PC Glitches ie:Old Sydney HI for 10K a night ($70) at present

[hummel]

I don't often have such good luck ( thanks again Markis ), but is there any chance they can say 'sorry - mistake', and try to cancel the confirmed points bookings ??

Most hotels have something in their T&C's but remains to be seen really.

 

[anat0l]

I don't often have such good luck ( thanks again Markis ), but is there any chance they can say 'sorry - mistake', and try to cancel the confirmed points bookings ??

I suppose it's possible, but my gut tells me it will be unlikely. I suppose they could even let it "slip" but then at check-in refuse to honour the 'invalid' booking - that would be most underhanded and I have difficulty thinking that will happen.

If it does happen, we'll cross that bridge when it happens; at worst, rebook at the normal points rate.

 

[oz_mark]

Most hotels have something in their T&C's but remains to be seen really.

I doubt the hotel would care too much. They will be paid by PC for the nights, and given the hotel will likely be at >95% occupancy (or whatever the figure PC use is), they will be paid fairly well for it. Then, it is basically up to PC, and I haven't heard about PC not honouring reward bookings.

 

[burmans]

I don't often have such good luck ( thanks again Markis ), but is there any chance they can say 'sorry - mistake', and try to cancel the confirmed points bookings ??

Of course, I wouldn't be making any flights bookings or similar for a little while to see how this pans out! They may try to cancel, Markis probably best placed to give feedback given she is our resident PC expert but there are plenty of examples of other hotels/airlines trying to cancel in this sort of scenario. Which may mean nothing, different companies have quite different policies on this.

In fact PC may even come back and not only want to cancel but accuse us of manipulating the system, I think this is unlikely myself but PC is not without form in this area of trying to blame their mistakes on those who take advantage.

 

[kamchatsky]

Looks like Holiday Inn Old Sydney has gone up to 35000 per night for rewards! Also it looks like the hotel is now completely booked out for NYE!

 

[markis10]

Looks like Holiday Inn Old Sydney has gone up to 35000 per night for rewards! Also it looks like the hotel is now completely booked out for NYE!

What a shame , glad I always keep a minimum of 5k in my account.

 

[Rick93]

Do I feel guilty for snaging four rooms for three nights for a total of just 120k ??

Narrr ...

Anyway, even though NYE is a fair way off yet, can anyone say what to expect on the roof ?
Do they throw a cover over the pool?
Do they serve drinks / food etc. up there?

Would be nice to hear from someone who has been there / done that ...

 

[burmans]

Do I feel guilty for snaging four rooms for three nights for a total of just 120k ??

Narrr ...

Anyway, even though NYE is a fair way off yet, can anyone say what to expect on the roof ?
Do they throw a cover over the pool?
Do they serve drinks / food etc. up there?

Would be nice to hear from someone who has been there / done that ...

Im keen to know too for my two rooms, no sign of cancellation!

 

[Cyberon]

Im keen to know too for my two rooms, no sign of cancellation!

There's a few videos on youtube of what the NYE fireworks look like from the rooftop, just type in "fireworks holiday inn old sydney".
The bridge is slightly obscured by a building in front.

 

[anat0l]

Anyway, even though NYE is a fair way off yet, can anyone say what to expect on the roof ?
Do they throw a cover over the pool?
Do they serve drinks / food etc. up there?

Would be nice to hear from someone who has been there / done that ...

Im keen to know too for my two rooms, no sign of cancellation!

I have "been there done that" of 2012.

To quickly answer your questions Rick93, in order:

• The roof gets pretty packed; you're best advised to get up there early to get a good spot. (We started camping there at 1830h). Bring some food for yourselves, a spare towel (to sit on the floor), a book or a well-charged device (or bring a spare battery pack).
• The pool was not covered. There weren't many people swimming as the night progressed; naturally, if you viewed from the pool area (raised section compared to the rest of the roof), then you had to be careful not to fall into the pool.
• I think only water was available up there. Some people had come from the restaurant (from the "special New Years Eve buffet" - very expensive), so were carrying their glass of bubbly with them. It's supposed to be a no-glass area on the roof. The hotel can provide acrylic cups and the like for your use. There are some NYE platters available for order through the room service of the hotel - naturally they are not cheap, and you are usually better off doing some shopping yourself to arrange what you want. Room service temporarily ceases at 4pm on NYE.

Here's the view from our corner of the roof that we camped in. This gave the best view of the Harbour Bridge; not the best view of the Opera House. If you go to the other corner, you switch the optimal views. You can attempt to get a much better view from the pool area, since it is raised compared to the edge of the roof, but we decided not to (and besides, where we were was dry!).



Here is the view from our corner looking towards the Opera House. As you can see, it's not the best view of the Opera House, and virtually no view from where we stand once lots of people are on the roof. There are tables and chairs in the roof area that are removed for the NYE event.



