The last time I stayed at the Intercontinental at Circular Quay was in 2025 for my last night in Sydney before catching an early flight to Tokyo the next day. As a result, I didn’t even manage to try the breakfast at the hotel. This time around, I’m doing things in reverse. On my way from Darwin to the Blue Mountains I’m stopping here for one night. Check-out is at eleven in the morning, which means I should easily be able to make the 12h10 train to Leura and still have a leisurely breakfast.

Location

The Sydney Intercontinental sits on the edge of a triangle that is made up of the Sydney Opera House on Benelong peninsula, the Royal Botanic Gardens, and Circular Quay. It’s just a short but very steep uphill walk from the station at Circular Quay to the hotel. The hotel was built around what used to be the treasury of New South Wales. The old building has been gutted, but the facade has been cleverly integrated into the newer high-rise that is the hotel.

Check-in & Staff

By the time I get to the hotel, it’s just coming up 19h00. The lobby is quiet and reception isn’t very busy either. The Treasury is the lobby lounge and bar in the atrium, which is enclosed on two sides by the old brick structure. In any case, the young lady at check-in does quick work getting my key cards ready, which is a good thing because she’s obviously not the world’s most inspired conversationalist, and neither am I. She asks me how the flight was, so I tell her that we were rather fast today, with a flight time of only three hours and fifteen minutes making us arrive in Sydney with an advance of twenty minutes on our scheduled time of arrival. “Oh, good”, she says, “so you were very… eh… fast…”.

Twin Queen Classic Harbour Bridge View

I’ve booked a Twin Queen Classic Harbour Bridge View room, which is the exact same category as the one I was upgraded to when I visited a year ago. I can’t be sure, but I suspect it may even be the exact same room on the seventeenth floor. I tap the card to unlock the door, and as I do, the curtains start opening to reveal a spectacular night time view of Sydney Harbour with the Harbour Bridge and Milson’s Point behind it.

The room features two queen beds, both of which have a nice, firm mattress and four pillows in varying degrees of fluffiness. There’s a card on the bedside table informing me that I have a variety of pillows to choose from that I can order directly from housekeeping.

Up by the window there’s a bench that runs the full length of the room along the window, which is a lovely place to sit and watch the activities on the harbour. That is, it would be if it weren’t so foggy when I wake up in the morning. To be honest, the hotel is nice and I think it’s well managed. However, I also think its real selling point is the view. If it weren’t for that, I could have just as well stayed at the Swissôtel or the Sofitel in the city centre.

The bathroom is small but nicely appointed. It has a walk-in shower that scores among the highest samples that have been submitted to the infamous and highly scientific Knight of Malta shower test. The pressure is very good, temperature control is responsive and there is *may we have a drum roll please* absolutely zero spillage at all. I truly am mightily impressed, this is quite an exceptional sample. The cosmetics in the bathroom are by a brand I’m not familiar with. There is a small box containing some basic bathroom amenities.

Sydney Intercontinental Amenities

In terms of amenities, the lady at check-in hands me a box of caramel fudge as a welcome gift for being a IHG loyalty member. Up in the room there’s a kettle and a Nespresso machine with milk in the fridge. Slippers and bathrobes are also provided. The hotel does not provide bottles of mineral water. However, there is a carafe with two mugs on the table by the window that has been filled with water from the filtering station by the lifts.

Breakfast at the Conservatory

The hotel has several restaurants. However, during my stay I only sample the breakfast, which is served at The Conservatory on the first floor. I go for breakfast just after 06h30, when the restaurant opens, and easily find a place to sit. However, when I pass by there on my way out at around nine in the morning, the queue is snaking all the way around the building to the lifts. I must say, though, that the breakfast spread they have is truly spectacular. On the side of the main dining area they have an extensive buffet of hot Asian dishes, with things like vegetarian stir fry noodles, steamed bao buns and dim sum. Just around the corner the buffet continues. In addition, hot egg dishes can be ordered with the waiting staff.

Conclusion – The Sydney Intercontinental

This was now my second stay at the Sydney Intercontinental, and this time I finally got to try their breakfast. As previously mentioned, I think the hotel is nice, but not really anything special. Its selling features are the proximity to Circular Quay and the views of the harbour from the harbour view rooms. If it weren’t for the view, I think I would have stayed at the Swissôtel, the Sofitel or the Fullerton, which are even more central. However, I think the Intercontinental is a well managed property and the breakfast is very nice. However, to fully enjoy it, you need to be at The Conservatory rather early.