Review: Four Seasons Hotel Sydney Australia

To the point Upon finishing a recent business trip in Australia, I stayed a few days to visit some friends in Melbourne and Sydney. Here's my review of the Four Seasons hotel where we stayed in Sydney.

Booking Location Arrival & Check-In Deluxe Partial Harbour View Room Dining Facilities Service Hotel Fact Sheet My general impression

I was quite excited for this stay since it was my first with the Four Seasons brand. Since they don’t have a loyalty system, it’s not possible to stay at them with points, and the cash rates can exceed $1,000 a night at many of their locations. I had mixed expectations for this property since it is known as one of the less desirable locations in their portfolio, so I was interested to see if it would live up to the hype of its famous brand name.

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Booking

The cost to stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Sydney was hovering around $300 USD/night including taxes for a base room which had a city view and could accommodate two adults. I chose to book through The American Express^® Fine Hotels & Resorts program which I could access using my American Express Platinum Card^® to unlock a lot of extra value. The total was $593.80 USD for two nights, slightly cheaper than the best rate offered on the hotel’s website.

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Booking Benefits

This was a great deal since not only was I paying slightly less than the regular price, but we would receive a lot of extra perks for no charge. That shows how valuable it can be to book through different booking portals. Another option when staying with this brand is to book through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel agent to get similar, if not even better perks. For this stay I wanted to use the Amex portal since I was able to use my annual $200 hotel credit to reduce the cost even further.

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Location

The Four Seasons Hotel Sydney is centrally located just a few steps from Sydney Harbour and its iconic landmarks such as the opera house and harbour bridge. Circular Quay and its public transit network of trains, busses, and ferries is just a few minutes walk. From here you can go anywhere in the city, including the train link which goes to the domestic and international airport terminals. You can also easily walk to the Rocks and other shopping, dining, and nightlife venues.

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Arrival & Check-In

The hotel has an impressive entrance off the main street where you can pull in with your car and not have to deal with traffic around you. Valets are usually present to help with your luggage, and they even have a water station for pets.

The reception area is gorgeous and has a sweeping staircase, a 3-floor high ceiling, and various comfortable seating spread out over several levels. There are multiple check-in desks and a valet/concierge station.

We received a friendly greeting upon arrival and got an upgrade to a partial harbour view deluxe room based on the booking through the Fine Hotels & Resorts program. This is what I had hoped for since I was looking forward to having a nice view of the opera house. I’ve been to Australia multiple times, but this was my first visit to Sydney since being there as a backpacker years ago, and was anxious to lay my eyes on the famous landmark in person again. Suffice it to say, my accommodations on this trip were slightly more upscale than the last time I was here. 😉

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Deluxe Partial Harbour View Room

Our room was fairly standard but tastefully decorated, quiet, and well-appointed. It featured two very comfortable twin Four Season beds, a large TV, a mini bar area with a fridge, good tea/coffee amenities, and a good amount of storage space with a safe and bathrobes with slippers. One nightstand even had a Bose Bluetooth speaker which we used to play music. And our welcome amenity was a bottle of Australian red wine which was appreciated.

The bathroom was a standard city hotel size, but was really nice with a superb marble shower with separate bath and toiletry products by Codage of Paris.

And of course, the fabulous harbour view from our window!

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Dining

The hotel has one main restaurant called Mode Kitchen & Bar. This is quite a stylish space directly off the lobby, with excellent food and cocktails. In the evening we enjoyed some cocktails at the bar.

In the morning a section of the restaurant and the bar area is converted into a large buffet breakfast. We ate here twice and it did not disappoint!

One special offering on the delicious buffet was one item I love which I have previously only seen at St Regis hotels, which is one of their trademarks: a self-serve full honeycomb!

There also is a lounge called Grain which is open select evenings. We didn’t spend time here since we checked out some other bars in downtown Sydney, but we did pop in to check it out and it is gorgeous.

Outside on the deck you can also order poolside fare from a counter and seating area called The Cabana.

