Anne

Hello! My husband and I are making our final trip arrangements for our week long stay in Sydney. We have reservations at the Renaisance for AU$176. but have just discovered that we can book a room at the Quay Grand for AU$260. My husband needs an accessible room as he uses a wheelchair. Renaisance has an accessible room on the 6th floor and Quay Grand on the 4th floor looking onto the Botanical Gardens. Can I please get some feedback from all you may know - is it worth the extra money and if so, please share as to why. We really appriciate any feedback and comments.<BR><BR>Thank you!

liz

I am not sure when you are going to be here but I have just had a look on the www.wotif.com site and came up with the Sir Stamford Hotel on Circular Quay for $260 for a *harbour* view room. This hotel does have disabled facilities but I don't know if that is for those particular rooms. The reason that I mention this hotel is that it is a very, very nice hotel ( used to be the Ritz I am fairly sure) whereupon the Renaisance Hotel is only a moderate hotel with really very little going for it. I have not stayed at the Quay Grand so cannot give an opinion on that. The wotif site give last minute ( up to 2 weeks) discounted accommodation and you could check on some of their hotels if you wanted for the facilities you need and as long as you are not coming over Easter you would find that the deals will still be available when you want them. also do a search for Quay Grand on this site and see what others have said about it. HTH liz

Nick

I do not know the Renaissance (and web sites i found did not give a good view of it) but I do not believe it to be one of Sydney's top 5 or so hotels whereas Quay Grand probably would qualify - even if just because of high price!. Facilities of Quay Grand are very good - good kitchen and so on. Some of furnishings for price I do not think are the best choice - tweedy finish materials look a little casual perhaps, but still good. Botanic Garden views are nice and quieter than Harbour - so you may actually prefer them. The price is very good. When we were looking in Nov, prices were close to 400 through wotif.com - which is a very good site. We preferred Westin Hotel for superior quality of room appearance (for 265 for deluxe room) but with the kitchen (which certainly has advantages) and better location for tourism, I would say at that price for a week I may well have chosen Grand. Aria restaurant next door is a very elegant restaurant you may like to try (not cheap though). So overall I suspect it is worth the extra.

lindy

I stayed at the Renaissance last week for 5 days. Lovely hotel, but be aware, they are presently undergoing major, major renovations. We did not see any workmen or hear any construction, maybe that was because it was New Year's week. But many parts are boarded up. A temporary reception area...very small, has been set up right next to the driveway. And if I remember correctly, there is one step up you will have to manuever. There are plenty of valet and luggage men to assist.<BR><BR>The dining room, where a lovely buffet breakfast is served daily, will be very tight for your husband's wheelchair. <BR><BR>We had a pleasant stay as the location is fantastic...1-1/2 small blocks to Circular Quay. And our room had a perfect view of the Harbour Bridge for the New Year's fireworks. <BR><BR>

Alan

Hi, Anne!<BR>It's hard to compare rooms at different hotels without knowing exactly what they are offering. The Renaissance has some rooms with spectacular views, and the sixth floor is high enough to take advantage of these, but, of course, they could easily put you in a room facing south or west! Ask them exactly what you will be looking at. If they assure you that the room looks at Sydney Harbour, then take it, in preference to the Quay Grand and its view of the Botanical Gardens, which is a very pleasant outlook, but not one you'll remember all your lives. I am not prepared to go into which hotel has the best service, or the prettiest colour on the walls, etc, because my experience on this forum is that this depends on the luck of the individual -- what is great for one person is a nightmare for the person in the next room, or arriving a day later. Both hotels are smart, clean, upmarket, &quot;standard American&quot; establishments which should provide you with a pleasant stay, so, if the view is good, I'd take the least-expensive.

quay grand

the quay grand is brand new and spectacular and the other side is the harbor itself. you'll literally roll out of bed and onto a ferry, whereas; the renaissance you will have to cross a busy street with busses and then go through an underpass for tansport- the quay grand is gorgeous inside and out and they have a lovelt waterfront dining restaiurant and no i don;t work there- just wish i had a room there for such a low rate! i paid twice that for the awful nickel and dime you to death intercontinental - so not worth it!

quay grand

the quay grand is brand new and spectacular and the other side is the harbor itself. you'll literally roll out of bed and onto a ferry, whereas; the renaissance you will have to cross a busy street with busses and then go through an underpass for transport- the quay grand is gorgeous inside and out and they have a lovelt waterfront dining restaiurant and no i don;t work there- just wish i had a room there for such a low rate! i paid twice that for the awful nickel and dime you to death intercontinental - so not worth it!

Anne

Thank you to all that have responded! This forum has been very helpful in planning our trip to Sydney and New Zealand. We are very impressed with the sharing and thankful for the time people take to respond.<BR><BR>Again, MANY THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!!!

tim

Trust me, the block and a half walk to Circular Quay from the Renaissance is a quick and easy one. One traffic light gets you across the street. Even a 5 yearold can handle that.

quay

she has stated he is in a wheelchair. it may be easy and not a thought to those of us who are able bodied, but to someone on wheels that sort of thing makes a difference!

ren

I would say the Renaissance is only around 1/2 a conventional block size away from CQ (plus a road to cross)- if you can get a harbour view room than like Alan I would also recommend it over the Quay Grand at a much higher cost. I'm not sure what the previous poster 'quay grand' meant but it most definitely is not 'brand new'. Cheers...