I've stayed in The Menzies many times, principally on the strength of the excellent location, the very very comfortable beds and the value for money.

In line with some of the other reviewers here, the rooms probably have seen better days. The bathrooms badly need an upgrade, and the wallpaper in some rooms is fraying and needs replacing. Bedroom windows are filthy, but this is not unique to The Menzies as the city is still under water restruictions. It is evident that some upgrades are under way - rooms now feature flat screen TV's for example, and decor in the communal areas seems to be refreshed.

Those minor gripes are more than liveable with. Personally, I find the beds in this hotel amongst the most comfortable of any I have slept in anywhere. The bed linen is clean and crisp, as are the towels in the bathroom.

I find the staff at the hotel very friendly as well - check in and out was very efficient, bell staff were friendly and efficient (don't think I had to open the door of the hotel once, so efficient were the bell staff in ensuring they opened it for me!), and the members of the management team I encountered were extremely polite and friendly.

I didn't sample the hotel restaurant on this occasion. Unless breakfast is included in the room rate, I object to the price any city centre hotel charges for breakfast - there are plenty of nearby cafes offering freshly cooked breakfasts for a fraction of the price. I did sample a few drinks from One Four, the lobby bar, and again service was good, price reasonable, and location in the lobby great for people watching.

The location of this hotel is great. It's 10 minutes walk to Circular Quay, 10 minutes to Darling Harbour, and is located adjacent to Wynard bus terminal and railway station (conveniently on the airport line).

I can't lie and say that this is the best hotel in Sydney, but from my experience, in terms of staff friendliness, bed comfort and location, it offers great value for money if you are prepared to accept one or two shortcomings.

My husband and I stayed at the Menzies for five nights in mid May 2008. Although I’ve rated this property as three stars above, this is one of those times when I really wish that Trip Advisor allowed for half stars – in my mind, the Menzies was a solid three-and-a-half star hotel.

As has been mentioned here many times before, the Menzies’ most appealing quality is its location. The hotel is located directly across from Wynyard Station, although we never once used the station because everything else we wanted to access within Sydney was also within walking distance of the Menzies. Circular Quay and The Rocks were only about a ten-minute walk up George Street, and the Kings Wharf area of Darling Harbour was even closer, only about three blocks away. Central Station was about a 25-minute walk for easy access to all of the suburban and intercity trains.

The Menzies lobby was nicely done, and the common areas on the first floor (the restaurant and piano bar) were charming albeit a bit worn. We took a quick peek into the pool/Jacuzzi area but never used those facilities. Our room was an even-numbered room on the seventh floor of the south wing. The view was directly into the windows of an office building, as others have described. We were initially assigned an odd-
numbered room on the third floor with a view across to Wynyard Station, but we relocated to a room with a single queen bed instead of two twin beds (we were going to just push the twin beds together, but they were on wheels; according to other couples with whom we spoke, we made the right choice, as the twins kept rolling apart in the middle of the night when they tried pushing them together). So for those who care about the view from your room, I’d suggest requesting an odd-numbered room! For us, it didn’t matter because we spent almost no time in our room.

Our room was plain but clean and of an adequate size. There was no in-room safe. The small closet included quite a few hangers, but drawer space was limited. There was a minibar in the room that proved useful for chilling some wine picked up in the Hunter Valley (a corkscrew was also provided in the room), and the small table with two chairs offered some extra space to spread out. The bathroom was somewhat small but did offer a full-size shower and a decent amount of counter and shelf space for toiletries. Of note, I understand that the north wing rooms have been renovated, so perhaps they are of a higher caliber than what we found in the south wing.

I have two big complaints about our room. The first is that the air conditioning was quite ineffective. I tend to like it rather warm and it didn’t get much above 70 degrees outside, and even I was a bit uncomfortable trying to sleep, so I imagine that the Menzies rooms could be quite unpleasant for someone who prefers cooler temperatures and/or who visits during the heat of summer. My other complaint pertains to the sensitivity of the smoke detectors. In multiple places throughout the room, warnings were posted that taking a shower with the bathroom door open would cause the smoke alarm to go off due to the steam. On our first night at the Menzies, we were awoken around 10:30 pm by the fire alarm (normally not a big deal, but we’d gone to bed at 9 pm because of jet lag!). Subsequent announcements were made that it was a false alarm. No one would tell us for sure that it had been caused by the combination of poor bathroom ventilation and overly sensitive smoke detectors, but that was the going theory…

We stayed at the Menzies as part of a package deal through Smartours, so I can’t really comment specifically as to the value of our stay. However, at $1399 per person for three nights in Tahiti, five nights in Sydney, all transfers, breakfast every morning, and roundtrip flights from LAX, I KNOW the Menzies portion of our trip cost was well below rack rates! For those considering purchasing the $30 buffet breakfast, I would suggest looking elsewhere. We ate the breakfast every morning because it was part of our package, but some of the food was not of the best quality, and the selection was limited and did not change from day to day. With the Menzies being so ideally located, there are MANY other breakfast options to choose from in the area.

Internet access is available in the rooms, but I believe the charge was $12 per day. We instead opted to use the computers in the business center on the ground floor. These computers were coin-operated; cost was $2 per 15 minutes of internet access. The Menzies also offered a small alcove filled with tourist brochures. The concierge was kind enough to book a tour for us so we did not need to make the call from our room. Overall, the staff at the hotel were very friendly and helpful.

I would not hesitate to stay at the Menzies again if I found that it was part of a package that seemed like a good value. If I were instead making hotel arrangements on my own, however, I would definitely see what other options might be available in a similarly wonderful location.

Not worth it.

Booked it as a secret deal on lastminute, and when I saw what it was i regretted it straight away.

Would have been a great hotel in the 80's. Have no idea why it is 4 stars. The room was too basic, much akin to a motel room.

Stay else where is my recommendation.

I got a 50% discount and was disappointed, god knows why people pay full price to stay there.

This hotel is impressive when you walk in the lobby. It is also very conveniently located across the street from the Underground Train Station which is loaded with shops and eateries as well as transportation. The room was comfortable and clean. The bed was firm, good for sleeping. There are a couple of cocktail lounges in the hotel as well as a restaurant. Internet service is available for hire in the business center. Transportation is super with cabs, buses and subways abounding. The hotel is also near LOTS of shopping, restaurants, famous sites, etc. Great vacation location.