Short review
Value for money: 4.5/5
Services: 4.5/5
Bedroom: 4/5
Sleep quality: 4/5
Bathroom: 4.5
Facilities and amenities: 4/5
Pros
- Tennis court
- Good value for money
Cons
- Outside noises penetrating into the room
- Distance to the Parramatta CBD is not as near as expected
Long review
This 4-star hotel is located on the fringe of Parramatta CBD and next to the Rosehill Gardens Racecourse. When booking this hotel online, I informed the hotel that my wife and I would stay with our 15-month old daughter. I also requested for extra pillows when I checked in online.
We arrived at the hotel by car. I immediately drove the car to the secured car park belonging to the hotel. The rate was reasonable at $15 per night, although I only paid $10. Probably because I’m an AccorHotels member.
Everything was ready when I arrived at the reception desk since I have checked in online. The lobby area was small, but I liked it because it was nicely designed. Sunlight poured in from the high windows on one side of the lobby. The plants and a cascade waterfall made the overall ambience pleasant and fresh.
Our room was a standard twin room, featuring 2 double beds. The hotel provided a baby cot in the room even though I didn’t request it. I knew that the 2 double beds were more than sufficient to accommodate us 3. Still, I appreciated their thoughtfulness. Also following my request, there were 6 pillows and 2 big pillows in the room.
The room was fairly large and equipped by an iron and ironing board, a hair dryer, and the usual tea and coffee making facilities. I could see the racecourse from the room window. Other than that, the view featured a carpark, a Woolworths supermarket, a KFC, a McDonalds, and a Hooters restaurant. It is fair to say that the view was not the best feature of the hotel.
The bed was firm (I liked it) and the pillows provided had different levels of firmness, which were again great. The air conditioning was quiet and excellent in maintaining the temperature in the room. The sound insulation was rather poor though. I could hear the noises from the traffic outside even though the room was on level 5. I also could hear the wind howling and the doors slammed on the corridor. However, we slept using a white noise, so all those noises were negligible in the end. I personally had wonderful good night sleeps due to the comfortable bed, pillows and room temperature.
The bathroom was pretty nice. It had no bathtub as expected. I did enjoy the shower though. The water was soft on the skin and it was easy to adjust the water temperature to find the right one.
The cleaning staff did a great job in taking care of our room every day. One day they left a box of chocolate in the room. Thanks for that. Appreciated.
Other facilities in the hotel were a good-sized outdoor swimming pool, a gym, and a tennis court. The pool looked nice and clean. However, it was much too cold to swim even though it was the end of winter. It would be a great place to have fun in summer I would imagine. The gym was small, but it was a good addition regardless. The tennis court (hardcourt) looked rather old, but it was definitely a plus. It is a rarity to have a tennis court in a hotel nowadays.
Breakfast was actually better than I expected. Granted, I normally do not have a high expectation when it comes to the breakfast experience in an Australian hotel. However, this was better than my previous experiences of staying in Australian hotels. Breakfast was served in the M Restaurant. It was crowded in the morning with guests overflowing to the seating areas outside the restaurant. The choices of food and drink were reasonably varied, including a bread and pancake station, a cereal and milk table, English breakfast, congee, a rice or noodle dish, salad and cold dishes, a fresh fruit section, a juice bar, and a tea and coffee station. The dishes were also generally delicious.
The location of the hotel was so so. The CBD, restaurants and shopping centres were about 1.5 to 2 km away from the hotel. It was a bit too far to walk with a toddler. There was public transport, but travelling with public transport in Sydney was rather frustrating usually. Luckily, we could easily explore the area with our car.
We visited some places near the hotel leisurely. The first one is the Hambledon Cottage, about 5 minutes’ walk from the hotel. Hambledon Cottage is a New South Wales State Heritage listed historic cottage built in 1824. The Colonial Georgian cottage is filled with authentic nineteenth century furniture and objects. The trees in the surrounding garden were planted in 1820s.
There is a playground opposite the Hambledon Cottage. Josie tried a swing for the first time here.
As I said earlier, the Parramatta CBD is about 1.5 km away from the hotel. Here we have a river walk, a beautiful foot path along the Parramatta River. It’s nice just to relax and stroll here, while looking at some ducks and swans.
About 20 minutes’ drive from the hotel, there is a hidden gem called the Central Gardens Reserve in Merrylands. An excellent place to see native animals for free, including emus, kangaroos, wallabies, and native birds. A fun place for having a picnic as well.
It was a fun and relaxing family getaway facilitated by our staying at Mercure Sydney Parramatta. Overall, the hotel experience was great, particularly in terms of value for money.
