Castlereagh Boutique Hotel - Sydney, Australia 

Very odd, like sleeping in a coffin
Posted: Mon, Jul 07 2008
OK. It's my fault we stayed at this hotel, I was looking for something cheap and different and didn't realise what I was getting us into. I've stayed in small hotel rooms before ( Paris ) but this takes the biscuit, it is sooooooooooo small and boxy and actually quite distressing to remain in. It is seriously odd and unless you are a Mason or will sleep on the street otherwise I would not reccomend you stay here. Please if you want to stay in Sydney just pay for somewhere good. This was a cheap last minute fix for somewhere to stay and I will never live down having booked it. Don't book it either unless you want to freak yourself out and have the people who stay with you be mad at you for a while. 'Nuff said.

Spartan!
Posted: Fri, Apr 04 2008
Sydney was the second port of call on our world tour and we wanted a hotel we could relate to and relax in. This was not it! The room we were assigned was so small that we had to sit on the bed and there were absolutely no drawers for clothes. We asked for an upgrade and were given a family room that had slightly more room and an additional single bed. The shower room was in a cupboard with a sliding door and a disconcerting step up. The room decor was 50s/early 60s and definitely not of 'boutique' standard. We had expected something unusual and stylish. The Masonic Club of New South Wales - which is based in the hotel - certainly surprised us as there was no mention of this in Expedia's description. The lobby and reception areas did have some style but that stopped once you stepped into your room. Security was good.

not impressed
Posted: Wed, Apr 02 2008
We stayed at the castlereagh for new year in sydney, the location is ok, the staff friendly, and very close to everything in central Sydney, the hotel is clean, but thats it. The room had only frosted glass windows almost at ceiling height to get some daylight in and a terrible central aircondition system that must date back to the 1960s, with an air-outlet blowing directly onto the bed, accompanied by a dreadful noise, and no way to turn it off or control it somehow. (Eventually we stuffed towels into the outlet to stand it somehow). Definitely not worth the price we paid (280 $) even considering that it was the NYE-rate.