Introduction

After my hiking excursion in the Blue Mountains, I return to the Sofitel Darling Harbour for the last few days of my vacation – before I have to face the unavoidable and return home. As I’ve already posted a recent trip report from the Sofitel Darling Harbour, I wasn’t planning to do another one. But then I was upgraded to a Prestige Suite and I figured I just had to share this. In as much, this is an abridged review that is intended more as a postscript to my previous post on this hotel.

Getting to the Sofitel Darling Harbour

The first part of the journey from Leura in the Blue Mountains to Sydney is beautiful. The second half, not so much. As I am, after all, a man of leisure here in Australia, I’m in no rush to get back to Sydney. So I alight at Parramatta Station, then walk about ten minutes down to the water’s edge to catch a ferry from Parramatta Wharf to Barangaroo on Darling Harbour, which is a far more scenic routing.

Check-In

I arrive at the hotel at around 14:20. I go up to the concierge, so that he can call a lift that will take me to the Club Millésime lounge and check-in on the 35th floor. He hands me a key card to use in the lift.

When I reach the 35th floor, I’m seen to straight away. Before we even do anything else, the young lady at reception asks me if I’d like some chocolates and a glass of the Moët & Chandon. She takes care of the suitcases and then checks me in. The room is not quite ready yet, she tells me, and invites me to wait in the lounge. When the room is ready, they’ll let me know through the AllAccor app.

Eventually, they send me a message at 14h50 to inform me that the room is ready. But at 15h00 the afternoon tea service starts in the Millésime lounge, so the room will just have to wait.

The Prestige Suite

My suite is located on the 28th floor. As it’s a corner room, it offers a spectacular panoramic view overlooking the Sydney CBD and Darling Harbour on my right, and then sweeping across to Rozelle Bay and the Blue Mountains far, far off in the distance. This also means that when approaches to Sydney airport are from the north, I have an unobstructed view of approaching traffic!

The living room is on the side of the suite facing directly towards Darling Harbour. It’s a nice, comfortable room with a large, round coffee table in the middle, two armchairs and a sofa that’s excellent for an afternoon siesta.

Right behind the sofa is a good size desk with several power sockets, which is where I sit while I try to churn out that damn paper I’ve been working on. But it’s not easy to avoid distractions in a city like Sydney.

And then behind the desk is the dining area with the credenza and dining table.

The bedroom is on the other side of the entrance, with an unobstructed view facing north. The bathroom leads off from the bedroom.

And what a nice bathroom it is. There are twin sinks, a bathtub right in the centre of the room, so that you still have a view outside even when you’re soaking in the bath.

And, as the coolest feature, I think, the shower has two heads, the temperature of which can be controlled independently of each other – so that either two people can shower at the same time. Or, you can have one head on hot and the other on cold. The possibilities are endless, and it’s just very cool!

Conclusion

This was another very nice stay at the Sofitel Darling Harbour in Sydney. The location of the hotel is just excellent. I found the Prestige Suite very nicely appointed and very comfortable. I think what has impressed me most here in Australia, is just how good the benefits are that you get with being an AllAccor Diamond status card holder. The lounges in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney were all nicely laid out and had rather generous and varied complimentary food offerings. In contrast, I don’t think that any of the Sofitels in Paris, for example, even have a lounge.