We booked two rooms at the Breakfree on George for a 5 day business trip in Sydney. The rooms had seperate bedrooms, though one of the rooms did not have a door to the bedroom. Kitchenettes complete with microwave, small refrigerator, and a two burner cooktop, as well as a small balcony. The building is new, but it had windows that open - which is nice when you're tired of the a/c. Each room also had a convertible sofa which turned into another double bed. Skip the overpriced breakfast in the hotel and go just up George to the French bakery for fresh croissants. Since Chinatown is right on the back street, head to the New Ocean restaurant for a delicious dim sum lunch. All the buses run down George Street from here so it is really easy to get to Circular Quay or The Rocks for under $2 AUD. There are some quirky things, for example the (expensive) high speed Internet connection is next to the kitchen table, not the desk. There is one small TV in the living space, but nothing in the bedroom, even though there is a connection for it. I would recommend this place for families looking for a great location at a reasonable price.

Normally I don't take to heart what I see on Trip Advisor, being in the Industry and knowing the service and facilities and location we give and reading some peoples comments, I understand that it was their expectation not met, not our facilities and services not upto standard. Eco Resort means insects and animals!! However my family and I stayed at Pacific International Apartments recently and I was highly disappointed and felt I had to write. Something I would NEVER normally consider doing

This was a very special holiday for us. It was a Pre - Xmas surprise for our 4 Children, 2 of whom have never been on a plan or out of Queensland. We had spent months meticulously planning this special getaway. As a Manager at a famous and very busy Island resort in QLD I took a lot of time and planning this for my family to ensure a very memorable experience. Such a pity the memories aren't fond ones.
Firstly, I spent 3 months contacting various properties in Sydney that would be suitable for my needs, these were extravagent, my preference was for 3 Bedrooms, but 2 Bedroom with rollaways was sufficient, and I wanted a kitchen, 2 bathrooms and a balcony. I wanted something spacious, as with 4 children, I didn't want us all tripping over each other and to still have some "us" time. I ended up choosing Pacific International Apartments even though they don't have 3 Bedroom apartments, their location and offer of a Deluxe 2 Bedroom Apartment was sufficient. This is where I then started experience issues......

1. I emailed from the properties website requesting a quote and gave the dates required and number of people. It took 4 days for them to reply to me, only to ask for dates and the amount of people. This should have alerted me straight away! I replied to them stating that as per previous email these details have not changed and gave them again. It then took another 3 days to reply to me with a quote. I was happy with the quote as it was cheaper than the advertised web rate, however still $325 per night, they quoted the accommodation on offer as " Iquoted to me as "We can offer you and your family our luxury 2 bedroom apartments. They
are our largest and most popular apartment and is completely suitable for a family of up to 6." I took the virual tour of the 2 Bedroom Apartment on their website, and visited many other websites checking out pictures etc and was impressed by what I saw, mainly, plenty of room with a Kitchen and Balcony and 2 Bathrooms. so I booked this. It took another 3 days to hear back from them confirming my booking and requesting credit card details, but for the wrong date! They had confirmed us arriving on the day that I had requested we checkout! I went straight back advising them of this error and that prior to me giving the credit card details, I wanted them to confirm to me the correct dates. Another 4 days later, I received an email apologising and advising it was a typing error and indeed my correct dates was confirmed in the system and again requesting credit card details. I gave these details and requested that full payment be taken on that card and a separate card to be given on checkin for incidentals. All too easy right???

2. Well apparently NOT! By this stage I was used to not hearing from them for days on end, so when I hadn't received confirmation by the day prior to our arrival I still wasn't worried. I was out of office on this particular day for a few hours on a business lunch, when I returned I checked my messages and yes low and behold I have a message from the Hotel advising they have not yet received credit card details and if they don't hear from me within the next few hours they would cancel my reservation!! I called them and advised them I had already given them my details etc etc and she was still telling me that they didn't have them, as I was about to send them again, she found the email that apparently just must have been missed (sitting in their inbox for 4 days!). Then I went through hassles to actually make this payment over the phone. However, in the end by late that afternoon all seemed confirmed.

