Specifically asked for a quiet wing, because of restaurants below. They booked a wedding in the suite directly across my room. Reception still maintained it was indeed the quietest room in the hotel…except there was a wedding till 11pm….not cool. How any hotel could book a wedding reception smack bang in the middle of guest rooms is beyond me. 6 weddings that day, never again.

We had an amazing night. Just a great location too right next door to spice alley, amazing food and great coffee downstairs. We had a fantastic meals and some great cocktails on the rooftop bar as well. Beautiful room, exceptional service. A+++

The only thing Old Clare Hotel did right was it's sleek website - you should give the designer a raise. Other than that, this is not a 5 star hotel at all, room amenities and complimentary snacks are none - not even bottled water. They do provide some minibar credits if you book through their website but be warned that booking through a 3rd party site saves you more money than their minibar credits. Bring your own toothbrush and toothpaste because they do not provide any as well. We are staying in the Chippendale Loft, and it's a bother to walk up and down the stairs to boil water as there are no sinks on the first storey to fill up your kettle. User experience design has not been taken into account obviously. The bed is way too soft, and this has been highlighted by many reviews here, but has not been rectified for awhile. We came in to a dusty room with dusty furnishings and a dusty ventilation shaft in the WC. It was a disappointing experience paying almost $400 a night for a "5 star hotel", when in reality it feels like a 3 star room with a smatterring of 'quirky and hipster' furnishings (totally unnecessary btw). We will not be coming back ever after this Easter weekend. Good riddance!!!!

Excellent hotel! Wow, wow, wow. This place is simply charming and cool. The staff are friendly and welcoming and look happy to be at work. The rooms are functional and a vibe. Floorboards are fresh and clean, great natural clean smell. Beds are comfy, the kind that you sink into. Bathroom is a class enclosure with frosted panels for some privacy. The rooftop pool is awesome with long opening hours 7am to 10pm. It’s a narrow lap pool next to the bar which can be a bit initiating 🏊‍♀️ Lots of cool features and a lovely blend of old and new. Valet parking is $70 which is a bit pricey but worth the money if you don’t want to bother parking in one of the overnight car parks in the Broadway area. Right next to Spice Alley and Sydney Central Chippendale so lots of food options in the area

If you are booking this hotel for the rooftop pool, choose somewhere else. It was very disappointing; 4 cheap/ugly/weathered day beds teetering on on the edge of the pool as there isn't room for them (I've posted a photo of one IN the pool - glad I wasn't on it at the time), no other appropriate hotel poolside seating, the pool is unheated, no service, and a public bar beside it that is either full of the kind of people who visit rooftop pool bars (....) (weekend) or empty with no service (weekdays). It wouldn't take much to turn it into a space that works both as a hotel pool AND a bar (think Calile Hotel, Oxford House) - although on a smaller scale. That aside, everything else was surprisingly good (surprisingly as I was in a bad mood due to the pool for at least 24 hours). Cocktails/drinks were great, room service great, super king bed amazing. All the staff were great except for reception (I wanted to add a name to the booking; no reply to my email after 24 hours, got the run around via phone). So - if you ignore the pool and if you aren't looking for a full 'hip hotel' / Ace Hotel experience (see below re the Lobby/Bar), then I'd recommend this place. For those with high expectations... LOBBY - if you are looking for an Ace Hotel lobby space/vibe where you can lounge with a coffee/snack/Macbook - there isn't one. It's a shame as the rest of the hotel ticks most of boxes in the 'hip hotel' playbook. BAR - there is a bar (pub) at the front. I'm sure it is historically significant and also that the drinks are great, but it's not really aligned with the hotel vibe. Felt like a bit of a rough crowd when walking through there at night, but again it depends on what you are looking for.

The Old Clare used to be one of my favourite places to grab a drink. The bar staff used to be so friendly and welcoming. The last few times I’ve been the guys behind the bar don’t even say hi what can I get you. They just look at you, with almost annoyance that you’re there.

A picturesque hotel in the centre of Sydney, I highly recommend a visit. We stayed at a room with two levels and I was astounded by the beautiful interior desing. Overall a lovely stay, in a perfect location. The rooftop pool was an impressive view, towering atop the tall hotel, although unfortunately my time in the pool was cut short by the rain. If I was lucky enough to visit on a sunny day, this would have been an amazing feature. I highly recommend a visit to the Old Clare Hotel for a quality experience directly above the famous Spice Alley, an ideal stay for rest and entertainment.

