Criterion Hotel

I’m from a Probus club on the Northern Beaches. I took a group of 20 for lunch at 12 noon, in the downstairs dining room. It was a bit daunting, as I was told of another group of 50 booked in at exactly the same time. But no worries. We had great food and despite the numbers, the service was surprisingly good. I’d go back anytime.

Criterion Hotel is a Sydney Central hotel located on Pitt Street by Town Hall Station. It's about an hour from the airport but right next to Town Hall station and a 10-minute walk from the museum and art gallery. You check in through the bar at the Criterion Tavern and then the entrance is keycard triggered right next to the corner of Pitt and Park street. There's no elevator so be prepared. Most of the rooms are about 50 steps up. My room had a single bed and shower, it was really spacious with a wooden seat/table, a single seat padded chair, side table, bar fridge and then elevated bathroom unit. The shower is on the same plane as the rest of the bathroom so it can get quite wet but there's an exhaust fan. There's an aircon unit and lots of shuttered windows that don't open. There's a small light next to the bed and a USB charging cable port but it was pretty rough and wouldn't charge consistently. There's a 4-port power board next to the fridge, a tiny kettle, and then black tea, coffee and sugar. There is 1 250ml bottle of water provided per day. Housekeeping also provides a new towel, handtowel and bath mat + shampoo and conditioner + water each day outside your room in a tray. There are soaps and a small bin in the bathroom + a shower tray adhered to the wall. The room was reasonably clean - the bathroom was great but the sink didnt drain very well and the shower cover was easily deseated and wobbly so just be careful standing in there. There shower curtain can block off the area but it stops about 30cm from the ground. The bed has one pillow with a fancy cover + 2 regular white pillows then a mattress sheet, top sheet and doonah with another sheet covering it. These were stained in my room. Red marker, some yellow circle a few things like that but no hairs and the room didn't smell bad. The location was within 5 minutes of a heap of restaurants that I could eat at, very close to the Wholegreen Bakery and 30 minutes via bus to the concert venue I was visiting. It's such a good location I would consider going again - the checkin process just took like 10+ minutes and I started to get stressed and anxious.

Impressive pub located on the Main Street. Between the beer garden out back, long dining room and front bar area, the pubs location and view of the river nearby was well worth the stop. We had lunch and the food was not only delicious, but priced well. Also everyone was really friendly.