A Five-Star Stay for You and Your Dog: Pier One Sydney Review

From the moment we pulled up to the front of Pier One, the royal treatment began. We were greeted by the valet staff who unpacked our car to take our luggage away to our room and parked our car in valet parking. At the check-in counter, the staff provided us with welcome drinks and dog treats for Lady, as well as many many pats from the staff - she was basically a little celebrity from the moment she stepped into the hotel!

More than just "Pet Friendly"

We've found that the near majority of places that market themselves as "pet friendly" are more accurately "pet tolerant". Yes they allow you to bring your dog, but that's about it. Pier One stands out as not only allowing you to bring your dog, but has completely moulded their service offering to facilitate a luxury experience for both you and your pet.

When you book and add on their puppy package (at an additional cost), you will be given a hotel room that is on the ground floor and has external access via your hotel room card straight on to the pier (which is incredibly handy to take your dog out for toilet trips. Pro tip: once you leave your room via the external door, turn left and walk down until you see a small patch of artificial grass. Prime spot to let your dog do their business). In your room you will also have a large dog bed for your pup to sleep on, food and water bowls, and even a doggie mini-bar.

And to make it even better, the restaurant is pet friendly too! They have an outdoor area that is enclosed with cafe blinds and have a bunch of heaters on the roof so that it stays completely warm, even in winter! The restaurant also offers a puppy menu where you can order your dog their own chef made meal.

Accommodation

The interior design of the rooms feel strongly influenced by its harbour side setting, with details like large wood-panel headboards, and a palette of blues and browns accented with aged brass, which gives it a classic nautical feel. Room categories vary, including Heritage Deluxe, Water View, and Bridge View rooms, as well as suites that feature private balconies.

The rooms have all the things you would expect from a five-star hotel. This includes comfortable beds with premium bedding, well-stocked minibars, coffee machines, and large flatscreen TVs with modern casting capabilities for streaming content like Netflix etc. An addition that I thought was a nice touch was that the included hair dryer in the room is one of the newer Dyson hair dryers - not that it matters to me because I don't have any hair, but I thought that was a nice touch to make the experience feel that little bit more elevated.

(Human) Dining at Pier One

The Harbour Bistro at Pier One was DELICIOUS! We shared the Bone-In Ribeye which was cooked beautifully (highly recommend!). All the staff were so friendly and all showed interest in our pup that was sitting next to us (it was so nice to see how much the staff loved pets too). The menu was à la carte, and we felt it was reasonably priced considering it was attached to a five-star hotel. A big plus was that we could go from our room, to the restaurant, and back to our room, with our dog, and didn’t need to go outside at all (which was so convenient considering we were there in winter).

Location

The hotel is located at 11 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, which is directly under the southern pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It's location is only a short walk scenic walk from the historic laneways of The Rocks, the transport hub of Circular Quay, and the modern waterfront of Barangaroo.

The hotel is an easy 15-minute walk from Circular Quay Station and a 20-minute walk from Wynyard Station, making it an ideal base for exploring the city on foot or public transport. Despite how central Pier One is, the thing that we really appreciated was the fact that it didn't feel like we were in the hustle and bustle of Sydney CBD, it felt quite secluded and quiet which was really nice to come back to after a long day of exploring.

Final thoughts

Overall, Pier One is an amazing place to stay with (or without) your four-legged friend. We have stayed here twice now and definitely will be coming back. The location is so convenient, and the ability to be able to have our dog with us makes short trips away so much easier to accomplish instead of having to organise a pet sitter. We highly recommend this hotel 😊