3. On our day of departure, unfortunately we missed our flight, no fault of the hotel at all this time it was our issue. We rebooked a later flight for that night and I called the hotel and advised them of our later arrival time and double checked on 24 hour reception and we could access late (11pm or there abouts). I was told absolutely no problems. Unfortunately more bad luck for us, our later flight was cancelled due to the plane being hit by lightening and we were unable to travel until the following day. I called the hotel and advised them of this. They advised me that I would receive no refund on this night due to cancellation policy, again being a Manager at a large resort, I understood this and actually at no time requested this. I did advise that seeing I have paid for it I expect to check in as soon as we arrive and they were not to "resell" the room for that night. Of course no problems. When we did finally arrive in Sydney and to the Hotel, they could not find our booking. As you could imagine, with the experience over the last 24 hours, this is definitely NOT what I wanted to hear, especially making 2 phonecalls to them the day prior. In the end she did find it. I double checked bedding for 6 was organised, espeically rollaways over double sofabed. She advised no rollaways had been put in as she was worried about room., which didn't really make sense to me as what I had seen on their website they were large and spacious apartments. We asked to please still have them, our girls hadn't had a decent nights sleep as they are both restless sleepers and they had to sleep together the night prior. She advised us that she would organise this while we were out trying to catch up on our activities for the day.

4. We went up to our room, which would you believe it after all this was on the 13th floor!!! When I walked in I was again disappointed. If this was the "deluxe" and large 2 Bedroom Apartment, I would hate to have seen the standard ones! There was 1 x 2 seater sofa for 6 of us. Remember, I was advised that it would be perfect for our family of 6! It was certainly not what I seen on the website and was quite pokey! Our views were over a grotty rooftop with ironing boards that had been thrown over and landed on a roof. I can say, that at least with being up 13 floors we could see the city and the nightime lights were quite a nice view, just don't look down! To me it was well under the $325 per night we were paying but I was gratefull I wasn't paying the asking price of $500!!! Now I understood why she was worried about putting rollaways in here as there was just nowhere to put them, my husband and I worked out all would be ok, we would put one in the 2nd bedroom and the other in the loungeroom. We were going to be out most of the time anyway.

5. We made it back to the hotel at 1am after a very busy day with very tired children, only to get to our room (after walking directly into the hotel that is supposed to be accessible by key only after 9.30pm) and there are NO ROLLAWAYS!!! By this time I was over it all, kids wanted to sleep so we decided to not chase up at this time, we would chase it up the following morning and for that night they could settle on the sofabed. We pull it out to find out that it was not made up. No sheets or pillows in sight!!! By this time my Husband and I had enough. He tried calling reception for 25 miins with no answer, the girls ended up sleeping on the loungeroom floor in the meantime my husband went down to reception to sort this issue out. The duty manager was having a hard night, lots of problems, hence no answer on the phone, he had to deal with a party in one of the rooms, and elevators not working as someone had poured alcohol in the buttons (could have been anyone as the hotel was not secured and anyone could walk in and out), another woman locked out of her room as her card was unactivated etc. He did the best he could and had sheets and blankets brought to us within 10mins. We then had to make up the sofabed for our girls and finally get some sleep!!

6. Finally the next morning, we were up early to begin again making up lost time, and my husband seen the duty manager on that day. Again, he profusely apologised and advised this wasn't standard procedure and offered us complimentary breakfast to which my husband accepted. He also advised he would refund our accommodation for that night. We decided to not waste time that day and I went to reception to request me move breakfast to the following morning when we had more time to which he agreed. I again checked we would receive a refund on the previous nights accommodation, especially seeing we had already paid for a night we hadn't used, then paid for another night for something that we didn't receive in full. This again was agreed to and processed. We did make it back that night to rollaways in our room. We did have to rearrange the room to be able to accommodate a rollaway in the lounge area.