Pro: The staff here are exceptional. Cons: saggy mattress that left me sleepless & in pain. Bare rooms, I stayed in the Clare Suite and it felt like a posh hostel. Needs some soft furnishings and art and some comfy armchairs. No table to eat dinner off, just a low coffee table. Very small room service menu. No desserts! I had to order Uber Eats to get dessert! I checked out after one night. I was meant to stay 3 but the bed was hideous. I see this as a 4 star venue with 5 star staff.

My fiancée and I loved The Old Clare so much during our first stay that we returned just a few weeks later for another stay. The rooms are neat and clean. Very comfortable. The staff are very friendly and accommodating. The rooftop bar has really good things to eat and drink and we simply love the breakfast in the morning before checking out as well as the late check out option if you book directly through the hotel. Overall a great experience on both occasions. Cannot fault anything.

Hotel rooms look nothing like the photos! Most definitely not worth almost $500 per night. We just spent two nights at Paramount House Hotel for the same price and it’s quality is far superior to the Old Clare Hotel. No sun on the pool or rooftop by 1pm. Frustrating and disappointing experience

Cool hip hotel but the front desk people aren’t trained properly and are a bit rude. It was a hit or miss depending who was managing the front. We arrived prior to check in time and was told before 3pm we would get a text saying our room was ready. Come 3pm and we never received anything. When we confronted the front desk about it the woman with long black hair said we have to WAIT more with a tone and a hand motion of STOP. Kind of rude. Half of us got our room the other half waited another half hour and they lost our luggage for 20 minutes. Some of us got gift bags and the others didn’t. When I asked them about it they acted like they didn’t know what I was talking about even though I saw the gift bag right next to them. I would ask for water at night and the front desk was always flustered not knowing my request. They don’t carry water bottles so I’d have to explain just water in a pitcher is fine. Everytime it was a new person they didn’t understand. I also filmed COCKROACHES in the hallway on the second floor. I showed the video to the front desk and they said oh. Thanks. That’s it. When it came to check out I never received my final bill. I was told they would email it to me and days went by without anything. I called them and the girl said she’ll have to tell the other person to email me because she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Exact words she said. She also complained because I was calling with an American phone number and said my number was confusing to save. Days go by and nothing. I call back and get a man and he said they never had my email on file and that he just sent it. Maybe because I booked through a third party vendor? At this point I’m just annoyed with the lack of communication and professionalism from their staff.

This place is a dump masquerading as a fancy boutique hotel. The descriptions of their rooms are purposely misleading. Room was advertised as having rainfall shower head and hand held, but my room only had a weak pressure hand held shower. My room smelt of B.O. when I dirty arrived. My towel had a hole in it. Can be pretty nosy and staff are unwelcoming. Do yourself a favour and stay elsewhere.

Generally nice hotel. Good check in. Friendly service. Clean. Great glass shower. Cons: Limited room service options. Noisy bar downstairs offering basic bar food and drinks. Loads of street noise heard in the room late into evening. Beds are cosy, but extremely soft. Not supportive in any way.

The Old Clare has lost its charm. Removed all the mismatched mid century, extremely comfortable chairs for cookie cutter furniture. And their cocktail ingredient list is lackluster. They weren't able to make classic cocktails with their stock. Off it to be honest

I had my 50th birthday on the rooftop bar. Kathleen the event’s manager was great to deal with and work out the food and drink options. On the day Josè and his team were brilliant. The canapés were delicious, the drinks were flowing and everyone was well looked after. The rooftop was great on a hot sunny day, with plenty of shade and the pool available. I had such a special time, thank you.

A solid pub venue, good array of tap beers, does some nice pub food classics, lounge like area inside with semi circular booths and other comfy seating, outside is set up to watch the passing inner city parade streaming past. Great spot to catch-up before or after spice alley which is right next door.

A different type of accommodation. High ceilings, timber flooring, and very open plan design. The bath in our room was adjacent to our bed, the handbasin also in the open plan. Toilet and shower was also only separated by frosted doors. Although we were overlooking Spice Alley noise was minimal, and the rooftop bar was lovely. Handy to everything for us this trip.

