting little. I should really take this approach more often, because I was pleasantly surprised by the Rydges World Square.
The location, which is everything in a hotel like this, is fantastic, really convenient to everywhere and if you are staying here, Din Tai Fung is located next door, which is worth a visit in itself.
The rooms are relatively small, but clean and mine seemed to be recently updated. I think that when you get into the 3 – 4 star range, most rooms are much of a muchness and you don’t see a real difference until you hit the resort or 5-​star range. Either way, I would happily stay here again for the rates I got ($ 150).

I took a mother-​daughter trip to Australia, and this was the hotel we stayed at when we were in Sydney. 5 days/​4 nights in this hotel.
We arrived in Sydney around 8am. After customs and retrieving our bags and the shuttle to the airport, it was around 10:30 or 11am or so. Now, I’m not sure about you, but when I fly long distances, all I want to do is get into a hotel room and take a shower, and maybe a nap.
Well. This hotel has a policy that guests may not check-​in until after 2 or 2:30 (it’s been a couple months since my stay). We get up to the front desk and they tell us to leave and come back in 3 hours.
After leaving our bags with the concierge, my mother and I wandered around the city. We ate. Shopped a little bit. But really, we just needed to clean up and rest a bit. So we went back to the hotel. No. The room wasn’t ready. We weren’t allowed to check in yet. So instead of leaving, we sat there in the lobby.
Meanwhile, we’re staring at the other people in line for rooms, and they’re being given keys and going straight up to their rooms. We seemed to be the only people who were forced to wait it out. It was as if it was a small hotel and they literally only had ONE room for us to stay in.
After waiting an hour or so, we finally got assigned our room. Once we get up there, everything seemed ok, besides the fact that there was only ONE bed.
So we called the front desk, saying that we were supposed to have two beds – we are adults on vacation, after all – and they sent someone up to help us switch rooms down the hall.
So we waited for nothing? There WERE other rooms available! Still really confused on that one.
Everything else seemed ok. Internet costs are $ 25 for 24 hours. We bit the bullet on that one, just getting a day so we could reach home.
Couple days at the hotel and we come back after dinner one evening to a bottle of red wine and two glasses in the room, along with a note from the hotel manager.
We had let our travel agent know about the horrible experience checking in, with the unnecessary forced wait and wrong room assignment ordeal, and she had given the hotel word.
The manager’s note was very nice. He apologized for our experience, gave us the bottle of wine, free breakfast for 2 the next day (It was good. Nothing to write home about. Like many things in Sydney, outrageously overpriced for what it is. Something like $ 25 – 30 per person), and free internet for the duration of the stay.
He even called the room the next day to check in and make sure that we got breakfast and everything. It was a very nice gesture.
Honestly, the hotel is not 5-​stars. For the most part, it’s clean (Much like the pictures on the website). It’s in a good area. The manager seemed to go out of his way to correct their errors. It’s not a PRIME location, but it’s walking distance to most places one would want to visit, from Chinatown to Hyde Park (leading to the Royal Botanical Gardens — Opera House — Circular Quay — The Rocks). There’s the World Square shopping center downstairs, which includes even a ramen restaurant. We were able to buy some snacks and put them in the hotel fridge for the duration of our stay. There are multiple hotel entrances around the block.
All in all, it was an ok experience. I’m not sure it would be my go-​to hotel in Sydney, but it was just fine for what we needed.