7. We checked out the next morning and we spoke with the guest service manager. All our issues were brought to his attention and we filled him in on quite a few that he was not advised about. We again checked with our refund to be told that it was his decision to make and he did decide that he would refund us one night, it was as though we should thank him for him for his troubles as he made this decision for us. Whereas this had indeed already been promised to us the day prior! He kept advising me that this is not normally the standard etc etc. Which normally when I hear that, I believe that is normally the case, however, we experienced nothing but problems from the start of enquiry to checking out! He was helpful in assisting us shuttle transfers to the airport etc. However, I was getting frustrated as I don't feel he was actually listening to what I was tryinig to say. Just going into auto pilot telling me what they have been trained to say in the circumstances. He didn't seemed phased that this very expensive and special holiday had been nothing but a shamble and a lot of due to their errors and miscommunications. We went for breakfast, however, when we got to the restaurant, we were advised we needed vouchers that should have been supplied by reception. Now this is no biggy as it's only upstairs (like 10 stairs, can look down onto reception), however, you would think after the 30 mins we were talking to reception, someone would have given us our vouchers for this rather than just watch us walk upto the restaurant to only have to come back down and collect these!

As a Manager at a resort, I was horrified at our experience and how it was dealt with. Overstall the staff are friendly, but don't seem overly experienced with how to deal with issues effectively and actually listen to their guests complaints. I was not after a full refund, I just wanted them to accept that they assisted in giving us a weekend from hell and to acknowledge this. For a 4 star Hotel and the rate they charge, you certainly do not get value for money. I could have stayed at 5 Star Meriton World Tower for the same price for a 3 Bedroom Apartment but suffering vertigo didn't wish to be 63 floors up, but now I wished I suffered the vertigo rather than stress we experienced at Pacific Int Apts. I will certainly not be returning and wished I had read the comments on this site prior, seeing there is 2 positive comments out of 17 and the pictures that are displayed would have alerted me to stay elsewhere.

I hope Pac Int Apts do take in the comments their guests have left on Trip Advisor, as they are all correct (except the noise factors etc, you are on George St in the City, that is your choice not the Hotels fault), and noisy guests, I know the duty manager was trying to calm things down with the guests haveing a party while were there also, but he can also only do so much. But the service, facilities, procedures etc can certainly be improved and when you book something you should get it!

I would still like to know what apartment is on the website, if anyone has stayed in one that resembles it please advise what type of accom this was, as it certainly wasn't the 2 Bedroom Deluxe Apartment that is apparently their most spacious that they gave us!

