My sister booked this hotel for several nights at the start of a family holiday. I was quite dubious about staying here because of some of the reviews I'd read on this site, but it turned out okay.

We didn't have any trouble with the reception staff, in fact I found them to be very pleasant. We also didn't have a problem with noisy neighbours or traffic, but that might have been because we were on the ground floor on the city side. The room seemed secure enough, and the air conditioning worked, which is good because the room is smallish, and got very stuffy very quickly. There was a handy kitchenette with a microwave in our room, which made self-catering breakfasts and late dinners doable. Everything in the kitchenette was clean and reasonably well looked after. The room was generally clean, and the beds were very comfortable. I shared a room with my Mum; my sister had another room with her young daughter and our cousins. They were reasonably comfortable, too, and had a small balcony over Chalmers St.

The only complaint I would have would be in regards to the bathroom. The shower cubicle wasn't cared for: there were mould stains (possibly still live mould) in the cubicle, and the lime build-up on the shower door was so bad that the door was actually immovable, with the rubber seals being quite rotten, it was a sliding door that wouldn't run on its track. It took 10 minutes of coaxing (forcing!) to get the door to open. That was pretty ridiculous, but as it was after 10pm there wasn't anyone around we could call. The bottom of the shower was stained, and though it was probably cleaner than it looked, was still a bit unpleasant.

The hotel is an easy 10 minutes walk from Central Railway, and there are also buses that run along Chalmers St (a bus stop is practically out the front.) There are several places to eat just around the corner in the Cleveland street area, and also at least 2 supermarkets within 10 minutes walk (I don't know what people were complaining about when they said there's nothing close by, I guess they object to having to walk to get their dinners!)

Overall, you get what you pay for here. Not a terrible experience at all, and I *might* consider staying here in future if I was with several people and we were all on a tight budget.

We recently stayed at this hotel for one night. It is great for the convienience of not having to drive all the way home from sydney after a show/gig....
but travelling from overseas I would not want the world to be given a first aussie impression of shampoo that turns your hair to straw, very small room or a shower nozzle that spurts water at a squashed up angle.

The carpark which was full even though we paid for secure parking and couldn't drive into the car park anyway scrapping our car on the dip to get into it. We had to park on the street.
Someone let us in the locked main door late at night as our room key wouldnt open it.

Staff are friendly and genuinely helpful which is very pleasant.
Hotel is clean and tidy but dated. - for the budget conscious, less time spent in the room the better. You pay for what you get.
The aircon works well. The beds were comfortable. The room is small. The little courtyard area is great to have a chat to other travellers.

in August 2011after a long flight from London to Sydney I arrived at the Central Railway Hotel. Name doesnt sound too inspiring but it was a welcome sight. The staff were very helpful. The room had everything you could want for a longer stay (I was only staying a couple of days) i.e. microwave, toaster, kettle, iron and board. Bed was very clean and comfortable and bathroom, although some might think it needed updating was very clean and fine for my needs. The shower was really good and the water very hot. It is situated in an older part of Sydney but not too far from the Opera House and other tourist attractions. There were lots of little Deli shops in the vicinity and bus tickets could be bought from a shop just down the road from the hotel My room was on the ground floor which pleased me as i had heaps of luggage and there was no lift. for anyone staying at this hotel and they buy a bus ticket the bus stop is just across the road from the hotel so that is easy but it is a one way street and unfortunately i fotgot this when returning to the hotel in the evening and got a bit lost. !!!!!!!!! If i stayed in Sydney again i wouldnt hesitate to stay at this hotel again. it's not the Ritz but it is very clean and comfortable and for me that is what matters .

I have not contributed recently to trip advisor or any other review sites becuase our own opions are so objective however i felt i had to hit the keyboard about this hotel. I had been booked into this for a week at the start of November however only stayed 4 nights and moved to another property. The location is not too bad. It is a short 10 minute walk if that to Central Railway station. There's a woolies about 5 minutes away and a couple of conor stores locally as well, however there is not much else in the area. The area seemed plesent and safe. Check in was not as easy as some. I was told to call the number on the door as i would be arriving late, however when i called i was berated by the manager for calling (8.30pm) and told to ring the bell until the staff on location came to the door, which they did. Some confusion over the pre paid nature of my room when they wanted to charge me for it again however easy enough to sort out.

The room itself was quite big, which was nice however my room was number 5 and faced onto the main room and was very noisey all the time. The bed is in a bad location right next to the Window and this made it impossible to sleep well. The bed was very uncomfy and when i finally got the Air con unit working which was directly over the bed, it belched out black soot all over the sheets and continued to do so.

There appeared to be no housekeeping. I had a new set of towels placed on the floor of the room by the door on the 3rd day, but no bed service or any other sign of housekeeping (bins etc) however on the 2nd day i started to get eaten alive by something on the bed. I asked for the sheets and Blanket to be changed and by the 4th day i could not take it any more and checked out and found another hotel. The staff seemed very disintrested.

It is a shame really but i would not touch it with a bardge pole again. A little bit of money spent doing it up and some new beds and linens would go a long way here. I would really say this is more of an upmarket Backpacker type place then a 3 star hotel, which is fine if your happy with that but for the cost of the room i did expect a little more or at least clean sheets.

No Phones in the room and a rather limited choice on the TV as well if you are stuck in the room for any amount of time.