The Macleay Hotel Sydney

Australia , Sydney - NSW
Elizabeth Bay, 28 Macleay Street, 28
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75 reviews shown

4/10

Poor

06 Mar 2026

Emelie

Unclear information that it was shared bathroom when booking so it was a surprise when we checked in. There was a cockroach in the bathroom. Two sets of stairs to our room, the second one was super narrow and barely fit our suitcases. The room was very small and rugged. The images tricks you to believe it is nicer than what it is. Only good thing was location. We had planned to stay 6 nights but immediatey cancelled our last 4 and re-booked them elsewhere.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

02 Mar 2026

Jay

Third time staying with Jensen Potts Point. My first stay was when it was fairly new. This stay I could notice some wear ‘n’ tear. Little things that didn’t bother me. The staff was nice and polite. The location is excellent. A lot of food choices, and a grocery store close by too! Few minutes walk you’ll find the train station, more places to eat and drink. If I ever make it back I’ll will stay with Jensen again!

Self

10/10

Exceptional

17 Feb 2026

Dwayne

Cosy. Clean. Comfortable. Would definitely stay here again.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

06 Feb 2026

Isabella

Great room

Business_and_leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

15 Jan 2026

Keith

Great location and the room was comfortable. There was a 1 inch gap under the apartment room door, where the door had been cut down badly, this allowed quite alot of noise in from the landing area.

8/10

Excellent

30 Dec 2025

Claudia

Great location and room presentation.
I could use the lounge at the sister property (Hotel Challis) for work which was just around the corner.

Business_and_leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

08 Dec 2025

Sidney

Clean and tidy rooms for price, good location!

6/10

Pleasant

04 Dec 2025

Paula

I had a room with a lovely balcony overlooking Macleay St. But it was noisy with traffic. My bed was very comfortable and I had access to most things I needed. The room and the bathrooms need a lick of paint as looking a tad tired. On occasion I struggled to access my assigned bathroom but was easily able to find another. I was possibly unlucky as stayed at the same time as people who showered a lot and loud people. I did sleep for 10 hours on my first night though so not all bad. Excellent bakery up from the hotel and easy transport access to/from the airport and city. The botanical gardens and city are also walkable via the opera house.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

03 Dec 2025

Alexandra

Rooms decent, amenities below standard, staff below average. Exceptional location.

Business Self

8/10

Excellent

14 Nov 2025

Victoria

Good location near the city, decent quality clean sheets and bathroom but the rooms do really need a bedside lamp and bathmat per room for use in the communal bathroom

8/10

Excellent

11 Nov 2025

Mary

The room was,clean and tidy loved the balcony. If you have mobility issues this is not the place for you or lots of luggage trying to take cases up and down was really hard

6/10

Pleasant

24 Oct 2025

Tuula

I don't like carperts. The lighting could be better.

Friends_and_family Friends

10/10

Exceptional

13 Oct 2025

Matthew

For a single traveler, this is the perfect spot. Comfortable room

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

11 Aug 2025

Verified traveler

Excellent value in a great location

The property has an excellent location, about a 10 min walk from the train station, and on a bus route, surrounded by great restaurants and cafes.

The hotel itself is clean and well-maintained, and the rooms have the key amenities that you may need. My room was certainly small, but I was aware of that when booking, and it's reflected in the room rates, which represent very good value. These are not rooms where you would really want to hang out and spend time. But if you're in town for a specific reason which means that you're going to be out and about most of the time, and only need somewhere clean, safe and comfortable to spend the night, this is a great option.

The other reason for the competitive pricing is the fact that there are shared bathrooms. However, the ratio is pretty good and I only occasionally had to wait. The bathrooms are well maintained.

A couple of issues that I experienced though were that 1) I found my mattress a little soft and sunken so I had some trouble sleeping the first night, but that may be a case of person preference and 2) there seemed to be a possum scurrying around in the roof, which I was also particularly aware of when not sleeping.

