When choosing the best luxury hotel in Sydney, there are only afew obvious hotels to choose between. Four Seasons Sydney Vs. Park Hyatt Sydney are probably your two top choices, although the Langham and the Shangri La are also top players, and we will compare these separately.
Overall, we prefer the Park Hyatt as it has an amazing waterfront location and rooms with a fantastic view, as long as you book the Harbor View. That said, if Four Seasons came in less expensive, we would choose the Four Seasons over the Park Hyatt. The advantages of the Four Seasons include their exemplary service, equally amazing views from higher up, newly refurbished rooms, and the fact that this hotel has a club lounge.
1. Best Location: Four Seasons Vs. Park Hyatt Sydney
Four Seasons Sydney and Park Hyatt Sydney are under 10 minutes walk from each other and are both on the doorstep of the Central Business District, with historic The Rocks and Circular Quay right next door.
Park Hyatt Sydney is right on the waterfront as you can see from the photo above which shows the Park Hyatt hotel to the far right of the photo. There’s only a pathway between the building and the water. You feel like you can almost touch the harbor from the balcony in your room. The hotel sits almost under the metal framework of the edge of Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and is in a brilliant location on the edge of the harbor. This location is also in the center of the historic and picturesque neighborhood of The Rocks, so you’re right in the center of the action, and everything is walkable.
Four Seasons Sydney is equally convenient but doesn’t have that water’s edge feel being high rise. The views are more of a birds-eye from the Four Seasons, rather than “I can almost touch the water” views which you will find at the Park Hyatt.
We prefer the location of the Park Hyatt on the Rocks peninsula. This location is completely unique and unlike any other hotel located in Sydney.
2. Best Size
The Park Hyatt is fairly boutique in size with 155 guestrooms. The Park Hyatt Sydney’s building is only five floors in height and right on the waterfront, so the hotel feels very intimate and special.
Four Seasons Sydney has 531 rooms, so it is much larger, and even though it has an excellent staff-to-guest ratio, like all Four Seasons hotels, it does not feel as boutique as the Park Hyatt.
3. Best Views
As outlined above, both hotels have excellent views. Four Seasons, Sydney is one of the best hotels in Sydney for Harbor views. It offers high-up birdseye views of the harbor while the Park Hyatt is on the water’s edge, so you are right next to the harbor.
4. Best Rooms
Four Seasons rooms are recently refurbished. There was a multi-million dollar renovation of all 517 rooms and suites in 2021. 60 percent of rooms enjoy views of the Bridge or Opera House (some both), through almost floor-to-ceiling windows. Base rooms are considerably smaller at Four Seasons Vs. Park Hyatt, starting at 26 m² of space. For more space, book a Premier room which offers 53 m² of space. If you pick the Partial Harbour or Deluxe Harbour views, you’ll be blown away by the vista.
Park Hyatt offers lovely rooms which are almost double the size of the base rooms at Four Seasons. They start at 40–45 m² of space. Book a Harbour View for the brilliant view with balconies overlooking the waterfront. The balconies have glass fronts so as not to spoil the view. We prefer the rooms at the Park Hyatt although it’s worth mentioning that the base rooms don’t enjoy much of a view and you might find these disappointing.
5. Best For Redeeming Nights On Points
You can’t spend loyalty points at any Four Seasons hotels. This is because there is no Four Seasons rewards program, but if you are a regular guest of the Four Seasons or even want to try this iconic brand for the first time, you can take advantage of loyalty style benefits at Four Seasons hotels for no extra cost by booking your next stay via our luxury travel concierge.
Park Hyatt Sydney is a different story. At the time of writing, reward stay availability is decent for this hotel. It is currently a Hyatt Category 8 hotel, and award nights cost 35,000 and 45,000 points per night. Add to this, the World of Hyatt Globalist elite status complimentary full breakfast for up to two adults and two children is excellent here if you hold this status level.
On the downside, most award redemptions book you into the base category of room here and not the rooms with the harbor view, which is a major downside of redeeming your Hyatt points here.
6. Best Pool
The Four Seasons has a small outdoor rooftop pool but when you are lounging the only view is sky which is a little uninteresting. The Park Hyatt has an outdoor rooftop pool. It is also rather small and sits adjacent to the metalwork at the end of Sydney Harbor bridge, making it an unusual and spectacular location to laze and take a dip. This iconic setting can’t be beaten.
7. Best Spa
Both Spa’s at the Four Seasons and Park Hyatt are excellent.
8. Best Club Lounge
Four Seasons has a club lounge, the Park Hyatt doesn’t so the Four Seasons wins on this point. Most Four Seasons hotels don’t have club lounges, but a small number do, and the Four Seasons Sydney is one of these hotels. If you don’t have lounge access at this Four Seasons, there are still some nice complimentary club-style amenities that you can make use of, including complimentary overnight shoeshine and coffee and muffins in the lobby to “grab and go”.
One reason to add a club lounge to your booking at this Four Seasons is the view. Lounge 32 is an exceptional club lounge on the 32nd floor with incredible harbor views, and this is easily one of the best club lounges in Sydney. Exclusive privileges in this private lounge, reserved for guests with Lounge 32 access only, include an excellent breakfast, evening drinks, and a dedicated concierge, all overlooking the city and harbor.
Copyright Luxury Travel Diary 2014 - 2024. Duplication outside of luxurytraveldiary.com is forbidden.
Image(s) © Taras Vyshnya / Adobe Stock.
Note: Benefits & upgrades subject to availability. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing. Terms & conditions apply. Enquire for more information. Benefits offered correct at the time of writing but may be amended at discretion of the vendor. Posts may be sponsored by the proprietor or brand being appraised. All opinions remain our own & are in no way influenced.
