Sydney’s comfortable hotels – Radisson Blu Plaza
Australia’s biggest city is a noisy one, so when it comes to Sydney’s comfortable hotels, it’s not always about views or amenities but that most basic of requirements – a quiet spot to sleep.
Any recent visitors to Sydney know the central business area remains dominated by the light rail project down George Street. While the Radisson Blu Plaza is away from that carnage, it’s in a very busy area on Hunter Street, one of the major east-west thoroughfares of the city, close to Circular Quay and Martin Place.
The building itself is quite beautiful and dates back to the mid-1800s in beaux-arts style. It used to be the headquarters of a media empire and a bank but opened its doors as a hotel in 2000.
Rooms are reasonably spacious and were updated about three years ago. Despite that, the decor still feels a bit old fashioned.
Happily though, it’s an easy room to get around, without any of the props that can trip you up in the middle of the night. There’s a fair amount of floor space, which comes in handy if you decide to play one of the free yoga videos available on your TV.
Desk and smart TV
The marble bathroom is long and narrow, with vanity and toilet on one side and a separate bath/shower on the other. Robes are made available and the toiletries are more than decent with particularly nice soap.
Separate bath tub
Shower cubicle
Vanity
There’s a lighted shaving mirror in the bathroom which is always a good thing and plenty of towels. Water pressure and temperature control was perfectly good.
The room also comes with tea and coffee making and a safe. Don’t expect though to have much hanging space – the closet is dominated by the safe and shelves and only suitable to really hang a shirt and jacket – the guys will be happy.
The Radisson is also home to an excellent restaurant, the Bentley. While we didn’t indulge this trip, we were very comfortable downstairs in the bar having a quiet little drink. The hotel also kindly offered free hot chocolate in the foyer for the relatively cool winter evening.
But ultimately, it was the sleep quality here that made the difference. The bed was comfortable (although on the firm side) and the pillows were excellent. Noise insulation from buses and cars heading down side streets was pretty much perfect and the curtains blocked out morning light.
This was certainly one of Sydney’s comfortable hotels and we managed to get a very good deal of around A$280 a night, although this is definitely subject to change depending on what’s happening in the Harbour City.
Radisson Blu Plaza
27 O’Connell Street, Sydney
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