Sydney Central Hotel: My Sydney Marathon Weekend Base (Second Stay Review)
Updated: 6 days ago
My Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5
Is it a five-star luxury hotel? No — and that's not what I'm rating.
I'm giving it five stars for my experience.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you book through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions and experiences are my own.
I genuinely don't have a complaint about our stay. It was comfortable, quiet and incredibly convenient. The staff were fantastic, and the little extras made our Sydney Marathon weekend easier.
I've stayed here twice now, and I'd happily book it again.
This Sydney Central Hotel review is based on two Sydney Marathon weekend stays — once when I
👉 ran my first marathon in 2025, and again in 2026 when we came back for
We were there from 28–31 August, four adults, one room, three nights.
At A Glance
📍 Location: Approx. 400–500 m from Central Station
🛏️ Room: Room 818, 2 queen beds, 4 adults
💵 Price: AUD $1,692 total / 3 nights / 4 adults. Breakfast and 1:00 pm late checkout included in our booking ($141 pp/night)
🍳 Breakfast: Included in our booking, huge buffet, gluten-free area available
🏊 Pool: Level 8
🚿 Bathroom: Modern, large walk-in shower
🅿️ Parking: Not used. Didn’t need it
☕ Extras: Filtered water station, marathon runner refreshment station
🔁 Would I stay again? Absolutely
Location
One of the biggest reasons I like this hotel is the location.
Sydney Central Hotel is only around 400–500 metres from Central Station.
For a marathon weekend, that is huge.
We were constantly coming and going — sightseeing, marathon activities and, obviously, parkrun.
On Saturday morning we left the hotel at 6:38 am. Six minutes later, we were at Central Station on our way to Pirrama parkrun.
If you're another parkrun tourist, you can read about our 👉 Pirrama parkrun experience here.
Can't complain about that.
Check-In and Checkout
We arrived early, fully expecting to just dump our bags and go.
Instead, the staff sorted us an early check-in.
Such a nice surprise, and it made the whole trip feel easier from the first hour.
On our last day, we'd paid for a late checkout as part of our booking, which meant we kept the room until 1:00pm.
Both of those little things matter more than people realise on a busy weekend away.
Our Room — Room 818
Four adults, two big beds, and somehow it worked.
The beds were genuinely comfortable.
And despite being smack in the middle of Sydney, our room was quiet. No noisy neighbours, no street noise. We slept.
There was a balcony, a desk area, a TV, plenty of storage, a mini-fridge and a kettle.
No microwave, if that matters to you.
The bathroom was modern and clean, with a large walk-in shower.
And the pool? Same level as our room. Level 8. Easy.
Housekeeping
Excellent, every single day.
Beds remade, fresh towels, room cleaned — every time we were out.
When you've got four adults sharing one room for three nights, that daily reset actually makes a difference.
The Staff
Fantastic. Every single interaction.
From the early check-in to the small stuff throughout the weekend, everyone we dealt with was friendly and helpful.
Halfway through our stay, reception called our room just to check how things were going.
We hadn't raised any issue. They just wanted to make sure we were okay.
That's the kind of thing you remember.
Kirra's Birthday (And a Butter Knife)
Our stay happened to fall over Kirra's birthday.
We had a cake, so I went down to the kitchen to see if they could help us out.
They handed over plates and a butter knife without hesitation.
Safety first 😂
Small thing. But it's exactly the sort of service I remember from a hotel stay.
Filtered Water Station
Ground floor, near the lifts — pop your bottle in and out comes cold filtered water.
For a weekend full of walking and running, this was genuinely handy.
I stayed here in 2025 and don't remember this being there. New addition, and a good one.
The Sydney Marathon Refreshment Station
This was my favourite new addition compared to last year.
The hotel set up a complimentary refreshment station just for runners — Powerade, Carman's bars, juice boxes, sandwiches, fresh fruit, cold-brew coffee.
It wasn't there in 2025.
It felt like the hotel had noticed how many Sydney Marathon runners were staying there and decided to actually cater for them.
Didn't have to do it. Did it anyway. Loved seeing that.
Breakfast
Breakfast is served from 6:30 am–10:00 am Monday to Friday and 6:30 am–11:00 am Saturday and Sunday.
Bacon, eggs (cooked however you wanted), hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, smoked salmon, fresh fruit, cereals, pastries, pikelets, salad, juice, coffee, hot chocolate — with marshmallows.
Plenty of bread choices too — white, wholemeal and multigrain.
No raisin toast though. I'm still not over it.
Pump Nutella, pump honey, pump jam, and a full separate gluten-free area.
And honestly, more than I can even remember.
Having a proper breakfast sorted at the hotel made a busy weekend so much easier.
What Changed Since 2025
One of the advantages of staying here for the second year in a row was noticing what had changed. The two things that stood out were the filtered water station and the Sydney Marathon refreshment station.
Neither was there when I stayed in 2025. The marathon station especially felt like the hotel had clocked onto the fact that runners were choosing to stay there for Sydney Marathon weekend — and decided to look after them. Didn't have to do it. Did it anyway. Big tick from me.
Would I Stay Again?
Absolutely. This isn't a five-star luxury hotel, and it doesn't need to be. What it did was make our weekend easy. We were close to Central Station. The room was quiet. The beds were comfortable. Breakfast was excellent. Housekeeping came every day. The staff were fantastic.
We got an early check-in, a late checkout, cold filtered water downstairs and, when we needed one, a butter knife for a birthday cake. And this year, they went one step further and thought about the runners staying with them. I've now stayed at Sydney Central Hotel for two Sydney Marathon weekends — once when I ran the marathon myself in 2025, and again in 2026 when Kirra ran her first.
If we get into Sydney Marathon again in 2027, I won't be looking around for somewhere else to stay. I'll be booking here. I've already come back once. I'd come back again.
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