The Observatory

I love staying in a swanky, old style 5 star hotel. The experience is almost always replete with great service and the delights of a well apportioned, comfortable room that magically tidies itself every time you go to explore. On first arriving at the Observatory I liked the look of the lobby and the bars and dining room on the ground floor and anticipated an enjoyable stay. We were ushered to our Junior Suite on the first floor where we had a harbour view, admittedly not of the Opera House but we enjoyed the live theatre of two departing P&O cruise liners while we were there which helped liven up a rainy Sydney afternoon.

The room was large, the bathroom fabulous and the bed comfy.

Our problems began the morning after our arrival when my husband tried to access the internet using the free code we had been given as part of our stay. After a frustrating half hour he rang for help which arrived in the form of a duty manager who knew nothing about computers. After some ineffectual fussing we were eventually informed that the guest internet server was down and the problem was being looked into by technicians at that very moment. Annoying, but everyone has technical glitches from time to time.

We went out for a lovely dinner and returned with some friends for a drink in the bar. The bar was fairly quiet but our waitress seemed discombobulated by our simple request for 5 champagne glasses, arriving with only three and having to be prompted to bring the rest. I asked for some water to drink alongside my sadly lacklustre pina colada (kitsch I know but I like them) and it took about half an hour to arrive, by which time I had forgotten I had ordered it.

We eventually retired to our suite to find that the room had been turned down but that my empty water bottle and some fruit scraps hadn't been cleared. I can live without a chocolate on my pillow but surely a basic turn down service should include a basic tidy as well?

Day 2 and my optimistic husband attempted the internet, again with no success. We were told that the technicians were still working on the issue. We set out for brunch hoping things would be resolved on our return but no such luck.

For a 5 star hotel to not be able to offer internet access over the entire period of a 2 and a half day stay is quite simply unacceptable. Business travellers need and expect to be able to access their email wherever they are and to not be able to do so over an entire weekend was outrageous.

I destressed by visiting the lovely pool downstairs which is one of the nicest and longest indoor hotel pools that I have experienced.

On leaving we ordered some tea and scones and sat on a sofa in the beautiful lobby to enjoy some very good long leaf tea and some tiny but tasty scones. Our sugar bowl arrived bearing a dirty tea spoon on the side. The waitress forgot to bring milk. Need I go on?

Overall it was frustrating staying here. The staff were friendly, the surroundings lovely but basic standards of service were constantly slipping. If I ran a 5 star luxury hotel like the Observatory and had been unable to provide my guests with a basic resource such as internet access I would have not only apologised profusely on their checking out, but would have made more of an attempt to regain the goodwill that had been lost.

I loved the Observatory as a building and a hotel room but due to their missing the mark in basic amenities and service we probably won't be going back.