Sydney - Four Seasons

Many years of visits to Sydney have seen this camel stay in a variety of hotels, including The Observatory, The Sir Stamford, The ANA (now the Shangri La and not reviewed) and most recently The Park Hyatt. On this occasion I decided it was time for a change, but a change with a view. The spectacle of Sydney harbour is so fabulous that it is a pity not to reserve a room with a view of the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, or both. The obvious choice was The Four Seasons (formerly The Regent).

Our 30^th floor ‘Deluxe Harbour View Junior Suite’ was booked via American Express Centurion Travel Services at a rate of Aus$650 per night. This rate included an upgrade, $85 food credit and 4pm check out.

One niggle I’ve always had with The Park Hyatt is their inability to effectively deal with guests who arrive on early morning long haul flights, whose rooms aren’t ready but clearly are in need of a good wash and brush up. I hoped The Four Seasons would be better prepared.

Arriving at 8am, after a 14 hour flight from Los Angeles, this camel and companion (particularly the camel) were more than a little disheveled and in desperate need of a shower.  In fairness to the front desk, they acknowledged awareness of our early arrival and promised that our room would be ready by 11am.  The Spa was certainly better than The Park Hyatt, particularly the ladies facilities, where a private shower and changing area was available.

Our ‘harbour view suite’ offered spectacular views of both sides of the Harbour Bridge. One window had a panoramic view, from the bridge, across the Opera House and down to the Pacific. The other window looked to the west of the bridge and through the skyscrapers to Darling Harbour.

The room, however, was not so exciting. Supposedly refurbished in the late 1990s, when Four Seasons took over from The Regent, the décor and furnishings were unimaginative and not up to the usual Four Seasons standard. The furniture was particularly poor. An odd mix of nasty red wood and black pieces looked totally incongruous. Don’t be misled by the vases of flowers liberally placed around the room in the hotel web site photograph.  Perhaps our exotic flowers had been devoured by the ‘triffid like’ specimen next to the seedy sofa.

The in-room broadband was efficient but $25 a day for Internet access, when one is paying $650 for a room is unjustifiable and petty.  In this day and age, when Broadband is very inexpensive, premium hotels should provide it free of charge.

This hotel is far too large; 531 rooms on 33 floors. A huge cavernous lobby on the ground floor, broken by a staircase, leads to a vast open dining area where ‘campers’ queue for their breakfast. The three floor atrium effect does nothing to disguise the size of the hotel and adds to its impersonal feel. The hotel clearly does significant business with many of the giant cruise liners which dock in Sydney. This probably explains the less sophisticated clientele than one would normally expect in a Four Seasons. I guess the reality is that they have a huge number of rooms to fill and aren't too fussy. This Four Seasons hotel is several seasons removed from the George V in Paris and most other establishments within the group.

My biggest issue with The Four Seasons in Sydney was the concierge desk.  This Hotel Group justifiably prides itself in having some of the world’s best concierges, but not in Sydney.

After booking the room, one month before travel, I personally called the concierge desk to make a few restaurant reservations.  I was assured there would be no problem with my requests.  One week before our arrival I called again.  One reservation was correct, one was wrong and one had not been made.  I was promised the situation would be rectified.

Having checked in I headed to the concierge desk and was understandably frustrated that the status had not changed since my last call. A young concierge (we’ll call him D) failed to understand my irritation. Two hours later, having received no message that the matter had been sorted out, I returned to the desk to be told by D that all my requested reservations were in place.

We went to lunch.

Upon returning from lunch we passed D at the hotel entrance.  He looked directly at us and failed to show any recognition.  Should he not have asked if we enjoyed the lunch he had booked, or at the very least, said ‘hello’?

Is this camel being over arsy?

I don’t think so.

Perhaps they should send the lad to the concierge at The Four Seasons in Singapore, or, closer to home, Michael Anderson at The Observatory, to see how a professional behaves.
 

The Four Seasons
199 George Street
Sydney

 +61 2 9238 0000
http://www.fourseasons.com/sydney/