The Intercontinental location
The stunning view of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House seen from the 31st floor Intercontinental Club lounge.
We’ve just returned from a short trip to Sydney and once again we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel in Macquarie Street.
The hotel is just a few minutes walk away from Circular Quay, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
It’s 10 to 15 minutes walking distance to the shopaholic heaven of Pitt Street and walking’s the best way to get there because Sydney traffic is horrendous, especially so in rush hours (although one cynic on Reddit reckons that rush hour lasts from 6am to 8pm).
Thank goodness for public transport and that’s another great thing about the Intercontinental location because at Circular Quay you can catch trains or ferries to, well, everywhere.
At the moment the George Street shopping area is a major building site and is likely to remain so for some time as the Sydney Light Rail is under construction.
The Intercontinental Hotel
The Sydney Intercontinental Hotel on Macquarie Street has three floors of colonial architecture with 28 floors of rooms in the tower wing.
Sydney’s CBD is an interesting place to look at, a blend of original settler buildings and modern high-rise (but usually not too high) and the Intercontinental fits in nicely.
It is based around the beautifully restored colonial Treasury Building with an additional tower wing for guest rooms.
The lower three floors are heritage areas with sandstone arcades and passageways leading to shops, restaurants and several different entrances.
Checking in at the lobby of the Intercontinental Hotel, Sydney.
The Intercontinental Ambassaador Programme
We joined the Ambassador programme many years ago and always stay at an Intercontinental hotel if one is available.
Ambassadors get an automatic room upgrade, free wi-fi, in-room fruit, a welcome gift and late check out up to 4pm. The room upgrade alone is worth the annual fee.
Our room
This time we were upgraded to a King Club eastern harbour view room on the 28th floor. Magic.
The bed was big and comfortable, the pillows soft (but you can ask for different ones if you don’t like these).
Through the picture window we had an uninterrupted view over Watson’s Bay, the Royal Botanic Gardens and the eastern harbour out towards the Heads.
At different times during our stay we watched racing yachts, cruise liners, an electrical storm (lots of lightning, not much thunder) and a short but spectacular fireworks display east of the Opera House.
The window has two roller blinds, a lightweight one to cut down heat and light on sunny days and a heavyweight night blind.
This one is operated from a switch on the bedside lighting panel so you can lie in bed and watch the lights then close the blind when you want to go to sleep. Cool!
There was a Nespresso machine, an electric jug and an ice bucket by the mini bar and you can ask for a carafe of milk from housekeeping. Nice touch. I like milk in my early morning tea and those tiny little milk or creamer pots just don’t hold enough.
When we arrived late in the evening a tray was waiting for us on the work desk with fruit, water, chocolates and a bottle of a very nice Australian red wine. A very welcome gift.
Club Intercontinental
Panoramic from the outdoor terrace of Club Intercontinental in Sydney shows the fantastic view including the Harbour Bridge, Opera House and eastern harbour.
The Club Intercontinental lounge is on level 31 and has Sydney’s only hotel rooftop terrace and balcony with awesome views over the Harbour Bridge, Sydney Opera House, Royal Botanic Gardens and all the way to the coast.
Panorama view of the Club Intercontinental lounge in Sydney.
The staff were all young, very efficient and charming.
Club members enjoy a buffet breakfast in the lounge with a wide selection of fruit, yoghurt, meats and cheeses, bread, toast, jams, preserves and pastries plus hot dishes of scrambled eggs, bacon plus a selection of mushrooms, hash browns, baked beans, fried rice and other items that change from day to day.
Coffee and tea are available all day and evening from 5pm to 7pm is ‘cocktails and canapes’ time. This is far and away the most popular event in the lounge and it can become very crowded, especially if it is too wet or windy for the outside terrace.
Most of the seats in the lounge are low armchairs or sofas, comfortable to relax in while holding a glass of wine but not great when it comes to using a knife and fork to eat breakfast.
There are a few taller tables and chairs but these tend to be taken early.
Not all Intercontinental hotels have a club lounge but it’s always worth booking a club room when there is one.
A better class of fitness centre
Odyssey Health Club at the Sydney Intercontinental Hotel has the latest range of cardio and resistance equipment.
Many hotel gyms are relatively small and utilitarian but the Odyssey Health Club, on the 31st floor of the Sydney Intercontinental is a serious fitness centre.
It calls itself Sydney’s most luxurious boutique gym and it has an impressive array of cardio and resistance machines as well as a what they call a ‘functional zone’. I’d say it was an exercise floor but what’s in a name?
The gym really is a top quality facility. But wait, there’s more!
Odyssey has a heated 15m swimming pool that looks out over the Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
The 31st floor swimming pool of the Odyssey Health Club in the Sydney Intercontinental Hotel.
See more here https://www.odysseyhealthclub.com.au/facilities
Opera cafe
The seafood buffet at the Cafe Opera in the Sydney Intercontinental Hotel. Photo: Sydney Intercontinental Hotel
There are several restaurants and cafes in the Intercontinental hotel but we only ate at one of these, the Cafe Opera on the first floor in the heritage area.
Cafe Opera is well-known for its seafood buffet, both for lunch and dinner although it also has a huge range of meat, vegetable and pasta dishes, soup, salads, bread, cheeses and, of course, desserts.
It’s a very popular place, the main dining room was full when we went; we hadn’t booked but there was plenty of overflow seating on a balcony overlooking the Cortile cafe on the ground floor.
Since we were in Sydney for a concert at the Opera House it seemed an appropriate place to lunch and we weren’t disappointed.
For more information see: https://www.icsydney.com.au/Dining/CafeOpera
In conclusion
Some people visit Sydney’s icons. Others stay in them. Photo: Sydney Intercontinental Hotel.
“Some people visit Sydney’s icons. Others stay in them.”
The Sydney Intercontinental is a wonderful hotel.
The rooms are smaller than some we’ve stayed in but the view from the higher floors would be hard to beat.
The bathrooms are a bit tired after thirty years or so. They have an over-bath shower rather than a walk in and this might be a problem for anyone with limited mobility. However I didn’t spend a lot of time in the bathroom so it didn’t worry me.
Walking to Circular Quay, the Harbour and Opera House was quick but it is downhill. Walking back – uphill – takes a bit longer. Good exercise though and necessary after the indulgences of the Club lounge.
The staff was efficient and friendly. The facilities excellent.
Would I stay there again?
Absolutely.
For more information see: https://www.icsydney.com.au/