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Ibis Darling Harbour Gives You "Four Minutes To Save the World"

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 70 Murray Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2000
January 9, 2009 at 9:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

Someone told us not to expect any kind of view when we checked into the Hotel Ibis Darling Harbour in Sydney, and when we booked a last minute special for A$89 ($60) we definitely expected to be shoved into a room resembling a corner closet.

But no--the Ibis Darling Harbour really surprised us. Sandwiched between the more expensive Novotel and Grand Mercure Apartments, the Ibis turns out to be great value for such a sought-after tourist spot. And our cheapie room even had a view--not over Darling Harbour but in the other direction towards the Star City casino complex and the "other" bridge in Sydney, the Anzac Bridge.

Yes, our Ibis room was small. No, it wasn't particularly beautiful, and things were a little noisy at night. But the room did the job and we could walk out of the hotel to all the attractions of Darling Harbour in two minutes.

One feature that intrigued us was the timer in the shower. Nothing else in the Ibis Darling Harbour appears to be particularly eco-friendly but they have an electronic timer attached to the shower wall that is intended to remind you to have short showers in water-starved Australia. We admit to re-setting the timer for another four minutes after the timer rang its gentle beep, but it was nice to be made aware of just how fast time goes under a nice hot shower. Also, was this the inspiration for the "Four Minutes to Save the World" song from Madonna and J-T? Possibly.

One tip that applies to a lot more hotels than just the Ibis Darling Harbour, although they're the ones who put us onto it, is to sign up for the airport shuttle they advertise. Apparently the privatized railway to the airport is the reason for A$14 train fares from the city center to the airport (a pretty short distance) but airport shuttles pick you up right at the door and take you to your departure terminal for A$12.

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