Spent 4 nights at the Kirketon Hotel 20-24 January 2012. Must say that I had a great stay because of the hotel's service and excellent location. It's in Darlinghurst, with proximity to the shops along Paddington, the cosy neighbourhood of Surry Hill with quaint shops, cafes, restaurants, and easy access to bus connections to beaches along the Eastern Coastal Walk. The hotel is along Darlinghurst road, near William Street, and parallel to Victoria Street, with a good choice of restaurants/cafes/cafeteria, an amazing gelato shop (Messina), convenience stores, a small supermarket - all the amenities you'll need etc. The hotel staff was friendly and helpful. Checking in/out was casual, relaxed and fuss free. The rooms are stylish, clean and very comfortable. My friends met me at the bar downstairs for drinks, and the vibe was lively and happening.

I based my decision to stay at the Kirketon on reviews and also on its location. My immediate first impression was that the staff were friendly and helpful and helped us get into our rooms for an earlier check in. The room was facing the street but was very quiet and nicely done with all your need for a weekend trip - I did get a large room from a handy free upgrade offered via Agoda. The bathroom was clean but tiles were starting to deteriorate - it may be time to update your bathrooms! The bar seemed to be a bit of a hip nightspot but did not deter the hotel operations. There's a brilliant little French cafe across the street which we loved and even if there are no in-house room service facilities, the hotel offers a take-away service from surrounding restaurants... but why would you? It's such a close lunge to the city!

After reading reviews here and finding many above average reviews I opted for this over the Mantra 2 Bond Street as it was for a honeymoon trip therefore a 'boutique hotel' experience should have been more appropriate - WRONG
Firstly - this is NOT a boutique hotel (note to Kirketon management team - if you get a chance check out the Luxe Manor in Kowloon Hong Kong which IS a boutique hotel for inspiration)
We arrived at 8:30am to a warm friendly reception and an explanation that as it can get noisy downstairs (gulp) would we prefer to wait until after 2pm for a 2nd floor room which would be quieter. OK let's go out for a few hours and kill time....
Return at 2pm to the same 'friendly' receptionist who then after a while standing there said 'how can i help you?' A bit shocked I responded 'we would like to check in?' and then was asked my name again having already given credit card details earlier. When I pointed out that we had already met I was given a curt 'well many people pass by here at reception...it is a hotel' Wow what a change 5 hours makes!
Then I was told that there was no lift and he 'hadn't had a chance to get luggage to the room'. He looked panicked that he may be asked to still take the cases so we said we would take them ourselves. When he brought them right around before I had a chance to speak further he looked really irritatated that we wanted to get into the room and drop some shopping and hand luggage first. Great start...
Inside the room which IS tiny - regardless of location or room options these are SMALL. There is less then 3 ft of space between the end of the the double bed and the wall. The bathroom was grotty - grey tiles with dull and mouldy grout everywhere. No bath and standard toiletries of shower gel / shampoo / conditioner nothing else (not very boutiquey).
Basically my husband summed it up when he said - it is a hostel with some posh trimmings. Harsh but as far as the the standard room is concerned, true.
Public areas are better - nice low lighting with interesting and soothing design.
There is no room service - unless you count calling reception who will order take away from a local restaurant and deliver to your room at a much elevated price.
The internet which is $15AUS per day was not working the entire time I was there (10 long days) so as far as the managements comments on an earlier review about not keeping hard copies of phone books, brochures etc goes - well this was a good example of why you SHOULD keep them.
There is no breakfast option - period. Downstairs the restaurant and bar are managed separately. Again most boutique hotels would have this as standard. However the bar is a fun vibrant place to be at night and seemed popular but as this doesn't belong to 8 hotels - kind of irrelevant to this review.
The location IS great - very central to Kings Cross / Darlinghurst area which is just as well as if you stay there you will likely want to be out most of the time.
The rooms were not serviced well - if at all.
Most days somebody came in and made the bed. That was it.... no hoovering - no cleaning in the bathroom - nothing. I experimentally decided not to clean away a long black hair from a previous guest in the shower cubicle - it is probably still there.
One day we left a little later at a 10:30am and came back to not even a made bed (annoying as the linen doesn't fit correctly and comes undone when you sleep - the duvets don't even have a cover - just a sheet top and bottom)
When we told reception later we were told it was because we had a DnD sign on. This was removed when we left the room and we even said hello to the housekeeping boy when leaving the room.
Basically the housekeeping is bad - never cleaned or hoovered. We were there 6 days before they even changed the bed for fresh linen (which also didn't fit) Toiletries were sparcely replaced too.
You can't open the windows due to 'health and safety' whatever that means.
I think my main problem is that I was expecting a boutique hotel which the kirketon really isn't. Maybe my own mental definition of boutique hotel is off but I believe it means a small nicely designed and maintained hotel with all the trimmings you would expect.
(anyway to prevent a disagreement on this try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boutique_hotel for a genrally accepted definition. I would especially ask the management team to review this and cross reference it with the kirketon.)
Well it is certainly small...and the design is nice but that's it. If that's all your after - then don't worry - enjoy your stay. If you expect more than please - spare yourself the upset when you arrive and book elsewhere.
By the way the rude ish receptionist was not seen the rest of our stay and all the other reception staff (all male) were so nice and friendly so I hope none of them get told off. THis is not a staffing issue - it is a management and housekeeping issue.
It could so easily be fantastic with the right services; breakfast option, room service option, cleaning better, more toiletries, bathrooms updated, room furniture updated etc etc. but right now it needs addressing to be anywhere near what it appears to be on the website.
I feel I could go on but in the interest of putting people off reading the review and also rubbing salt into the wounds I think this will do. Needless to say I won't be booking an 8 hotel again or recommending them until I hear they have improved.
The extra rating above Terrible is for the location and the staff. Therefore I opted for just 'Poor'

We stayed in Kirketon for 4 nights in November 2011. The hotel is situated perfectly, it's quiet, but still nearby everything. Across the streets there are many coffee shops and great places for breakfast.

The hotel is decorated quite dark, but is very stylish. We had a small room, but for 4 nights that was ok. Loved the hotel because of the super friendly staff and the location! Just a small stroll up to Paddington and Surrey Hills (<- very cool area!)