Short review
Note: 3 is average
Value for money: 3.5/5 – About average
Services: 4/5 – Friendly services from the staff
Bedroom: 3.5/5 – Clean and functional
Sleep quality: 4.5/5 – Quiet even though it is located near the airport
Bathroom: 3.5/5 – Bathtub is a plus; clean, but the appearance is rather outdated
Facilities and amenities: 4/5 – The nearest hotel from the international terminal
Pros
- Near the Sydney Airport’s international terminal
Cons
- Nothing in particular
Long review
Novotel Sydney International Airport is your best option if you are looking for the nearest Accor hotel from the international terminal (Rydges is the closest). My family and I only stayed 1 night at this hotel because we had a flight to catch in the morning. We arrived at the hotel by car in the evening after dinner. Fortunately, I found a spot on the 5-minute parking strip so I could do a quick check-in. I quite like the design of the lobby. It is fairly spacious and has a lot of seats.
After I placed the luggage in the room, I parked my car in the P7 car park at the airport. For info, the hotel has a car park with a reasonable overnight fee, especially when you are an Accor member, but we felt that parking in the airport was more practical for us in this scenario. We then hopped the shuttle van ($10 per person) the next day to go to the international terminal. The shuttle left every 30-40 minutes.
Going back to the matter of parking my car in the airport, I found that there is a footpath conveniently connecting the car park and the hotel. It starts from a pedestrian and bicycle bridge on the second floor of the car park. The walking distance is about 1 km, so it may not be practical if you have a lot of bags or travelling with young kids.
Now let’s talk about the room. Our room can comfortably accommodate 2 queen beds, although there is not much space available to open our large bag. A welcome gift, comprising a bottle of water and a box of 4 snack bars, was given earlier by the receptionist when I checked in. The room was quiet even though it is near the airport. Other room amenities are as expected from such a hotel. Nothing special either when it comes to the view from the window as we only could see buildings.
The bathroom is clean, although the interior appears rather dated. The bathtub is a nice thing to have.
Breakfast was a standard experience again as expected from a 4-star hotel in Australia. The hot bar offered mini pancakes with condiments, scrambled eggs, bacons, chicken sausages, baked beans, hash browns, roasted potatoes, and herbed mushrooms. They also had the usual cold bar dishes (no salmon though), bread and cereal stations, a good jam selection, and tea and coffee making facilities. They provided a juicer if you would like to make your own juice.
I heard the hotel has a pool and a gym, although we did not have time to check them out.
Overall, the hotel seems to be the best option if you need an accommodation near the international terminal at the Sydney Airport. The shuttle service from the hotel to the airport and vice versa is useful, although it is actually possible to walk the 1 km distance if you do not carry much luggage.
