Hotel Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour, Sydney
Expert reviews
“In a heritage-listed wool store, this stylish gem combines industrial minimalism with the warmth of ironbark-wood beams, luxury appointments and engaged staff. Rooms range from the aptly named Shoebox to airy lofts and attic suites with harbour views.”
“Uber-cool interiors in a converted wool store, paired with a kill-you-with-kindness approach to service, make this boutique Darling Harbour property both hip and homely. A complimentary minibar, evening drinks and canapés and goodie-bags in the guest rooms will bring out even the most hardened traveller’s sense of fun.”
What guests liked
- Free mini bar
- Boutique style
- Friendly staff
- Excellent Wifi
- Great location
- Comfortable beds
All you need to know
This stylish and luxury five-star hospitality center is the ideal place for tourists and travelers looking to enjoy all the excitement and thrill the city has to offer. The hotel offers nothing short of hospitality excellence and provides the best of modern amenities. Guests are sure to have a unique experience in the Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour.
The hotel is located on 139 Murray Street in the Pyrmont area of the Central Business District where it stands at a short distance to the city financial, commercial and economic hub.
The hotel offers chic room options such as Queen Room – Shoebox, Queen Room, King Room, Deluxe King Room, Loft Suite, and Junior Suite. These room options are neatly arranged and feature the most beautiful furniture. The hotel rooms also feature stylish modern decors which add a touch of beauty and elegance.
The hotel is just a 5-minute walk away from the iconic Darling Harbour while the Powerhouse Museum is a 10-minute walk from the hotel. Guests can reach the Circular Quay and The Rocks within a 20-minute drive from the Ovolo 1888 hotel premises.
The rooms in the Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour come with standard amenities and facilities such as free Wi-Fi for high-speed internet access, a flat-screen TV with cable channels, air conditioning, a minibar, a desk, and a comfy sofa. The rooms come with an en suite private bathroom which features marble floors and showers as well as thoughtful touches such as free toiletries and bathroom slippers.
Lowest price guarantee
We partner with Booking.com and Agoda. Both booking websites offer the lowest price guarantee so you can be certain you will always get the best deal for this hotel. If you have seen a better price elsewhere, all you need to do is contact the booking website and they will refund you the difference immediately. You can price match right up until the day before check-in.
Location
Recent guest reviews
2 June 2025
The position was great, accommodation funky, staff very super attentive.
The location was excellent close but not too close to everything. The hotel has a funky art house feel to it. Loved the room numbers and the figurines at the bottom of the elevators. The staff were very attentive and helpful.
The room we had was very small, and cramped. It was hard to get in and out of the bed.
30 May 2025
Fabulous
the location and the style of the hotel
There wasn’t anything particularly I didn’t like
22 May 2025
Great location for Darling Harbour and Lyric Theatre.
Great location for Darling Harbour and Lyric Theatre, nice atmosphere and friendly staff.
Loft bedroom up steep stairs wasnt ideal for us in our late 60's with bathroom downstairs.
17 May 2025
Great location, cool bar and restaurant. Fabulous old Woolstore feel
Very cool decor
TV mount was loose and detached
11 May 2025
A lovely hotel, great location.
Great location, funky decor and rooms
Tapas meal extremely small (literally something from a tin and a packet of chips) and I was unable to get a coffee at 11am.
11 May 2025
Fabulous
location near ICC.
Parking fees
5 May 2025
Great boutique hotel, good location, short walk away from Darling harbour, however rooms are small and didn’t see value
Boutique hotel, original timber beams throughout the hotel dated back to 18th century was great to see. Breakfast was very nice, great coffee.
Smaller rooms than anticipated from the photos shown on booking especially paying $400+ per night.
4 May 2025
Great location and comfortable bed. Exceptional staff on reception.
Perfect location for conferences at Sydney convention Centre
Was unable to get dinner without booking ahead
30 April 2025
Very good
Location
29 April 2025
It was a great place to stay.
Great location, not too close but not far from everything.
No wi dow outside.
27 April 2025
We have a lovely and enjoyable time.
Spacious and comfortable. Great value , easy checking in and out . Staff were friendly and accommodating. Walking distance to Darling Harbour , Star and the Lyric Theatre.
26 April 2025
Convenience was the key, hotel ,harbour ,restaurant and theatre all in easy walking distance
It was convenient for entertainment and restaurants on Darling Harbour.
Our room had a view over local multi car park
21 April 2025
Great location and staff. Food downstairs was delicious.
Staff and location.