This is a remarkable place. The staff -- from the general manager down to the folks behind the desk -- are incredibly oriented around making your stay excellent. For my wife and me, they went above and beyond in ways that we're still talking about many months later. Also, the room we stayed in was incredible, modern, and hip. Highly, highly recommend this spot.

Rooms were clean and spacious but found receptionist dismissive and rude - she rolled her eyes at me a few times when I asked if parcels had arrived. Tall, thin European lady with brown hair. Shouldn’t be in hospitality industry with that type of attitude. Will lose clients with staff like that.

We stayed here in February and the hotel is a gorgeous blend of art deco and industrial stylings. We were greeted with a warm welcome and were able to check into our room early. The room itself was spacious and comfortable with the biggest bed I've ever slept in. Highly recommend the Abercrombie rooms for the freestanding bath! Our only awkwardness was over the glass door on the toilet that faced the bed so we had to fashion a modesty shroud to hang on the door. Breakfast was available to be delivered either to the room or to the rooftop pool, which was very decadent and totally delicious and the bar downstairs serves a great selection of drinks. 100% would recommend and stay again.

We chose to spend our wedding night at The Old Clare Hotel as we wanted our furbaby to be with us. We are so happy with our decision! What a wonderful two nights it was spent in the Abercrombie room 😄 The room was very spacious and the king sized bed was very comfortable. I definitely enjoyed the high profile pillows as I’m a side sleeper and was able to use the extra long pillow as a body pillow (this made my sleep perfect)! The toiletries provided smelled amazing (wish I could justify spending so much on soap but happy I could enjoy using it during my stay). We loved the whole vibe of the room and hotel. Beautifully refurbished and decorated. We heard from other guests that the rooftop bar was an amazing place to enjoy breakfast. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to check it out as our dog wasn’t allowed there (would be nice if this policy was changed). Carolina Lopez emailed us after we made our booking and was so helpful and friendly from the get go. We checked in past midnight and received a lovely handwritten note from Jess along with some goodies. Rama and all other staff we met were excellent and made us feel special. Thank you so much for continuing to make our wedding day so memorable and blissful! We hope to stay here again for every anniversary to come ❤️

I was hesitant of this hotel that my partner booked but I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. My concerns was the noise levels being close to the train station (not as close as I thought) and backing on Spice Alley (popular food destination) but that was far from an issue. The decor of the room I stayed in was beautiful and spacious, and the bath was to die for. I’m 6”1 and fit comfortably in the bath tub with my partner joining me (raunchy I know) both fitting nicely. Things to note is that the bed is HUGEEEE and super soft (I prefer a harder mattress but this wasn’t an issue) and the tv when turned on took a bit to load and confused me a bit. All in all, absolutely love this stay and considering it being my mainstay when visiting/working in Sydney.

This was one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed. The hotel itself and the room were immaculate and the service was outstanding. Big pro and con for the location though - pro is that it’s pretty much on top of spice alley with so many restaurants to choose from. Big negative for me was the noise, you can hear everything from the street. There is also a game arcade directly across the lane way that pumps loud music till about 10pm. Nothing a good set of ear plugs won’t fix though.

The rooms are still OK but the vibe of the hotel has changed. The staff are under qualified and all want to be elsewhere. Having multiple problems sorted out felt like people were doing us favours. Spent 5 mins convincing reception that coffees don’t normally cost $19.

Our work Holiday Party at The Old Clare Hotel's rooftop was an absolute hit! The rooftop setting provided a unique and vibrant atmosphere that was perfect for our Xmas Party. The team at the hotel were incredible, ensuring every detail was spot-on - thank you Grace, Dewan, Jose and the rest of the team for hosting such a perfect day. The food was a gastronomic delight, (thank you Ryan & Jarrod!) and we couldn't get enough of it! Between swimming in the pool and dancing the arvo away, everyone had a blast. A big thank you to The Old Clare Hotel for an unforgettable evening. Highly recommended for an event that's both fun and flawlessly organized!

fantastic location and a hotel with quirk. Really fun vibe. Staff not helpful or friendly, uninterested in helping or answering basic questions eg how can we order lunch. If you're not after service but a fun place in an amazing location I recommend.

