Review of Metro Hotel on Pitt, by Fiona Dunlop

Metro Hotel on Pitt lies in the buzzy historic heart of Sydney, south of the iconic harbour sights. Sandwiched between high-rise symbols of burgeoning prosperity, it makes an easy-going, convenient base for getting round the sights. It may not offer cutting edge design or luxury facilities, but this no-nonsense boutique hotel, a converted Art Deco post office, has all you need in the way of comforts and is excellent value in a city of spiralling prices.

The Metro on Pitt’s big bonus is proximity to the public transport system, with Central and Town Hall stations both within five minutes’ walk, a parade of nearby buses and a Bladerunner-style monorail gliding past the window. Another plus is the neighbourhood of Korean and Japanese restaurants and, a step further, Chinatown: you know you’re on the Pacific Rim.

Blink and you might miss the Metro on Pitt’s entrance with its understated logo and narrow doorway, shared with Paradiso Café, provider of copious buffet breakfasts, snacks and a quiet evening bar. Guests share the café with passing office-workers grabbing a flat white and enjoying the free Wi-Fi. At this southern end of Pitt Street, hotels and restaurants rub shoulders with government and corporate offices, bringing a business clientèle as well as leisure visitors. Guests come and go without hanging around the lobby; too many enticements are just a hop away, though a friendly reception staff is there when you need it.

115 rooms over seven floors cover five different categories. At the bottom end of the scale, the compact budget rooms are perfectly adequate for short stays and slim couples, and at the top end the spacious King Spa rooms are where you could happily settle in for a week or more. In between are the generously sized superior deluxe rooms with stylish design and bold colours. All rooms have windows (though no great views) and blinds or blackout drapes, as well as crisp cotton bed linen and light, honeycomb robes.

An impressive feature of the Metro on Pitt is the scale of the bathrooms; at whatever price level you will not feel squeezed, and shower cubicles alone are easily big enough for swinging the proverbial cat. Less impressive are the clunky plastic dispensers for soap and lotions though they do chime with the Metro group’s green policies. All in all this is a dependably good-value choice.