And although it wasn't an issue for me because I was travelling light, the very tight, narrow staircases could be difficult and possibly a little dangerous for somebody to navigate with a heavy suitcase, especially if elderly.

Self

6/10

Pleasant

03 Aug 2025

Michael

Property location is good, within walking distance of kings-Cross, and a short walk to a good Coffee & Bakery place (The Grumpy Baker).
The property is not “accessible” to people who need assistance as it has stairs, there’s 3 steps prior to entry, then 1-2 flights of stairs (depending on level you’re on.)
The room we stayed in was a “Super Compact” room, had a Q.S bed , pushed hard against a wall, making getting in and out of bed difficult.
There is no bathroom , other than a shared bathroom. There is a toilet, shower cubicle, and a hand basin, with paper towel.
The hand basin had no hot water at all. The bathroom was however modern, and tastefully decorated.
The location in hotel will dictate how much noise you hear, we were at the back of hotel and didn’t hear road noise, but did have a laneway beside us with trucks reversing up, in the early morning with beeping being annoying.
Noise within the building carries easily, so expect to hear people above you moving around and floor and stairs noise also.
Food options are plenty!!
Unfortunately for the price I paid for 2 nights, I could have done a lot better facility wise.

Leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

16 Jul 2025

Brooke

Clean, very aesthetically appealing, friendly staff and the bed was SO COMFY!

Business Self

4/10

Poor

13 Jul 2025

Scott

No elevator to take bags

Staff too busy on laptop to offer any assistance

2/10

Poor

11 Jul 2025

Bay

Unfortunately one of the worst stays I have ever had in a hotel. I never usually never do reviews of places unless they are positive but I do feel like I need to share my experience to warn others. Firstly, the price for the rooms are so expensive for what you get. I didn't realise when I was booking their was shared bathrooms- which is completely my fault for not noticing, but for how much you pay, you're 100% better off staying somewhere for $10-$20 more with your own bathroom. I had to wait every morning and night just to use the bathroom because you share with the entire level. It was a nightmare! Also, there are no elevators. Again, super difficult if you have luggage with you. The front desk is barely attended, so we got back from a day out at 4:30pm and for some reason our cards weren't working anymore for our room? There was no one on the desk to help so we had to walk to another hotel to get someone to fix our room keys. They also had no reason as to why they suddenly stopped working. I would not stay here again, hopefully this review helps people in deciding whether to stay at this hotel, don't do it!

Business_and_leisure Partner

10/10

Exceptional

28 May 2025

Piara

Good

8/10

Excellent

29 Apr 2025

Charlie

The hotel is a great location very close to Kings Cross station which is only 2 stops aways from the city centre. The hotel was very clean although there was an odour coming from the room but after a while you don’t notice it anymore. Staff very friendly and helpful throughout stay. The hotel was very quiet at night even though it is on the Main Street and great choice of bakeries and bars close by. Highly recommend and would stay again.

8/10

Excellent

27 Apr 2025

Alexandre

Hôtel is conveniently located in Potts Point

Self

10/10

Exceptional

31 Mar 2025

Jenny

Amazing flexibility in regards to check in and check out times, staff was friendly, greal location recommended

6/10

Pleasant

28 Mar 2025

Gerardo

Decent but wouldn’t stay here again

I wouldn’t stay here again.
Lobby staff works part time only. There’s no kitchen or shared spaces. Rooms are small, and my room in particular did not have a sink. Shared bathroom was not an issue, and it was usually clean.
There’s 1 train station nearby but not a lot of other transit options.
You can find another hotel in a better location for the same price.

Self

8/10

Excellent

23 Mar 2025

Luis

Everything was good until I found a cockroach in my room, also there were more in the bad room.

