Metro Hotel on Pitt, Sydney

We have stayed at the Metro Hotel, 431 Pitt St, Sydney on many occasions in the past. During a recent stay, we were woken up twice on Jan 2, 2010, by false fire alarms, one at 4 am, the other at 7 am. We had to walk down 12 floors (twice) via stairs. This made us very tired for our long journey home by road. During a subsequent stay at the Metro (it had been pre-booked and could not be canceled), we were woken up again by a false fire alarm on the morning of Feb 21 at about 4.30 am. This again made us very tired on our homeward journey. We could not believe that the hotel had not fixed the problems they have been having with their false fire alarms. In fact, when we checked in on Feb 19, we were told by the people at the front desk that they had another false fire alarm just a few nights before our arrival. On both occasions, the staff on duty did not appear to know what to do. There was no head count of guests. Staff would not have known if everyone had evacuated their rooms. There was no instruction as to where to congregate, so people just milled in the foyer. There was no announcement that the fire alarm was a false alarm, and until we asked, we were not told that it was safe to go back to our rooms. After our first experience with the two false fire alarms in one night, a written complaint to management resulted in a refund for that night when our sleep was interrupted. After our second experience, a similar complaint did not produce a similar refund. We will not stay in the Metro Hotel again and recommend that anyone reading this review do the same. Although prices at the Metro are relatively low, compared to other similar hotels, and although it is favourably located, we would prefer to pay a bit more and be assured of a good night's sleep, and be taken care of by staff who (hopefully) will know what to do in a real emergency. Gerald Tan

It's indeed very convenient with monorail and Oxford Street just footsteps away. Nice lobby. However, the room was very small, just twice the size of a double bed (including the double bed) and there's no room to put our luggage. Cleanliness of the bathroom was acceptable, The breakfast was also acceptable, though the choice was narrow. Overall, it was OK in terms of budget and convenience