Review: the W Sydney hotel, a window onto Darling Habour

This is our review of the W Sydney hotel, part of Marriott Bonvoy.

The W has been a long-awaited part of the Sydney skyline. Originally meant to open in 2020, we included it in our 2021 round-up of Marriott hotels you’d want to visit in 2022 and, well, it finally opened at the tail-end of 2023 after the bankruptcy of the original two developers.

The building itself – allegedly called ‘The Ribbon’ although I fail to see the resemblance – is a redevelopment of the former Sydney IMAX cinema which was razed before being rebuilt as part of the hotel building (with a separate entrance, of course.)

I stayed here as part of my recent trip to Australia with Qantas. The second batch of flight reviews, covering my trip home from Sydney to London via Singapore, will be published next month. You can read about my outward flight on the 17 hour non-stop Qantas London to Perth service here.

The hotel website is here.

HfP paid cash for my stay but at a discounted rate.

Where is the W Sydney hotel?

W Sydney anchors the Southern end of Darling Harbour, an area of Sydney that has undergone massive transformation in the past decade. It was my first time staying in this part of the city and I have to say it is spectacular.

I have to admit I was a bit crestfallen as I arrived as the building is sandwiched in-between two fly-overs, which doesn’t exactly scream ‘luxury hotel’.

But having spent three days exploring the local area I can’t really say it had much effect: in fact, I totally forgot the roads were there. The only time you notice it is when crossing the elevated walkway towards Sydney Town Hall and the iconic Queen Victoria Building, also where you’ll find the closest train station (about seven minutes’ walk away).

Virtually the entire harbour has been or is in the process of being overhauled, although a good 70% of it has been done, with super-wide board walks along the harbour flanked by alfresco restaurants and coffee shops.

Just below the W is the Darling Quarter development with a huge kids play area and tons of family-friendly restaurants. The boardwalk up towards Sydney harbour takes you up to the newly developed Barangaroo Reserve Park with swimming coves, star-gazer lawns and native planting.

The whole area is bustling with life. Unlike Sydney Harbour where you feel like everything is geared to tourists, Darling Harbour feels like the locals’ favourite hang out.

Inside the W Sydney

There are a few oddities to the building, such as the afore-mentioned elevated walkway not connecting straight into the hotel. This means you head down to the ground floor to enter the hotel only to head up this set of stairs / escalators to get to the first floor lobby:

There are 588 rooms but it never feels that overwhelming, even on an incredibly busy weekend like the one I stayed during, when the city was full with visitors for the Vivid Sydney light festival. Check-in didn’t take long for my late afternoon arrival on a Friday, despite the high occupancy rates:

Rooms at W Sydney

I had booked a base room type at 35 square metres which the W calls a ‘Wonderful Room’. Based on the W Sydney website I think I was upgraded to a ‘Spectacular Room’ which appears to be identical except that it has a Darling Harbour (rather than City) view. Otherwise, the size and layout seems to be the same.

The room shape is slightly bizarre and I couldn’t quite visualise it in my head, as the rooms seem to have a curving back wall. A spacious bathroom clad in giant navy blue tiles makes for a bold first impression:

The shower overlooks the free-standing tub in a wet-room sort of corner, with toiletries from MOMO:

I would’ve put two wash basins in – there’s certainly enough room – but they’ve gone for just the one.

From the moody blue bathroom you then open into the bright bedroom.

The beige and navy striped headboard gets you straight into the nautical theme and you’ll also notice the giant whale plushy placed on the bed:

To the right is a gleaming silver mini bar stocked to the rafters with wines, spirits, pre-mixed cocktails and snacks, as well as complimentary tea and Nespresso coffee:

There’s also a little walk-in wardrobe nook decorated in contrasting magenta wallpaper with a repeating Waratah flower pattern:

I thought this would be a good spot for a dressing table but, bizarrely, there’s no mirror on the interior despite the stool for sitting on! There are plenty of mirrors elsewhere, including an entire mirror wall in the hallway, but these are not ideal for getting ready I imagine ….

You then have the king bed, replete with a sensible panel of smart switches for the lights that actually works, as well as controls for the electric curtains (bonus points, I think this is the first W I’ve stayed at with those):

On the left of the bed is a chaise longue:

…. plus a round dining table and chairs:

…. and finally, if you’re lucky, the view of Darling Harbour:

W Sydney pools and gym

It’s poorly advertised, but the W Sydney is actually home to two pools, not just one. You have the spectacular rooftop pool overlooking the harbour, which is adults only at weekends:

On the 25th (I think) floor you then have an indoor pool:

This was totally deserted when I had a look. I suspect nobody knows about it – the only reason I realised it was there was because of a 10 second ad on the screen in the lift. It is not on any of the other signage.

Sadly, there are no steam rooms or sauna available by either pool: for that, you have to pay for a spa treatment or rent out one of the spa suites, which is a shame.

On the second floor you also have the spa and gym. The gym is excellent, a good size, with Technogym equipment.

Conclusion

People either seem to love or loathe W Hotels, but W Sydney is a great example of one done well. The rooms are all spacious and quirky, which is what you’d expect from a W, but they’re also functional. You’d laugh at the amount of times I end up wrestling with light switches in hotels, so it’s a relief when everything just works in the way you expect it to.

This was my first time staying and exploring Darling Harbour and I have to admit it’s an excellent spot. Most visitors will want to be near Circular Quay, the Rocks and the Opera House but W Sydney is far better located: less touristy, just as convenient to other major sights in central Sydney and within walking distance of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.

Room rates start as low as AUD$300 (around £150) but prices can be very peaky. A Marriott Bonvoy redemption will set you back 45,000+ points per night.

You can find out more, and book, on the Marriott website here.