Leisure Friends

8/10

Excellent

13 Mar 2025

Jessica

Good value! Great location, easy to explore the city by walking and train station close by. Clean modern rooms, would be better if the window opens to let fresh air in. Doors are heavy, you can hear other rooms closing loudly… We had late check in and never received the access email… had to call the nearby hotel with joint management to get the door code as there is no one on site in the evening or got back to our email until the next day. Would recommend for the budget :)

Leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

08 Mar 2025

Arantxa

The shared bathroom is inconvenient. The location is great

8/10

Excellent

11 Feb 2025

Verified traveler

It was a nice place but rooms were very small, almost a bit hard to have room for all of your bags. Clean and nice toilets and showers. 17 $ discount on parking each night which is very good in Sydney. Nice touch to have the air cons going when you arrive.

Partner

10/10

Exceptional

11 Jan 2025

Emmi

Very comfortable room, with double bed, lots of pillows and nice sheets. Shared facilities were nice too: clean and stylish. Area is leafy and walkable, with interesting Art Deco architecture. Lots of different dining options. My room was on the top floor, with a narrow set of stairs, which may pose an issue for people with additional access needs.

Leisure Self

8/10

Excellent

16 Dec 2024

Randy

Habdy, good location. AirCon took 2 hours to cool room both nights. Needs fixing!

Leisure Family

8/10

Excellent

06 Dec 2024

Yoke

It’s close to the city. When I arrived early 12.30pm to drop my bags on Thursday to my surprise the room was ready!

10/10

Exceptional

22 Nov 2024

Caitlin

I really enjoyed my stay here! This was my first time staying somewhere with shared facilities (i.e. bathroom) but it was genuinely a very comfortable stay and I found this was not an issue at all.

The only negative was that I wish I knew there were so many stairs up to the room I was in, but I also knew I was booking last minute so I expected surprsies like that.

Either way I will definitely stay here again no doubt in my mind.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

12 Nov 2024

Leah

Rooms are clean and cozy, beds are comfortable and also very clean. Although the rooms are nice, there were a few concerns. Firstly, there is no safe or anywhere to store your things and other reviews mention staff coming into their rooms (not sure how true this though). Second, the rooms are extremely loud. There is a large gap at the bottom of the doors so can hear banging of doors throughout the night. I think this could be helped with maybe a stopper on the bottom of the door or including something to put along the bottom. We travelled interstate, so had quite large suitcases and despite seeing this, the receptionist did not even open the door even after seeing us struggle to hurl them up the stairs. There was also no utensils in the room other than spoons, maybe there should be even a few forks or bigger spoons for snacks. The fridge kept things cold (reviews said otherwise) but ours at least was cold. The shared bathroom was clean and nice, but maybe a sign you could flip on the door to say it is occupied would be nice to stop people coming and trying to bang on the door whilst showering. Overall, is in a great spot that is easy to access from Sydney CBD but don’t bring too much luggage as there is no elevator or assistance from staff.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

31 Oct 2024

margaret

Great stay

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

29 Oct 2024

kenneth

Stylish and clean

Nice place, especially for solo traveler. I saw a few megative reviews but none of those issues manifested on my week+ long stay. I was in a double room for part of yhe stay and a single room for the remainder.

10/10

Exceptional

23 Oct 2024

Yasmin

Amazing bed, comfortable place even having to share the bathroom, very clean.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

23 Oct 2024

kenneth

Much better than expected

I was pleasantly surprised that some of the negative reviews I read were not my experience. Wifi is strong, rooms are pretty well acoustically insulated, minisplits are easy to operate for heat/cooling. Bathrooms are clean and they are private with security latches on the interior. My \"assigned\" bathroom was sometimes occupied but the next bathroom down the hall was always open to use as a backup. Desk staff helpfully kept my bag secure during the day that I needed to switch rooms since my desired room was not available for my entire length of stay. I would definitely book again.

