Hotel Review: Four Seasons Hotel Sydney, Australia

Famed for its Opera House and Harbour Bridge, Sydney is an absolute must visit destination. While Australia is quite far out to travel for most jetsetters, a trip to this iconic country provides experiences unmatched anywhere else in the world, including seeing stunning beaches, marine reserves and unique wildlife.

Wondering where to stay when in one of Australia’s most visited cities, Sydney? We stopped by the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney on our last visit — read on to find out our thoughts.

Ratings rundown

Accessibility	9/10
Ambiance	8/10
Accommodation	8/10
Pool(s)	7/10

Food and drink	8/10
Facilities	8/10
Service	8/10
Overall %	80%

Accessibility

The Four Seasons hotel is located in a prime area, situated right in front of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. As such, it is fairly easy to get to if you are coming in to Australia via Sydney International Airport — it took us roughly 20 mins by taxi to reach the hotel.

There is also pretty good public transport in place from the airport, so this is also an easy option if you are travelling with light luggage.

Accessibility rating: 9/10

Ambiance

We stayed during the festive period, meaning the hotel was fully decked out with Christmas decorations. Despite its fairly unassuming outside, the hotel lobby is spacious and inviting — while it doesn’t quite have the ultra luxurious feel of some other Four Seasons hotels (e.g. the Nam Hai), it does feel high-end.

On the whole, while the hotel doesn’t have a particularly memorable or distinctive character, it provides a serene and relaxing environment well-suited of a Four Seasons.

Ambiance rating: 8/10

Accommodation

The hotel offers a variety of rooms and suites which are differentiated by the type of view they offer — the most desirable of course being of the harbour.

We stayed in a full harbour view room — unfortunately a room upgrade upon arrival was not possible for us, even though we booked with a preferred partner, since the hotel was at full occupancy, so do keep this in mind.

Accommodation highlights

• View: Of course, one of the most valued features of this room was its stunning view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge — this is what really makes the Four Seasons stand out and is particularly good if you are thinking of staying here to see the New Year’s Eve fireworks
• Bedding: As expected of most Four Seasons hotels, the bed was also super comfortable with a plush mattress topper making for an excellent night’s sleep — an absolute necessity if you have just taken a long flight to reach Sydney

Accommodation lowlights

• Shower: While the shower pressure was excellent, you’ll find that there are gaps in the glass, meaning that the shower water leaks out onto the bathroom floor which is not practical
• Character: Similar to the hotel’s overall feel, the room, while perfectly pleasant, clean etc., does lack any sort of distinctive character or memorable aspect to its design

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Accommodation rating: 8/10

Pool(s)

The hotel has an outdoor heated swimming pool which is fairly deep (~1.7m).

While the pool may not seem super spacious, it is pretty large for a hotel located in the heart of Sydney and there is also a pool bar and loungers nearby to relax on.

Pool rating: 7/10

Food and Drink

The hotel has one main restaurant — the Mode Kitchen and Bar — as well as a bar, room service, pool-side food and a patisserie counter in the lobby.

Breakfast

As we stayed during the busy festive season, breakfast was temporarily being served in the ballroom to cater for increased capacity.

The breakfast is served buffet-style with the ability to order eggs à la carte as well. The buffet selection is expansive with predominately a range of Western food (bacon, sausages, pancakes etc.) as well as Asian dishes (dim sum, noodles, fried rice etc.). The most impressive section was the vast spread of pastries and breads which rotated every day.

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Overall, we really enjoyed eating breakfast each morning as the quality of food was excellent and the choice was superb. For guests in a rush, there was also a small counter serving coffee and pastries just outside the breakfast area.

Lunch / dinner

We ate in the Mode restaurant for Christmas day lunch, which was served as a large buffet.

There were three main sections — cold starters (incl. salads, seafood, cold cuts etc.), hot meats/dishes (incl. beef, turkey, pasta, potatoes etc.) and a dessert area.

Visually, the buffet looked incredible — especially the desserts section. When it came to taste, however, we mainly enjoyed the hot food the most, particularly the prime rib and typical Christmas day trimmings (e.g. roast potatoes, vegetables etc.)

Food and drink rating: 8/10

Facilities

In addition to the pool, the hotel also has a fitness center and spa.

While we didn’t manage to book any spa treatments, we did visit the steam room and sauna which are available for all guests. The sauna is fairly small but luckily it wasn’t too busy when we visited and the same goes for the steam room. There is also a well-maintained changing area with fresh robes, slippers, showers, etc. for before and after using the hotel facilities.

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Facilities rating: 8/10

Service

The service at the hotel was good but nothing super spectacular. The service at meal times — particularly breakfast — could be quite slow and the check-in experience was not a very personalized or memorable experience.

However, there were elements that did stand out — including a personalised welcome note & gift, as well as certain members of staff who would remember and greet us throughout the day.

Service rating: 8/10

Summary

Overall, if you are looking for a relaxing and convenient place to stay in Sydney, the Four Seasons should be on your radar. This hotel provides stunning views, an excellent night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast that is sure to fuel you for the day ahead — it is the perfect luxurious base to explore Sydney from.