Checked in: 22 June 2012
Checked out: 23 June 2012
Room: 1818
Price paid: $286.92 room only (booked through Zuji.com.au)

There are only a selection of Sydney hotels where celebrities and world leaders choose to stay when they are in town, and the Four Seasons one of them. Four Seasons Sydney is located on George St at the entrance to The Rocks by Circular Quay. The location was fantastic, as it was walking distance to all the tourist attractions by the harbour, and was close by Wynyard Station for public transport.

Service:
Check in process was easy and straight forward. While they were quite busy at the time we only waited around 2 minutes and the staff are friendly and enthusiastic as if we were the first customer of the day.

The check out process was equally efficient and we parted with the hotel with a smile on our face.

Room:

I booked a City View King Delux, but was surprised to find our room with a view of the Opera House and a bit of the harbour. I don’t know if we had been upgraded, although it was never mentioned at the time of check in so I am going to consider myself lucky.

The room was not as big as other Four Seasons brands I have stayed with, but clean and comfortable nevertheless. The bathroom is a good size, with a smallish bathtub and a separate shower. Decor is old conventional hotel style, but the amenities were great. L’occitane toiletries and Twinings tea bags are just some of the small touches that makes you feel special.

The bed was slightly to the soft side and there were no ‘pillow menu’ available compared to other hotels of the same standard.

Health and Fitness:
There is an outdoor pool, which doesn’t really entice on a cold winter’s day. The Spa at the hotel is five star priced but also looks five star in service. Menu  caters for both women and men. The gym comes with complimentary locker room and cold drinks which is a nice touch.

Membership/Loyalty program:
When I was in Bangkok I enquired about a Four Seasons loyalty program and was told that the Four Season philosophy is that every guest, no matter how frequent they stay with the hotel, should be treated with equal importance. Therefore, the brand doesn’t actually have a loyalty program.

Sounds like a good philosophy to me, although I do still like the idea of being rewarded with free nights if I do happen to stay at a particular brand of hotel a lot.

Value:
Considering the two star Ibis down the road cost $179 per night for a box room, this is quite a good value for a five star hotel. However as far as ‘five star’ standards go, it is slightly under the average in terms of design and selection of guest room facilities go. Parts of the hotel does need a bit of an upgrade but overall, you’ll find familiarity of the old school hotels here at the Four Seasons.

My rating: 7 / 10