This hotel is a very cool repurposed building that has a lot of character and charm. The rooms were spacious for being right in the middle of downtown Sydney, and it was located pretty centrally to a lot of things. The one thing I really didn’t like—the bathroom is not at all separate from the bed. Literally, the shower is all clear glass and is standing alone in the middle of the room, then it’s the sinks, and then it’s the toilet which is enclosed with frosted glass. Our room faced the arcade building, so if you looked through our window, you’d have full view of someone in the shower and an outlined view of anyone on the toilet. Worse though is that all three bathrooms areas—the shower, the sinks, and the toilet—are controlled by the same light. This means that if you need to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, you really can’t do so without waking your roommate: because it’s all glass, you basically light up the entire room. We had to use phone lights to avoid waking each other up in the middle of the night. Was a really silly case case of design over function. Would probably not stay here again.

Beautiful hotel in an excellent location. Staff are very friendly and accommodating, although I had the impression the majority were quite junior. Stayed in the spatious Mary O Suite. Two pretty funny things happened: the entire TV and mounting fell out of the wall, and the iron short circuited the power to the room. Managed expeditiously by staff.

I spent two nights at The Old Clare Hotel and I can't wait to go back. Exceptional customer service with a cosy ambiance and funky decor throughout. A small menu for room service, however, I see this as a positive as it's done extremely well - I even ordered the same breakfast two days in a row! If you're staying in the hotel, make sure you make use of their rooftop pool and have a few drinks by the Clare Bar in the evening ... from the lighting to the music, it's such a vibe.

We stayed in the Clare suite for a night and loved it, it’s a beautiful and unique hotel. Big comfy king bed with soft, supportive, sleep inducing pillows. Beautiful free standing bath, that made for a long and relaxing soak. The location is superb, not touristy, surrounded by amazing restaurants and bars for a great night out. Parking is expensive but where in Sydney isn’t! The room has a Bang & Olufsen speaker, I was so impressed with it, I bought the same one online while drinking coffee lazing in the lounge chair wrapped in the large, heavy bathrobe. A luxury stay

We had a wedding at the Old Clare last Friday and the team there were extremely helpful and very attentive. Elodie from the Events team was excellent in terms of her communication and customer service. Rooms were great for the stay, very clean and they had a discount for pre-payment which was appreciated. Would recommend this place a lot.

I stopped by in the morning to have a coffee the young man serving coffee was super friendly and was playing nice music. And made a delicious cup of coffee. He also recommended a beacon and egg roll which was delicious. Amazing service will definitely be returning.

Good rooms, great staff, access is quite hard if you're driving

Called three times for bar booking enquiry and had my call hung up by the same receptionist twice while asking me to wait. The third time telling me rudely bar is fully booked up to January. Then advised me to email them again and again. Emailed them and not getting response. Don't know how this poor service could still exist in this day and age. Very poor experience

We stayed at The Old Clare Hotel for one night as a treat following an extensive road trip in a camper van in February 2017. We had arranged valet parking when we booked the hotel, so contacted the hotel reception to arrange collection of our car once we had arrived to the hotel. The hotel reception staff were very welcoming and arranged for our bags to be taken up to our room. The hotel is beautifully restored with quirky details and original features. Upon checking in the reception notified us that we had been upgraded from the Connell room to the one of two Show Room Suites! We couldn't believe how lucky we were and how beautiful and spacious it was. It was very much appreciated! Everything about the hotel, facilities and rooms oozes quality. The hotel was quiet and clean and although positioned further south from the harbour, there are plenty of taxis around and the train station is within walking distance. The roof top pool is perfect to cool off with a good view of the city (no view of the harbour). There is a restaurant down stairs or you have the option to order room service. The food is good quality but pricey.

Absolutely amazing! The rooms are immaculate, beautifully designed, the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on. The pool is worth a whole day. The staff are so friendly and it’s by far some of the best customer service I’ve ever experienced. Will be back for longer next time. 6 stars out of 5!!!!!

