Ibis Styles Sydney Central: 3-Star Budget Hotel Review.

LOOKING FOR AN IN-DEPTH REVIEW OF IBIS STYLES SYDNEY CENTRAL?

Sydney is a vibrant metropolitan city with tonnes of appeal. It’s packed with incredible tourist attractions and famous landmarks surrounding a gorgeous harbour. 

It’s an all-in type of city, and the accommodation options are seemingly endless. But there’s a new hotel that just opened up its doors. The question is, is Accor’s Ibis Styles Sydney Central worth your consideration?

Disclosure: This review is a non-sponsored post based on my stay at Ibis Styles Sydney Central in August 2022. All opinions expressed here are my own.

While Ibis Styles Sydney Central doesn’t have harbour views, it is in an exceptional location. It’s right in the heart of Sydney and within walking distance of numerous attractions such as Hyde Park and the Barracks Museum. Even the Eye Tower is only a little bit further away.

It’s also close to numerous public transport options. The train station, bus and light rail stops are all a stone’s throw away, making accessing more parts of Sydney a breeze. (See more in the Public Transportation section of this post.)

Room Types.

Ibis Styles Sydney Central consists of 18 levels and 413 rooms. There is a range of sizes and layouts to suit a variety of guests.

Standard Room. – One Queen Bed.
Standard Room. – Two Singles Bed.
Standard Room. – One King Bed Or Two Single Beds.
Standard Room With Balcony – One Queen Bed.
Standard Room. With Sofa – Two Single Beds.
Superior Room – 3 Single Beds.
Superior Room – One Queen Bed With Sofa.
Superior Room – 1 King Bed or 2 Single Beds and A Sofa Bed.
Accessible Room – 3 Single Beds.

Superior Room. – One Queen Bed With Sofa. – 1405. 

Although Ibis Styles Sydney Central is “new”, the room has not been renovated since Accor, Ibis’ parent company, acquired the former hotel, Travelodge.

Despite assuming they would have had a fresh makeover with the transfer of titles, the existing Travelodge style and furnishings match the quality one would expect from a 3-star hotel.

It’s a modestly decorated room with light wooden furniture and dark carpet featured throughout.

The bed was clean and comfortable, and the kitchenette was a nice feature, as were the full-length mirrors, although two seem excessive.

It also featured a moderately sized wardrobe, and the TV stand, dining and coffee tables and cupboards under the sink meant plenty of space for belongings. And although the sofa bed wasn’t utilized as such, it was nice to have a couch to lounge around on.

Now for the things the room didn’t have going for it. Aside from the disappointment of it not being new, the existing finishings around the room weren’t well done. And it was noticeable. Like the colours didn’t meet in a straight line on the wall, and the skirting had gaps between it and the plasterboard.

The spare blanket also had numerous stains, and someone’s leftover medicine packet was on the floor.

Lastly, and perhaps insignificantly, the Travelodge logo was still visible, like on the escape notice on the back of the door and the air-conditioner control panel, which is a little odd.

Bathroom.

Room 1405’s bathroom was a touch on the small and squishy side, even for a 3-star hotel. It was all white save for some blue tiles in the shower space, which provided contrast.

The large mirror was a nice touch, but the toilet occasionally malfunctioned. The half-flush button would stay pressed down. It would continue leaking water into the bowl until the lid (which had a big chip) got removed, forcing it to pop back up.

View.

The east-facing view from our room on the 14th level of the Ibis Styles Hotel was lovely.

Aside from seeing the streets and the skyrises, which were beautiful, the Wyndham hotel on the other side of the road had some incredible artwork painted across the building.

It was a fantastic view, especially for an economy-level hotel.

Reception & Hallways. 

The reception of the Ibis Styles Sydney Central Hotel was a gorgeous, newly renovated space that had clean lines, modern trims and detailing.

It felt more upscale than expected of a 3-star hotel which is excellent. It’s just unfortunate that it didn’t carry through to the rooms.

The hallways also didn’t receive the renovation treatment, and the keycard caused a problem with the lift. I could get into the room and to the ground floor fine. But it didn’t work when I tried to access the lower level where the fitness centre and ice machines were, nor when I tried to go back up again.

Restaurant. 

As the Ibis Styles hotel has only recently opened, the restaurant wasn’t open. But it is newly renovated like the reception and is very spacious with lots of warm accents and welcoming vibes.

Additional Facilities.

