Have just stayed for 2 nights in a junior suite. Booked this hotel because other accommodation in CBD all booked out due to golf tournaments and other events. Because it said 4.5 star I paid the high price which included breakfast. After just returning from Kuala Lumpur I compared my fantastic 3.5 star hotel there with this one and believe me, there was no comparison. Check in was ok, helpful with our bags. The room was old and shabby and desperately needed new carpet. 2 TVs in room. The TV in sitting area had very splotchy colour and bad sound. Maintenance man replaced it but then could not get a remote to operate it . So could only view the TV in bedroom - not convenient. Bed was comfortable and linen and towels were fine. Breakfast room was the biggest disappointment. Staff looked scruffy and urgently need new uniforms (please have them wear belts and clean their shoes). Training is needed for staff in this restaurant. Food presentation was poor and slow to be topped up. No-one offered tea/coffee on arrival at our table (remember this is supposedly 4.5 star). Staff not engaged with guests. Spilt food on floor near terrace door had been there some time. Needed painting and maintenance. Coffee shop in lobby excellent and friendly. Check out was ok. Could not recommend this hotel. Owners need to take advantage of the fantastic location and improve to an international standard.

My husband and I just returned from a 2 week trip to Australia and stayed for 1 night at the Swiss Grand. I really did love this hotel, mainly for its proximity to the beach (it is right on the beach!) and for its fantastic rooms. The beds were huge and very comfortable, the bathrooms were nicely decorated in marble, and we had a fantastic room on the 4th foor that overlooked the beach and the club downstairs and we loved it! We were able to open our balcony door and see the beach and hear the house music, it was fantastic!! I wish we could have stayed longer. The only negative I have about the Swiss Grand is that the hotel pool, although situated on top of the hotel and that is neat, it needs to be painted badly and could use some "sprucing up". It needs some plants, more chairs, something - it just looked barren. I was rather dissapointed with it. I understand that it is hard for them to empty pools and paint them in Sydney, since the pools are always being used - but the pools just look haggard!! Other than that, we loved Swiss Grand and would recommend it to others. We found a great deal on a travel website.

We decided to give the Swiss Grand a "go" since most of the poor reviews we found on Trip Adviser were pretty old. We thought things may have changed.

On arrival, we were greeted by no-one. The person at reception watched as we carried 5 bags in by ourselves. After checking in, he watched as we carried the same bags upstairs to our suite.

The central atrium absolutely reeks of food - we actually agreed it smelled of stale bacon fat. It was always worse in the mornings but it hung around the entire day and we could even smell it in our room if we didn't keep the doors to our terrace open.

The room was spotlessly clean and quite well appointed, but the decore was old and shabby and the spa bath beside the bed kind of took us back to the 70's. Wallpaper and paint were both shabby and the chairs were quite heavily stained. however the bed was very comfortable and the sheets were devine.

The tolet was so small we had to try to negotiate the toilet roll holder and slide in beside the toilet itself to get the door shut. Maybe the space given up for the spa bath would have been better utilized as a toilet.

The shower had good pressure but the temperature was inconsistent. There was nowhere handy available to hand you towel ready for when you finished your shower.

On tthree occasions the bathtowels supplied would not even go around my 34" waist! The towels all smelled of that "old laundry" smell.

It was the first time any manager of any hotel has welcomed us to their hotel by sending us two apples. Nice thought but not up to the wine or fruit bowl offered by other hotels.

There is no turn-down service.

The newspaper we ordered each morning never arrived.

Breakfast staff tended to be rude and off-hand but the fod was pretty good. Well, it always is at breakfast isn't it? There was an option to sit indoors or out when weather permitted but you had to hunt for cleant tables 9both inside and out) or clear the plast person dishes yourself.

We were intrigued to read a sign on the fire doors which said that nothing was to be placed in front if the fire doors. The sign was directly over a stack of chairs in front of the fire doors in the dining room.

On checkout, the cashier argued with me about a $27 mini bar charge. We did not use the mini bar. He then insisted that our room was not pre-paid and I had to produce evidence to prove that it was indeed pre-paid. His response was that some other staff member needed to be more careful with his folios. No apology was offered. He then watched as we humped our bags out to our car and luckily the driver immediately ran to help us.

Location - excellent. Value for money - shocking. If you are staying in Boni, go for an apartment or holiday home. There are plenty of places to eat so you wont end up cooking for yourself.

I booked a two night stay at the Swiss Grand as a last minute deal and got a very reasonable rate which turned out to be pretty good value for money however I certainly would not pay the rack rate to stay here. The location right on the beach at Bondi is fantastic, you can walk to the beach, shops, restaurants etc and you really feel ike you are in the heart of the location. Of course, with such a setting, there is the obvious drawback of noise - unless you're a heavy sleeper or you wear earplugs, expect to be woken up several times in the night by traffic and people on the street below.
The rooms are all suites and are spacious - we stayed in a Junior Suite which is at the lower end of the scale but it was comfortable with all mod cons you could reasonably wish for (2 TVs, bath, shower, toiletries, minibar etc). The bed was comfortable although if I'm going to be picky, then the pillows were a little too soft!
The hotel is looking dated and the rooms are far from modern but this did not detract from the enjoyment of our stay. Unfortunately we did not get a chance to check out any of the leisure facilities but with the beach on your doorstep, the allure of the swimming pool was diminished somewhat. The staff were friendly and helpful, I was particularly impressed with the way they looked after us on our last day when we had to leave our bags and borrow towels for the beach.
All in all, this is a good hotel and we enjoyed our stay. It is expensive if you pay full price but if you can get a good deal then I would definitely recommend it.