Spread the love
Post Views: 15

After 40 years or so of living out of a suitcase in everything from a Maharajah’s palace to a rat hole in Paris it takes a bit to surprise me when it comes to hotel rooms.

My last overseas stay was in the Hilton Doubletree Hotel London Docklands  – the bedside lights were lousy, no power plugs by the bed, the aircon didn’t work along with the safe – there was a dangerous step down to the bathroom and no ramps anywhere – you had to drag your bag up steps. I could go on.

The walk-in shower and bath….what a great idea.

In contrast, the new Vibe Hotel Sydney Darling Harbour gets 10/10 for design, comfort and value. We needed a night in Sydney before a cruise  – nothing expensive but comfortable and the Vibe stood out.

The entrance, near Chinatown if you know Sydney, is unpretentious, the front desk staff charming and happily we had beenupgraded to a suite.

There are plenty of fast lifts that require the security of your key and we were quickly in our room. Good old fashioned switches operate the excellent room lighting.

Tastefully furnished the suite was smaller than I expected and the view hardly memorable but we were quickly impressed with what the designer had achieved. As well as a full size king bed we had a small lounge which could be divided from the bedroom that boasted a second good sized TV .

Goodies included an iron and board, stocked mini fridge, nice selection of glasses, coffee machine and yes – there was a small carton of milk in the fridge. The safe was easy to use and big enough to take my Macbook Air. The bathroom is very inventive. As regular readers will know, I hate the shower/bath combo – it is bloody dangerous and more often than not you get a burst of cold water when you first turn on the taps.

Our bathroom had a walk-in shower and a bath as well in the back – so you can enjoy the best of both worlds. The shower control was at the entrance – so no chance of a freezing welcome.

Towels were nice and thick and there was room for two – the double basin well lit and the exhaust fan quiet for a change. The desk was small but adequate with a separate light, comfy chair plus 2x USB plugs as well as 2 power points. The bedside lights were bright and adjustable and there was power and USB plus on both sides – essential these days with Apple watches and phones or whatever to charge.

The hotel boasts a rooftop bar and pool that adds to the attractiveness of this property. We had a couple of round of drinks with friends and really enjoyed the atmosphere.  As for food there is a ground floor coffee shop special of a coffee plus egg and bacon roll for $10 – delicious.

A scrummy breakfast is cooked to order. We did order room service – I was happy with my curry but Fiona’s chips were on the cold side. What’s needed are covers to keep the heat in and possible sneezes out.

All in all though it was a delightful stay and I can see the parent TFE Hotels group adopting this design for all future mid priced properties.

Written by Ian Mcintosh