Short review
Note: 3 is average
Value for money: 3.5/5
Services: 3/5
Bedroom: 4.5/5
Sleep quality: 4/5
Bathroom: 4/5
Facilities and amenities: 2/5
Pros
- Spacious room
Cons
- Smell of cigarette smoke at night
- Gym and pool are not located within the hotel building
Long review
Novotel Sydney West HQ is a 4.5-star hotel located within the 20-acre West HQ entertainment complex, hence its name. More information about West HQ is here. We arrived there by car and it was good to see that there were many parking spaces available.
The lobby was rather small. There were only a front desk and a small seating area. The 2 lifts are adjacent to the front desk and immediately apparent when entering the lobby. The interior was pretty standard with a touch of blue here and there to match the overall design of West HQ. The check-in staff was polite, but indifferent and perhaps lacked warmth. She also at first wasn’t aware that breakfast was part of my booking.
The space opened up considerably when we went up to our room. The corridor after exiting the lift was large with a nice seating area. I noticed an ice maker in one corner, an unusual feature in a hotel. A guest laundry was located nearby as well and could be used for free.
Our room was a superior twin room, equipped with two Queen beds, a sofa bed, a work desk with connectivity panel, complimentary water and soft drinks, and a coffee machine. The room was spacious to the point that it felt like a waste of space because it seemed empty. Having said so, my daughter was happy with it since she could run around freely. Looking out of the window, the view was unattractive as I only could see a car park building.
The room amenities were good. The staff left a welcoming note along with 3 heart-shaped chocolate and the in-room breakfast menu. The restaurant was closed, so only in-room breakfast was available. Room service other than breakfast was not available. I found the complimentary drinks in the fridge and they were refilled daily. The Wi-Fi was reliable and its speed was adequate.
The bathroom looked elegant and again spacious. There was no bathtub though.
We ordered some breakfast dishes during our stay, including big breakfast, double smoked bacon and egg roll, poached eggs, smoked salmon, pancake stack, and Belgian waffles. Generally, they were delicious. The Belgian waffles were too sweet for us though.
When it comes to the facilities in the hotel, I mentioned earlier about the ice maker and guest laundry. Other than those, there were no other facilities within the hotel building itself, especially since the restaurant was close. I was given a card to access the One55 Health and Fitness Centre and the SGAC pools, which were located within the West HQ complex. Still, it was not convenient to use these facilities as they were not confined within the hotel. Perhaps there would be many other people as well using the facilities. In the end, we did not even visit them.
There was also an incident during our stay. One night, we could smell a cigarette smoke on the corridor. It was not that strong, so the smell did not penetrate in the room. The next night, the smell was much stronger, so I reported it to the staff. Some security staff came to the corridor soon (even suspected me to be the smoker since I was wondering in the corridor). Not long after, the smell disappeared.
Surrounding the hotel, Westfield Mt Druitt and Mount Druitt were located around 5 minutes driving distance. There were several restaurants near the Rooty Hill Station. We dined at a Filipino restaurant called Mama Lor. The dishes were excellent. That was our first time trying Filipino foods and we enjoyed the experience.