Ok Guys,
Here is the truth of this hotel. I checked in on the 4th November 2007 at about 14:00 and the check-in time is around 14:00. Now there is a point that sometimes some rooms are not ready at 14:00 which is check in time but lucky my room was ready how ever the couple in front's room which was an aparment which was not ready for check-in and was told to come bk in 1hr time.
Taxi's from Sydney Kingsmith airport are: from Domestic airport $31 or from International $44. These are the prices that i paid for it. The location of the hotel which i found very unusual is between two shops and all you can see is a sign that points you into the reception area which is located down a flight of steps. The say that they are in the Darling Harbour Area. Upon getting to the hotel i did find that Yes they was NEAR darling harbour but would say that infact the hotel is really in Chinatown but it is in walking distance of Darling Harbour. Would say round about 15 min walk and over a busy road. After i had checked in you go up a lift which you have to swipe your card threw to gain access. So dont forget you card !!. Now i couldn't find any signs telling you which level you room is on. so had to ask at receiption but was told that she didnt know either. Really helpful lol. After searching for five minutes slowly going up the lift i found my level. There is 18 levels to the hotel and i gotta say each level is very clean. The reception was very clean but very small so couldnt realli take a group of ten or more people. The top level is a Spa which does a range of different things but it is pricey so beware. Good fun if your a couple but otherwise if you go to the basement level (B2) you can find another one which is alot cheaper but not as nice as the therma spa with the views over Sydney. After letting myself into the room i was amazed at how clean the room was. Now i booked this hotel before looking at reviews of it. Was realli shocked when i read the reviews that some have given. Now trust me its not at all bad. Ignore them please. Yes some rooms are a bit dated but i think you would find that most of the reviews are on the Apartments which are higher up the hotel. I stayed in the studio which was modern, very clean, very spacious, big bathroom, balcony (although not great view but will explain in moment), big tv, big bed, clean carpet, and nice size kitchen. I knew for a fact that they realli did look after the rooms. and everyone has bad reviews on them but i gotta say it was very clean. Maid service is when you want it you just ring up the day before and advise them then you are going out and when you get bk you will find that everything has been cleaned. Meal service. the hotel have a good range of food that you can order threw the hotel. ranging from $5 to $15, and they try to get it up to you within 10 minutes of ordering. There is range of movies and extras that you get at all hotels and they are priced at $14.95 per film.
Now the balcony to me it was a massive let down. If you want a realli good view then you need to get a floor over 11. otherwise you get a lovely view of either a brick wall (which i got) or a run down theatre. The balconys are very small aswell just big enough for one person and you wanted realli wanna sit out there anyway because of the view. I found out that only the apartments have bigger balconys and they also get deck chairs and things.
Noise aswell. I was woken up one nite by the noise of some rowdy crowd two levels below. Now i dont mind it but nothin was done about it and the crowd was hanging around the balcony area till around 3 in the morning which wasnt good. Staff are very friendly and will do anything to help make your stay enjoyable so i have to say they was very good. Location to major actractions. Ok to Harbour bridge you are looking at about 35-45 mins walk which i recommend as you get to see more things on the way there. SkyTower is about 15mins away. Botantic Gardens 45mins and Opera House is about 35-40mins. Taxi's around the city range from $10 to $50 depending on where you wanna go. I DO NOT RECOMMEND TAKING A TAXI TO BONDI BEACH OR TO THE ZOO. YOU WILL BE STUNG !! there is a monorail few minutes walk from the hotel at Paddys Market which can give you a return ticket for $8. This can take you to either the further outer places to see with just a couple of stops. Check out is 11:00 and be prepared as the will ring if you are late out. You can arrange late check but you must do it 24hrs in advance no later or earlier and its subject to avaiblety. If you wanna go visit places while you wait for your flight or somethin then you can head dan to the basement level which have lugguage points. You pay $6 and that gives you 4hrs to go explore the city before coming bk to collect it. The hotel can also arrange taxi's for you and i found out there are just a little bit cheaper then going onto the street and getting one. So arrange one while you are there. Overall it wasnt a brillant stay but if you wanna explore Sydney and on a budget then this is for you.
Will keep you updated on my next visit's.
Bye !

Regards,
A Travel Agent

We arrived early in the morning, which was obviously far too early for check in. The front desk people were very pleasant and let us leave our luggage there locked up until we could check in. No problems there.

Sadly, I was quite disappointed when we got up to our room. We had a studio room, which depsite supposedly being "apartment" style, was smaller than the average hotel room. There was a small kitchenette area, which was all we needed, but only one double bed and a pullout couch. Despite being a non-smoking room I could definitely smell smoke when lying on the couch, which would get my allergies going at night.

The room was not very clean and was also quite outdated with an old couch and duct tape on the black out blinds! We also had a terrible view of a back street of China Town.

The first night I slept very poorly due to people out partying on the street below (it was a saturday night), fire trucks, fire alarms and people coming back from the bars at 4 am and being quite loud about it. Also, the air and toilet were quite loud and the air would wake me up every time it turned on. Those rooms are definitely NOT sound proof! The second night was quieter though thankfully (or perhaps I was too exhausted from lack of sleep to notice).

Overall, it wasn't TERRIBLE, but for the price it wasn't even up to par with what I would consider a "standard" hotel room. Definitely wouldn't be staying there again. For a small bit extra we could have stayed somewhere MUCH nicer.