The following is a video I took of the NYE fireworks from our spot. The roof was pretty packed at that point. We had a bunch of youngsters from Switzerland next to us as I was juggling between taking insta-shots with my camera phone as well as video the fireworks as best I could using my Sony WX7 camera.

(Youtube, 16 min)

[video=youtube;a_OgyUS0Kdg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_OgyUS0Kdg[/video]

 

[Rick93]

Gee, thanks for that info anat01 ... that's a few good tips.

If I could just ask another question, or two ...

Did the hotel staff object to people bringing 'picnic-style' hamper up there? ( food + drinks in an esky )

Could you take your own folding 'director's chair' with you? ( or was it THAT crowded, there was no room other than standing ? )

( thanks for your insight - I'm wanting to do some planning for this ... )

 

[anat0l]

Gee, thanks for that info anat0l ... that's a few good tips.

If I could just ask another question, or two ...

Did the hotel staff object to people bringing 'picnic-style' hamper up there? ( food + drinks in an esky )

Could you take your own folding 'director's chair' with you? ( or was it THAT crowded, there was no room other than standing ? )

( thanks for your insight - I'm wanting to do some planning for this ... )

I don't believe the hotel had any specific objections to the items you mention - esky, folding chair - they did say no glass.

It does get fairly crowded near the end of the night (and slightly during the 9pm fireworks). I think a couple of people on the roof took a couple of chairs that were packed against the walls of the roof top area (i.e. out of the way) to sit down on. Overall, however, most people stood (and if they sat down, took a spare pool towel to sit down on the floor). Certainly, we were on the roof for a while. We each had a book to read before it got too dark, then it was just mainly waiting and watching (quite a long time), and we alternated between standing up and sitting down.

I definitely didn't see anyone with eskies up there. Overall, don't expect to "block out" an area for yourself (e.g. by putting down a rug, putting a couple of unoccupied chairs with a sign on them etc.) - you will not keep it and people will not like it. If you want a particular spot on the roof, you must be there.

 

[Rick93]

thanks again for the tips ...

 

[disy]

Hi
We were also there for NYE 2012. Fantastic experience. We stayed for 3 nights on award points. Information provided already is a good summary of our experiences. It was very crowded on the roof top and the best view I agree was from the raised area around the pool There was complimentary champagne available for everyone on the rooftop. The staff were going around with bottles topping people's glasses up.

 

[anat0l]

Hi
We were also there for NYE 2012. Fantastic experience. We stayed for 3 nights on award points. Information provided already is a good summary of our experiences. It was very crowded on the roof top and the best view I agree was from the raised area around the pool There was complimentary champagne available for everyone on the rooftop. The staff were going around with bottles topping people's glasses up.

Too bad we didn't meet before NYE, otherwise it would've been nice to say hello

I didn't see any staff going around with Champagne. Needless to say, we were in the corner on the lower part of the roof with the best view of the bridge. It was a bit difficult to get movement around there. There was also some sort of video/movie/clip being filmed in the fenced off area of the roof.

 

[Cyberon]

Hi
We were also there for NYE 2012. Fantastic experience. We stayed for 3 nights on award points. ....

What sort of room did u get? any upgrades etc?

 

[anat0l]

What sort of room did u get? any upgrades etc?

I'm a PC Platinum. We were on an award stay as well, and we didn't get any upgraded room of any kind that I can think of. Not that I know how many grades of room are in that particular property. Our room was on the third floor.

The property was (naturally) fully booked; getting an upgrade would've been a huge bonus, not an expectation, let alone that Priority Club very rarely grants elite benefits on award stays.

I did get a bottle of sparkling and a box of 4 chocolates at check-in.

 

[disy]

Too bad we didn't meet before NYE, otherwise it would've been nice to say hello

Yes sorry we didn't get to meet anat001 We had a seafood platter in the foyer about 10pm. We took our 10 yo granddaughter so were allocated a standard double room on the third floor. It had two windows and looked down onto a sidestreet that came off George St. No upgrade but we were very happy with the room which was a good size. As Platinum members we also received a showbag with a bottle of wine and chocolates.
The staff had a table with drinks set up just as you exited to the rooftop. They had this set up about half an hour before the fireworks. I think it was too crowded for them to top up glasses at the midnight fireworks, but they were topping up glasses below the pool area before the 9pm fireworks.

 

[dmw144]

look forward to seeing people up on the roof - just got the 1 room - but that was all i needed

 

[Rick93]

Hey ! Maybe those who want to see what each other looks like ( and even talk !! ), can do some 'secret agent' type code word or message ...

Just think - you see a person who looks like they might be a FFer, and you nussle up to them and say "I think I love you". Now, the response should be something like "Yes, I think I love you too" ...

but if you get a wack on the nose, you would then assume, that no - they were not one of the FFers you were looking for ...