Silkari Suites Chatswood

“Would come back in a heartbeat”

The apartment was bigger than expected. Lovely decor, and amenities. 2 bathrooms was great for us. Nice and quiet. Paid parking was easy to access. Friendly staff. Free barista coffee in the foyer in the morning, made by a delightful man, was a nice touch.

“Pleasantly surprising”

We recently had the pleasure of staying here for a short family holiday in Sydney. We had been looking online for places that could accommodate a family of 4, with most options being absurdly expensive, or in awful locations. I noted there were a few Airbnb's being on sold from this hotel and dec… more

We recently had the pleasure of staying here for a short family holiday in Sydney. We had been looking online for places that could accommodate a family of 4, with most options being absurdly expensive, or in awful locations. I noted there were a few Airbnb's being on sold from this hotel and decided to look into their rates directly. Having lived in the North Shore many years ago (before this hotel existed), we settled on this hotel solely due to a promotion offering a significantly discounted stay, with parking, and no housekeeping for a 2 bedroom executive apartment - all significantly better value than other platforms. Having not heard of the hotel, I went in with no expectations, but was very pleasantly surprised at the offering. The hotel is directly opposite one of the entrances of Chatswood Chase, arguably Sydney's only upmarket shopping mall. The Chase features a number of excellent restaurants and dining options in its basement food court that are open until relatively late. The hotel is also a pleasant stroll from Westfield Chatswood, and the Chatswood public transport interchange - very achievable for families with young children and prams. For those of you who have not been to Chatswood in a long time, the concourse and Victoria Avenue look completely unrecognisable, with significant investment going into public facilities and other pedestrian friendly infrastructure. In terms of shopping, eating and getting around Sydney, you would be hard pressed to find a better option than this hotel. Chatswood to the CBD via the train is approximately a 20 minute journey, and I would estimate the walk from the hotel to the interchange to be about 10-12 minutes (factoring in waiting for elevators and walking with children). Check in was slightly odd, in that there is no external parking, and the hotel entrance is off a 'no through road' street, which features a one way narrow driveway. You will likely be forced to park in this area while checking in, and if there are already cars in this area, you won't be able to stop. Guest parking is via the public concourse parking entrance, with a special separate basement entrance for Silkari guests. The carpark is a bit of a maze to get through, but there are signs (very small ones). 3 sublevels of parking are offered, with relatively good lift access that can take you to the lobby, or straight to your room level (once you have been checked in and have an access card). Also important to remember that if you do get the parking option, you must validate your ticket prior to each exit. The hotel lobby is very small - it won't be a place you can typically hang out and relax like you could at other hotels, but this is made up by the room size and quality. The hotel does not have a restaurant (noting that Mama Mulan is located at the rear of the building, but is not affiliated with the hotel, and there is no direct access from the hotel lobby), but there is a coffee cart in the lobby that offers drinks and banana bread in the morning. We stayed in room 703, which offered a not particularly inspiring view of Our Lady of Dolours Primary, as well as St Pius X college. However, the room was very large, with a bathroom (including laundry) at the entrance, a gas cooktop, plenty of crockery and cutlery, a microwave, a base model Delonghi Nespresso machine, with a few pods, and decent sized fridge in the kitchen. One bedroom is in the middle of the apartment, which is behind a frosted glass sliding door. Keep in mind that if lights are left on in the lounge room, this bedroom will not be dark. It will also not be quiet in this room if the tv is on, as the door does not sit flush with the wall. There was decent storage in this room, but note it is not a built in wardrobe, so getting around in the tight space is a bit tough. The master bedroom had a decent sized soft bed, with a generous ensuite, and large built ins. Room décor is a bit 'beige and black', but is not painful on the eye. Bathroom amenities are decent, and products are by way of Kiyo, which I found to be satisfactory, but not particularly great. The rooftop garden on level 11 was small, but offers wonderful views of all the high rise developments in Chatswood. There is complementary Wi-Fi, but I didn't end up using it, so can't comment on the connection speed or reliability. Hotel information is by way of an info screen on the tv. There is no gym on-site, but you can get passes to the somewhat nearby Anytime Fitness, which is arguably better than any hotel gym. I cannot comment on the service levels, as I did not request anything from the staff during our stay. In terms of the not so great, a strange quirk was that the bedroom included blackout curtains, but the adjacent lounge did not. The curtains would also not go all the way to the end of the railings, no matter how hard I tried. The room did feel a bit drab in parts, with some dust in places, but I note this would be difficult to thoroughly clean, given the sheer size of the room. The room phone was broken (which we were informed of during check in). There are 3 lifts in operation, with one of them being a very narrow one. If you manage to get this lift, it will be difficult to get luggage and people in at the same time. One of the lifts had a persistently unpleasant smell, which was not addressed over a 3 night stay. Despite being on the 7th floor, I could hear pretty significant traffic noise, be it cars, or banging from the loading dock in the early mornings. However, I do not consider these issues to be particularly major in nature, and the sheer practicality of the hotel outweighs any notions of luxury. That being said, this hotel punches well above its weight due to its stellar location and price, and convenience. We experienced a comfortable, worry-free stay, and we were able to get around Sydney easily (be it through public transport or driving around). Our children enjoyed the accommodation, and demanded that all future Sydney stays are here. If that isn't a glowing recommendation, I don't know what is. We will be back!

less

“Great location & really nice staff”

I was extremely impressed by the welcome that I had from Rowan at reception; first impressions always count. He said that he had upgraded me to a two bedroom apartment which was very kind and as this review will reveal it worked out to my benefit. The apartment was extremely well appointed - two… more

I was extremely impressed by the welcome that I had from Rowan at reception; first impressions always count. He said that he had upgraded me to a two bedroom apartment which was very kind and as this review will reveal it worked out to my benefit. The apartment was extremely well appointed - two bedroom two bathrooms, coffee machine, full kitchen set up , plenty of space. The downside was that it looked over a back alley and there was a bit of noise coming from there throughout the evening and very early in the morning and a lot of light coming into the main bedroom (the Blockout curtains were a little bit off their hooks which I reported the next morning ) so I ended up sleeping in the spare bedroom which was fine for me. I would happily return again and it’ll probably be within the next two weeks.

less

“Comfortable and serviced daily”

We had booked a very small room but the desk person helped us to upgrade to a larger better room. It was very comfortable and we certainly appreciated the daily room servicing.