Overall a nice designer hotel let down by various factors. Staff almost never greet or acknowledge the guest, there is no service lift so your constantly waiting for the lift in a 5 storey building with staff running things from the basement, no towels near the pool as they aren’t regularly replenished, there are 4 pool chairs so nowhere to sit except the high tables (not relaxing when there are 30-40 people), no water or amenities in the room, lobby is not welcoming and had an odd smell on one of the days and finally it takes minimum 20-30min to have anything sent up to the room. This hotel is not 5 stars, at best a tarted up 4 star. For the well travelled, you will know exactly what I mean.

This was my first visit at the Old Clare Hotel and I couldn’t find a thing to complain about. Beautiful hotel, extremely friendly staff and surprisingly quiet even on a busy Friday night in December with Christmas parties happening at every bar in the city. I will definitely be staying again.

Loved the hand-written welcome note. Friendly reception staff. Comfortable bed and had a great sleep here. I wish there was some public parking closer but at least Novotel Central is cheap for night rate or weekends, just a bit of a hike with luggage. I haven’t had a chance to try the rooftop pool yet but it looks enticing, need to visit again in warmer weather :)

Did a recce at this venue for an event and I was absolutely blown away by the stunning restoration and fitting out of this beautiful historical gem in the CBD. Everything in the place felt so bespoke and historically beautiful. Looking forward to organising an event for my client there!

Extremely comfortable hotel with charm and character. Loved the shower and bath in our suite.

Came for dinner last week on the Rooftop Bar. Drinks were exquisitely nice and staff were friendly, especially this bar guy wearing pink shirt. Hardworking, service with a smile and some great humour. Keep up the good work! Definitely recommend it :)

Terrible customer service! I booked a table at the Rooftop Bar for my birthday, on arriving I was told the rooftop was closed for a function so we couldn't go up. If it's closed why was I able to make a booking days in advance and why did no one contact me if this had been able to made in error? Guy at the bar asked if I'd like to speak to someone about the issue and the other bloke he sent down could not have cared less. Basically told me they were trying to fix the issue on the website, but offered barely an apology and not even anything in the way of trying to make this right. Thanks for trying to ruin my birthday, took our business elsewhere to another bar and won't be back at the Old Clare again. Jokers

My girlfriend surprised me with a weekly stay and I must admit I was impressed. The rooms where impeccable and the service was one of the best I have had in a long time. Special mentions to the great bar service in particular Lawrence, who made us amazing expresso martini’s. Would definitely recommend and stay again!

Dropped in for a light lunch & glass of wine at the old clare, charming pub. Enjoyed a light lunch & crew in the bar were all engaging. Thanks for the attentive service.

I stayed 5 nights in this hotel, very nice and clean. Only I personally do not think it is a 5 star hotel. There was no help to bring the suitcases to the room. Also I find it a pity that you cannot sit comfortably in the lobby, there are many awkward chairs and not really a nice sofa. Also there is no toothbrush, showercap or any other toiletries in the bathroom. In addition, 2 times they forgot to put down 3 clean towels. We only got 1 towel while there are 3 beds in the room.... And what I found unfortunate that my pajamas were not folded, but thrown back on my dirty clothes. Also, you cannot have a quick breakfast at the hotel and you have to take at least 40 minutes for it. Upstairs on the rooftop when it was quiet I also had to wait 20 minutes for someone to come because the waiters were only busy with themselves. It is a fine hotel, as I said before very nice and clean, but for a 5 star hotel and for what you pay I really expect more.

I’m not one to complain but this warranted a review. Really poor stay. Wouldn’t go back - Rooms untidy and dirty. Covered in dust, rubbish left on the floors. Bathrooms not scrubbed and vacuum non existent. (Run your finger over the skirtings, ornaments and take a look under the bed if you don’t believe me). Cleaners each day were just making the bed and changing the towels. No sheets changed either which I thought was odd for a 5-star hotel. Spoke to reception about the room cleanliness on two occasions. One time they sent up the same cleaner from earlier that day to our room at 7:30pm… when my partner was in the shower… he asked to come in and “clean” in an aggressive manner… at 7:30pm?? He seemed angry that I’d called reception about the state of the room. Nonetheless it was odd that reception would then send him up to our room at that time of the night to “clean” it again? Management, shocking. Food and drink 5/10. Coffee was good though. Overpriced stay for what you get. 100% should not be classed as 5-star hotel. Bar downstairs not operational, bathrooms out of order. Needs a real lift