Self

10/10

Exceptional

21 Oct 2024

Genevieve

N/A

Leisure Friends

2/10

Poor

28 Sep 2024

Gemma

This place has NO toilet in every room we’ve had a shared toilet, it’s terrible. It’s wet it’s disgusting! The room is sssoooo small very limited space! It’s not the type of accommodation I will recommend! I will never book this place again!

Leisure

8/10

Excellent

20 Aug 2024

RITESH

Room's were quite small for a family of 3 and no attached bathrooms makes it difficult for a family.

Leisure Family_with_children

10/10

Exceptional

16 Aug 2024

Mark

No air conditioning

6/10

Pleasant

14 May 2024

Seif Swaleh

Was beautiful, intimate, cozy, just amazing.

Business Friends

2/10

Poor

05 May 2024

gary

The Room I was putting was crazily noisy and with the bathroom attached onto the Room people coming and going all night. I didn’t get any sleep over two days.

I then got moved to a different room and it was in a backstreet and Next. My window was full of glass bins and people delivered the stuff in the mornings. Terrible stay at sleep. Very noisy comes into the door. No soundproofing whatsoever

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

08 Apr 2024

Ivan

Polite and welcoming staff on arrival.
Beautiful street scape view from the balcony.
Picturesque walk from Potts Point to the Opera house.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

01 Apr 2024

Lorena

We had a great experience. room was clean and quiet; we had a great sleep.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

28 Mar 2024

Carol

Beautiful facilities. Loved being able to walk to market and Circle quay! Our neighbors were very loud one night. There is no staff at night.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

27 Mar 2024

Bryan

Great location in the Paris end of Potts Point !

Leisure Partner

4/10

Poor

25 Feb 2024

Paula Caballero

Nobody was there for the check in, the room is small and the area is quite far from the downtown

Leisure Family

6/10

Pleasant

19 Dec 2023

Susan

My Tv remote did not work. I wanted to escape heat and watch movie , could not . tried to ring for help. No help came. next morning talked to reception who said yes its a problem but you can still turn on manually . I could not navigate to any choice of program .
AT night a young woman banged on my door in a towel having locked herself out of her room. she tried to call for help on intercom as I had tried re tv NO REPLY .
she slept in hall ! If there had been an emergency we would not have been able to reach anyone. That made me feel slightly unsafe.

Leisure Self

6/10

Pleasant

10 Dec 2023

Michael

The Jensen is a well presented old style accomodation. It was very clean and fitted out with very comfortable beds and the bathrooms were very nice even though they were shared. The carpark is 600m away which was not convenient for me and made the check in a checkout process about an hr. No attendants on duty when I arrived, carparking instructions and parking coupons were not provided till next day. I expect a receptionist to be on hand and I should not have to go around the corner everytime I need something attended to. My aircon was not functioning, management responded quickly but was not able to be fixed. I was relocated to another room the next night. The ammenities shelves in the room were not well designed as a combined clothes hanger and kettle stand. The stairwell to the 400 level rooms was very narrow and could not comfortably carry up my bags. The fridge was ultra small, I was lucky to put in milk and a few items. The space could have easily accommodated a wider and deeper bar fridge. The rooms were very small and when you set down your bags there simply was insufficient room to move around and found myself standing on my bags. I did stay for 4 nights. Probably the most inconvenient was the parking situation. The team were apologetic and did their best. management need to make improvements for arriving a leaving.

6/10

Pleasant

17 Nov 2023

Steve

Was fair noisy both from the street, and within the building itself. Shared bathrooms were a bit of a pain. But room was nice.

6/10

Pleasant

14 Nov 2023

Meghna

No one to assist

The hotel was good only thing that am desapointed is than on my arrival from a long flight there was no one to assist me I was exhausted and need to go and buy food by Walk

Business

10/10

Exceptional

12 Nov 2023

PHILAMER

The place is near to different dine-in restaurants, cafe's, coles, wolies and metro. It is a walking distance to iconic Harry's, botanical, museum, st may of the cross cathedral, westfield mall, hyde, opera and the rocks.

