The hotel is beautiful. Sometimes hotels make their lobby look impressive but the rooms are very dull, but not in this case. The room was beautifully decorated too – very stylish with the chaise long, window seat and cool motorised blind. It was also much more spacious than the more expensive one we stayed in at the Four Seasons, and with an infinitely better view too. We had a harbour view and it was very restful watching the sailing boats on the river.
Also the pool on the top floor is heated and has amazing views, whereas the pool at the Four Seasons was freezing cold with no view.
We would have no hesitation in staying at The Intercontinental again.

we had a good view from our room,the service was good,but it was not worth $500 a night.especially when breakfast was nothing to write home about.it has such a reputation,that my wife felt that it was the one place she wanted to stay.very sorry,but dissapointing

The room was nice and spacious. The concierge was top notch, but the remaining service was fair. As an Intercontinental Ambassador member, I expected the "guaranteed" room upgrade. The next two upgrade levels were unavailable so I was offered the third upgrade level at a discounted rate. I didn't want a discounted rate which would have still been an additional $75 per night. I guess 'guaranteed' is defined differently in Australia. After day 3 of 5, they finally offered to comp the in-room wi-fi. Yes, they charge for internet service. Other than the marginal Ambassador service, the hotel is nice. However, I would argue that it is slightly over priced

My wife and I stayed at the Intercontinental Sydney for seven nights in mid-November. It is an impressive hotel and perfectly located as it's within a 5-10 minute walk to the Opera House, Circular Quay, Hyde Park and The Rocks district.

The service was great from the moment the bell-boy opened our taxi door and took our luggage upon arrival, right through to the complimentary bottles of water we received when we departed. The beautiful Cortile lobby bar and lounge is dark, cosy and perfect for a quiet drink at the end of the night. The service there was excellent, especially from Eduardo G, and I recommend trying the Quesadillas from the menu - they were to die for. Room service is expensive so if you're too tired to be waited on in a restaurant then I would suggest getting a quick, cheap takeaway from the Hungry Jacks, McDonald's or fish and chip shop at Circular Quay.

My one big criticism was the absence of free wi-fi. I believe it would have cost me AUD$25 for 24-hours of access which is extortionate, especially when we stayed at four other hotels on our holiday in Australia and Singapore that all provided complimentary wi-fi to its guests. Again, if you need wi-fi access, pay a visit to McDonald's and use their wi-fi free of charge.

According to the taxi driver that drove us to the hotel, government officials stay here when they are in town so if it's good enough for them....