• Wi-fi.
• 24-Hour Front Desk.
• Fitness Centre.
• Ice Machine.
• Guest Laundry
• Dry Cleaning.
• Luggage Storage.
• Safety Deposit Box.
• Shuttle Bus.
• Wheelchair Accessible.

Parking.

There is offsite parking at Ibis Styles, which lies 200m away from the hotel.

Staff.

There wasn’t a lot of interaction with the staff at Ibis Styles, but of the ones there were, they were friendly and welcoming.

Attractions.

Thanks to its fantastic location in the centre of Sydney, Ibis Styles Sydney Central is within walking distance to numerous tourist attractions and a short train, bus or light rail trip away from many others.

Hyde Park is only a short stroll north of the hotel, while those looking to visit the Hyde Park Barracks Museum and St. Mary Cathedral or scale Sydney’s tallest building, the Sydney Eye Tower, can walk to them on the far side of Hyde Park or catch the train from Museum to St. James.

Further afield, Circular Quay, where Sydney’s famous Opera House and Harbour Bridge are, are only a few more stops along the line, while the picturesque Darling Harbour and the Australia National Maritime Museum are reachable by light rail.

Public Transport & Accessibility To Other Attractions.

Ibis Styles Sydney Central is excellent for public transport, as it’s near two major train stations, two bus and light rail stops.

While the Museum Train Station is the closest to the hotel at 400m, Central Station is only a little further away in the opposite direction. As the city’s big interchange station, it’s easy for regional train travellers coming in and out of Sydney, including to Newcastle, Wollongong and the Blue Mountains, as it means less time-wasting timetable negotiating.

As Central is one of the three stations every railway line passes through, catching the train back to the hotel super easy. Any inbound train will get you to Central.

Museum Station has fewer lines going through it at just 3. But as long as it does the city loop, it stops at Museum.

The train from the airport also goes to Sydney Central and Museum, making Ibis Styles a fantastic hotel to stay in if you’re coming into the city by plane as well.

As for light rail, the Chinatown and Haymarket stations are both only 650m west of the hotel, while the bus stops at Museum Station Liverpool Street and Goulburn St At Nithsdale Street are 350 and 80m away respectively.

Sydney Central’s Ibis Styles hotel was solid for its three-star status. The refurbished reception and dining area was beautiful and welcoming with its modern sophistication.

But the same couldn’t be said for the room. It had not received an update since Ibis and Accor took over, and staying at a hotel listed as new when it hasn’t received an update was disappointing.

What caught us off-guard was that my boyfriend and I stayed at two Accor hotels during this Sydney trip, both as “new”. They had both received extensive renovations for the reception and restaurants, but the room didn’t, but that wasn’t the strangest part.

Mercure Sydney Manly Warringah still had images that showed it was formerly Travelodge. Ibis Styles didn’t. But the rooms, with the exception of the layout, were EXACTLY the same. Same furniture, same carpet and the same bathroom.

It was jarring, to say the least, Ibis Styles gets a pass as it’s an economy-level hotel, and the Travelodge stylings suited that, whereas Mercure doesn’t as they are typically known for having hotels of a higher standard.

The Ibis’ views were incredible, the location to public transport was exceptional and the staff were polite. The only thing was a little trouble with the lifts, but aside from that, Ibis Styles Sydney Central’s value for money is pretty good and is even better if you’re an ALL – Accor Live Limitless member as you get discounts for your stay.

What makes Ibis Styles Sydney Central such an appealing hotel is that it’s not too expensive to stay at and is in an excellent location for public transport.

People going in and out of Sydney by plane or intercity train will particularly love that Ibis Styles is a short walk to Central Station. This is because not only do all metro trains stop there, but so do all intercity trains and the airport train.

The station is the perfect one-stop shop for all their train needs, and the hotel is conveniently close to that amongst other public transport stops, which makes accessing other areas of the city the trains lines don’t service a breeze.

While Ibis Styles Sydney Central is slightly disappointing because its rooms are not new at all, it’s still a solid hotel. The room aligns with the chain’s 3-star status, has fantastic views, and most importantly, is reasonably affordable and is in a superb location.

If you’re planning a trip to Sydney, consider checking out these other posts.

• What It’s Like Climbing The Sydney Harbour Bridge: BridgeClimb Review..
• Discover why the Pylon Lookout is better than Bridgeclimb.
• Best Lookouts In Sydney. Where To Find The Most Incredible Views!
• Sydney Gallery.
• Best Sydney CBD Accommodation Options For All Budgets.

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