Lastly, there is in-room dining served 24 hours a day, an Executive Club Lounge (which is accessible with club rooms and suites which are significantly more expensive), and the On-The-Go café right in the lobby for coffee, light takeaway food, and baked treats.

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Facilities

The hotel has quite a nice pool and area given its downtown location. Often these can be quite small, but the ambiance here was a decent resort feel. In addition to the pool there was a jacuzzi (at a perfect hot temperature), plenty of available loungers with umbrellas, towels, and side tables, and a kiosk which offered more towels and complimentary water and sunscreen.

There’s a day spa called The Endota where you can book the usual treatments such as massages, facials, body scrubs, including spa packages including multiple treatments.

A fitness center is located on site which gives a pretty good selection of both cardio and weight equipment. At the entrance you can find towels, fresh fruit, wipes, chilled facecloths, and bottled water.

Lastly, the bathroom and changing area is pretty fantastic. It also includes a full steam room and sauna in both the men’s and women’s areas. All the accompanying amenities you would expect can be found including lockers, towels, hair dryers, toiletries, and bottled water. They even have Four Season bathrobes and slippers here, along with a bathing suit dryer.

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Service

So with ample great dining and facilities on site, how was the service? Did it live up to the hype that Four Seasons is known for? In one word: Absolutely. Often at city hotels you don’t spend a huge amount of time on-property and don’t have as much interaction with the staff as you would at a full resort where you may spend more time. But I was impressed at every turn. Here are a few examples:

On arrival, our room wasn’t ready. This was to be expected since we arrived hours before check-in time. The hotel was busy since it was being used for many of the cruise passengers embarking on the ships coming in and out of the harbour. Since we wanted to go catch the ferry over to Manley Beach right away, they gave us keys and showed us to the very well-appointed change/spa area so we could freshen up after our flight and get changed for the beach. The valets took our luggage from us when we left, and once we arrived back at the hotel it was already waiting for us in our room.
On both days of our stay, the food & beverage manager proactively came up to us in the bar/restaurant and was very keen to hear how our stay was, gave us his business card, and told us to not hesitate to call him if we needed anything at all.
While by the pool, I asked the attendant if the large Canada sign I was reading on a building next to the hotel was the Canadian consulate. He wasn’t 100% sure, so immediately pulled out his smartphone to find out. Not only did he confirm that it was, but started reading me other facts and details about it, as if providing me as much information about it as possible was the most important thing he was going to do that day.
While having a cocktail at the bar, we mentioned to the bartender that we wanted a suggestion for some nightlife in the downtown area. He passed the request over to a colleague who was a Sydney native, and he must have spent a full 20 minutes on the request. He chatted with us at length about what we were looking for, then made a list of not less than 10 places with descriptions of their locations and style of ambiance and types of drinks on offer.

Essentially, at every turn everyone really went out of their way to make sure this would be a flawless stay for us.

Four Seasons Hotel Sydney - Hotel Fact Sheet

Parking	Valet $89/day	Breakfast included with room	No
Pool	Yes (exterior)	Rooms with balconies	No
Spa	Yes	Rooms with kitchenette	No
Gym	Yes	USB plugs in room	Yes
Restaurant	Yes	Smart TV	Yes
Accepts animals	Yes	Shower/Bath	Yes, separated
Executive lounge	Yes

Four seasons Hotel Sydney - My general impression

I was quite excited to try my first Four Seasons property. This is known as perhaps a smaller, less grand property than some of the brand’s more illustrious properties, but we enjoyed everything about it. For a city hotel it is packed with great amenities, and provides a pretty significant resort feel to it.

The rooms and dining options were high-end, and the service was flawless at every turn, with everyone we interacted with truly doing whatever they can to make your stay as great as possible. Many Four Seasons properties run well over $1,000 per night, so this one at $300 provides significant value, especially when combined with a booking method which gives you extra perks while there.

While in Sydney, to anyone staying in the downtown area, I would highly recommend this property.