QT Sydney is an interesting boutique hotel with a twist. It is located in the historic Gowings building in the very centre of Sydney, on busy George street and next to Pitt Street Mall. If one wants to be right in the middle of action the location will work well. However if you are coming to Sydney for a romantic break or a quiet weekend, the location won’t suit.

QT has a lot going for it but it also has some major drawbacks.

Being a historic building with many limitations none of the rooms have balconies and have certain layout limitations. We also found the lobby to be quite dated and some of the rooms seemed to have a bit of a musky smell.

Also, be careful when booking on where your room is located. The first room I was offered was right next to the giant GOWINGS illuminated sign and being in the room reminded me of being on the set of a French can-can film rather than being in a boutique luxury hotel.

Accommodation

QT offers 198 rooms and only two suites. The website claims to also have corner suites and junior suites but those are just slightly larger standard rooms.

The State Suites (proper one bedroom suites) are lovely – they have a look and feel of a rich grandfather’s house – a lot of brown leather, wood panelled walls, chester  chairs, crystal tumblers on the coffee table, fur throws and other authentic finishing details.

The pricing for a State Suite starts from $820 per night on weekdays and nearly double that on the weekends.

Standard rooms are colourful and modern in design, decorated in an Art Deco style. Rooms feature a lit up bar, quirky chandeliers, modern artwork, luscious fur throws and sexy (literally) room amenities.

Bathrooms are new and modern in all rooms and Nespresso coffee machines are present (always a bonus for those who don’t want to rush downstairs for their morning coffee).

All in all – presentable, clean, young.

Major drawbacks for most rooms:

Rails on the windows (one could feel somewhat captured in their room rather than enjoying a romantic break).

A terrible outlook onto a fluorescent sign if you are unfortunate to get a room close to it.

Lack of suites.

Dining

Interestingly this hotel doesn’t have a proper breakfast restaurant only a little somewhat uncozy and cold (in winter) café downstairs (on the street level) serving simple café food for an additional charge.

The dinner restaurant, Gowings Bar and Grill, is fantastic – see a full story on it here.

We love this restaurant for its glamorous atmosphere, fabulous food, cozy setting and great service.

Make sure to try this restaurant even if you are not staying at QT.

Spa Q

Spa Q is also fabulous. It is only very small with five treatment rooms but it has wonderfully skilled therapists and a Hammam-inspired steam and ice room.

What we loved about this spa is that you don’t have to choose your treatment ahead of time. You can just book a time and decide at the time of the appointment on the therapies you’d like to enjoy. And there are so many options to choose from – massages, facials, masks, exfoliations, hand and foot treatments. They even offer make up and barber services. So even the fussiest spa lovers will be satisfied with the choices.

The Lux Traveller Loves:

Gowings Bar & Grill – fabulous restaurant, definitely worth a visit!

Spa Q – nice addition to this boutique hotel

Interesting and unusual mini bar items

The Lux Traveller Doesn’t Like:

Even though we can appreciate a completely different concept to a traditional hotel QT has gone a little too far for us. It is just too bright, too sexy, too loud to be sophisticated. If the price range was half of what they charge I would say that it is a good deal for a young couple looking for a funky, ‘something different’ experience in Sydney. But at $300 plus I would go for the Shangri-La or the Sheraton. But that’s just me, The Lux Traveller through and through.

All In All – QT Sydney is a very funky, ‘out there’ hotel for the young. By no means a family hotel. Will perfectly suit a young couple on a Friday night adventure.

For the price ($320++) we think the hotel is overpriced. But if you are in the mood for ‘sexy’ and ‘different’ you might enjoy it for a night or two.