Holiday Inn, Old Town (The Rocks) Sydney

[Reina del Mar]

Just looked on IHG site to check prices for Holiday Inn old Town Sydney for our next cruise from Sydney but was unable to find it.

We stayed there in 2019 and found it very suitable for transfers to OPT.

 

Please can anyone help by posting whether it has been re branded ?? 

Saw a hotel which I thought might be it, but advertising as part of the Rydges group. 

Haven't used that hotel group before, so looking for information on that and /or another, reasonably priced, hotel close to OPT.

 

Many thanks.

[luvinthecruiselife]

2 minutes ago, Reina del Mar said:

Just looked on IHG site to check prices for Holiday Inn old Town Sydney for our next cruise from Sydney but was unable to find it.

We stayed there in 2019 and found it very suitable for transfers to OPT.

 

Please can anyone help by posting whether it has been re branded ?? 

Saw a hotel which I thought might be it, but advertising as part of the Rydges group. 

Haven't used that hotel group before, so looking for information on that and /or another, reasonably priced, hotel close to OPT.

 

Many thanks.

So we booked that hotel on July 22, 2019 for our cruise in April 2020.  Another member posted that this Holiday Inn changed hands and is no longer part of IHG.  We immediately cancelled and booked at Intercontinental on Macquarie Street.

 

Shelley

[luvinthecruiselife]

Just now, luvinthecruiselife said:

So we booked that hotel on July 22, 2019 for our cruise in April 2020.  Another member posted that this Holiday Inn changed hands and is no longer part of IHG.  We immediately cancelled and booked at Intercontinental on Macquarie Street.

 

Shelley

Yes, it has become part of the Rydges group

[Reina del Mar]

Thanks for your replies.  

 

Why did you change hotels?

Was it because you are loyal to IHG or because you have heard less than stellar reports of Rydges ?

 

We have never used Rydges, tend to use IHG but not 100% loyal if we find somewhere of equal quality at better prices.

 

Thanks again.

[MrsWaldo]

Rydges have taken it over.

 

The plan is to do a much needed refurb

 

https://www.hotelmanagement.com.au/2019/11/14/old-sydney-holiday-inn-set-to-switch-to-rydges/

[FredZiffle]

Interesting.  We just stayed there last week (on the 13th) after booking with points through the IHG website back in July.  Never would have known it was changing hands.  Guess we got in just under the wire since, according to the article, the changeover was to occur on the 14th.  You are absolutely paying for location, not the view, when you book here.  Even though we had an upper level floor overlooking the harbor, you can't see much with a building blocking much of the view, not to mention cruise ships blocking virtually everything during the day.

[mchell810]

For those who may have an existing reservation:  I contacted the hotel via the new Rydges website and they did say they will honor reservations made with Holiday Inn (IHG) at the booked price.  I am saving the email in case I still use the hotel, but I have also made a reservation elsewhere.  This buys me time to decide if I want to go with an unknown chain or spend more on an different hotel. I was planning on being able to walk to the cruise terminal, but I definitely don't want to get caught in the middle of a renovation, if Rydges puts that in place.

 

Thanks to the OP for posting since IHG didn't send any kind of notice and were completely useless when I called them to check on the situation.

[banditoo]

They changed to Rydges the day we arrived January 15. Honoured our booking and rates etc. I would not have known it was changing if it hadn't been for our friends who were there a couple days ahead of us. Otherwise we would have likely walked right by looking for Holiday Inn signage. Great location for the Overseas Terminal and exploring the Circular Quay and Harbour area. 

[rogueriver]

On 1/22/2020 at 10:13 AM, mchell810 said:

 

Thanks to the OP for posting since IHG didn't send any kind of notice and were completely useless when I called them to check on the situation.

 

We had a booked a room at the Holiday Inn for our April cruise and received an email from IHG a couple months ago notifying us of the change.  We had also booked the Hyatt in Darling Harbor and were waiting to make a final decision on which one to keep; we decided after the email to go with the Hyatt.  I realize it will necessitate a taxi ride to Circular Quay for the cruise, but the Hyatt looks like a nice hotel with fantastic view of Darling Harbor and the price wasn't too bad when we booked it. 

[mchell810]

11 minutes ago, rogueriver said:

 

We had a booked a room at the Holiday Inn for our April cruise and received an email from IHG a couple months ago notifying us of the change.  We had also booked the Hyatt in Darling Harbor and were waiting to make a final decision on which one to keep; we decided after the email to go with the Hyatt.  I realize it will necessitate a taxi ride to Circular Quay for the cruise, but the Hyatt looks like a nice hotel with fantastic view of Darling Harbor and the price wasn't too bad when we booked it. 

 

Glad you got a notification.  My stay is late in the year, but I still feel IHG handled it badly (and if you got notification a couple months ago they knew about the transfer to Rydges when I booked my reservation!)   I chose the Holiday in for location and it's low price (now I know why 😉), but now I have reservations with the Marriott and Shangri-La.  I will most likely go with one of them for a better experience; and, as you mentioned, a short taxi ride to the pier is no big deal. 

[Beanb41]

On ‎1‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 1:19 PM, mchell810 said:

 

Glad you got a notification.  My stay is late in the year, but I still feel IHG handled it badly (and if you got notification a couple months ago they knew about the transfer to Rydges when I booked my reservation!)   I chose the Holiday in for location and it's low price (now I know why 😉), but now I have reservations with the Marriott and Shangri-La.  I will most likely go with one of them for a better experience; and, as you mentioned, a short taxi ride to the pier is no big deal. 

Staff at hotels including on line booking staff are probably less informed than we as punters are. Similarly staff at Furure cRuises are not informed about sales. They find out when they go online to do a booking.

The Holiday Inn is very much in need of a refurb.

[geospyder]

According to the staff, Holiday Inn reservations will be honored.  Here are the new emails in case you want to contact them.

 

Dear guest,

 

Please be advised that as of the 15th of January, this hotel and all inboxes will be managed by Rydges Sydney Harbour. 

 

Please address all future e-mails post this date to : 

 

FIT and general inquiries 
Email: reservations_rydgessydneyharbour@evt.com ;

Contact Number: 02 9255 1855 / 02 9255 1860

 

Group Reservations 

Email: groups_rydgessydneyharbour@evt.com ; Contact Number: 02 9255 1855 

 

Function/Event Inquiries 

Email: functions_rydgessydneyharbour@evt.com; Contact Number: 02 9255 1853

 

Corporate and Marketing Sales Inquiries

Email: sales_rydgessydneyharbour@evt.com ; Contact Number: 02 9255 1851

[Mtngirl2]

The Marriott is at Circular Quay, within sight of the old Holiday Inn.  Very nice, clean, and right there near the train, water taxis, boats, the Opera House and the restaurants in that area.  The old Holiday Inn was probably a city block away from the Marriott and the  Shangri-La is maybe two city blocks away from the Marriott.  Good choices!