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

23 Oct 2023

Hannah

Clean & quiet

The Jensen was clean, simple, and quiet! The staff were very friendly and accommodating, even coordinated an early check in at no cost, on the spot. A great location too, right by Kings Cross for public transit access. The only thing I wish they had was a shared kitchen space! There is a shared station with a toaster, microwave, and hot water pot; I was able to make some easy meals but would have loved somewhere to eat besides my room. Overall, a great spot to stay.

Self

8/10

Excellent

16 Oct 2023

Thomas

Convenient and characterful!

Had a good time the the jenson. I hadn’t realised when I’d booked it was a shared bathroom but it honestly wasn’t an issue. Room itself was great with loads of period character and a nice balcony on to the street. Late check in was very easy. Would recommend!

Self

8/10

Excellent

14 Oct 2023

Andrew

The only downside to this hotel is the shared bathroom other than that very nice indeed

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

01 Oct 2023

caroline

Great location! Front desk was super helpful, and made checking in a breeze. Shared facilities were super clean. I would definitely stay here again.

Leisure Partner

8/10

Excellent

07 Sep 2023

Peter

It’s an ok stay, though rooms do not have double glazed windows, which can be a problem when garbage trucks come buy.
Try to get a front room if you can.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

04 Sep 2023

Annie

We loved it!

Leisure Partner

2/10

Poor

17 Aug 2023

Dinithi

No private washroom and no elevator. No heating cold inside. No one to talk when you come early

8/10

Excellent

08 Aug 2023

Stewart

The property was good but far too much noise through the night. Exterior noise.

10/10

Exceptional

23 Jun 2023

Divina

Very nice and clean place to stay. Would book again

Leisure Friends

6/10

Pleasant

16 Mar 2023

Verified traveler

Good cheap accommodation for a backpacker couple for a short stay. Shared toilets were extremely small and shower not draining properly. Good location. Thin walls so was able to hear everything around the building.

Partner

8/10

Excellent

07 Mar 2023

Joel

There

8/10

Excellent

27 Jan 2023

Steven

Spartan accommodations. Perfect for a solo traveler. Excellent location.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

22 Jan 2023

Emma

It was great for price. Short Uber ride to the rocks. Will definitely stay again

Leisure Friends

10/10

Exceptional

21 Jan 2023

Rose

Great Potts Pointbstay

Lovely hotel great staff very happy with our room

Partner

6/10

Pleasant

30 Nov 2022

Olivia

Family room is tiny. Tv didn't work. 3 flights of stairs, no elevator. No cutlery left in communal kitchenette. No soap in room. Noisy.

Leisure Family

10/10

Exceptional

17 Nov 2022

Anthony

Charming ambience, clean and fresh , great location at the nice end of Macleay St . Easy walk to the Opera House through Botanical Gardens. Tony Kevin.

Leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

11 Oct 2022

Juliet

Very clean
Very quiet
Very convenient
Helpful staff

Business_and_leisure Self

10/10

Exceptional

07 Oct 2022

Michael

Great place to stay.

We shared our bathroom with a bit of a slob who left his underwear hanging in the shower and sprayed water all over the bathroom including toilet seat. Otherwise the experience was great. Clean room and so convenient for the Bondi to Manley walk going right past.

Partner

2/10

Poor

07 Oct 2022

Ana

I stayed for five days and my room was not cleaned once. Tv in room did not work.

Business

10/10

Exceptional

01 Oct 2022

Erin

Clean !

8/10

Excellent

19 Sep 2022

Alex

Clean and neat. Basic, but value for money. Great location.

Leisure Partner

6/10

Pleasant

15 Sep 2022

James

The card left for me didn't open the door, so I was locked out. No staff were contactable via the Intercom. I pressed the buzzer 100 times before anyone answered. Very stressful.

Business Self

10/10

Exceptional

09 Aug 2022

Verified traveler

Self check-in for late at night was super convenient

Business