20 April 2025
An enjoyable stay
Check in and out was fast
Parking at $60 per day was too expensive. More a Wilson’s Parking issue then that of the hotel I suspect.The breakfast offering I chose did not come with any toast and the hot chocolate cup was smaller than expected
20 April 2025
Trendy hotel but hard to find
Great rooms and original, stylish hotel.
Super hard to find and not really convenient, luckily we had friends staying there that gave us directions, although we even got lost with those.
18 April 2025
It was lovely
Beautiful room and super comfortable
11 April 2025
Great stay near Darling Harbour
The room was comfortable and clean, good shower and overall cozy. The staff was very helpful and accommodating, granting me an early check-in after an extremely long flight and helping me with everything that was needed. The minibar in the room was complimentary, a nice touch.
Nothing really, I just missed a few of the fun little things they used to have, like a box of snacks in the room for you to take with you in the city, an umbrella and a bunch of small jokes hidden around the room.
11 April 2025
Really lovely staff
Lovely hotel. Great location. Staff were really friendly. There were two samsung air-conditioning units that were on and no remote to turn off.The one in the living area, i had to turn off with a clothes hanger by pressing the button. The one in the bedroom, it kept pushing out cold air and i couldn't turn it off. Also the phone in the room kept making noises and rang at 3am in the morning.
3 April 2025
Very good
Great Location excellent for both city, (tram near by) and Darling Harbour ( 5 minutes walk) 25 mins to Circular Quay by tram. Or 10 minute walk to the ferry next to the Maritime Museum at Darlng Harbour, Pyremont Bridge. All public transport is easy to use.
1 April 2025
Excellent location, cool decor, good facilities.
Small but well designed room. Desk area was good for work.
22 March 2025
Great location. Comfortable stay
Nice clean rooms in good location. Good boutique hotel.
Whole Bathroom gets wet with shower. Wet Towels were not replaced. Had to go down to get towels changed everyday.
20 March 2025
Loved our stay! Will definitely be back again.
The staff were incredibly friendly and exceptionally helpful. The establishment itself is absolutely gorgeous!
Our room was uncomfortably hot, but the staff quickly and efficiently resolved the issue for us. Their prompt assistance was greatly appreciated!
18 March 2025
Ideal location when we worked out how to get to the station. Other guests took 4 days to find it.
We had an alarm going off intermittently from the panel near the door the whole time we were there. Staff did say when it goes off ring them but by the time they would arrive it would have stopped.
More information on the location to Public Transport and facilities at the hotel. Maybe even recommendations of places close to the hotel for meals etc/
16 March 2025
Lovely check in staff nice restaurant would probably stay again
Location
Room small
16 March 2025
Fabulous
Excellent - very clean, comfortable bed & friendly helpful staff.
Nothing
15 March 2025
Good sleep
Lovely clean room with large comfortable bed. Very quiet and blackout blinds were effective. Had a very restful sleep.
Minibar lacking: consisted of one packet of chips, a tiny packet of Haribo, and minimal tea/coffee/soft drinks. Although free, I would have appreciated some further supplies even if I had to pay.
10 March 2025
It was most enjoyable,
I liked the help and responsivness of the staff to change our room on my request.
I didn't like the loft bedroom with bathroom down stairs
4 March 2025
Expensive stay. Clean. Tiny claustrophobic room.
Good location. Clean rooms. Great staff.
Expensive stay for an incredibly small room. Just enough room to walk around the bed. No couch. One chair.
24 February 2025
Very good
Great location. Quick walk to Darling Harbour.
Coffee was enjoyable. However, the serving size was very small. Breakfast pricing is a little pricey. A drop-off point at the front of the hotel would have been a plus as street parking was very limited.
23 February 2025
Pleasant
The room windows were looking inside the building, I couldn't open the curtains most of the time, the room felt dark and not very vosy because of that
22 February 2025
Great stylish boutique style hotel with a wonderful vibe and friendly staff
Great location, warm vibe and boutique ish. Rooms are comfy, clean and have everything you need.
18 February 2025
Quirky, characterful hotel with lots of personality
The character and charm of the hotel. Love the lift well sporting games
Service in Mr Percy was average
17 February 2025
Fabulous
Location. Clean and comfortable room. Beautiful restaurant attached
Our room had no external windows which was a little off-putting initially but made for a lovely dark room to sleep-in late which was an utter treat
13 February 2025
Excellent
Very difficult to catch staff's eyes at meal service. Just need a basic training in vigilance
10 February 2025
Pleasant
Good location and wonderful staff Large room
Unfortunately our AC didn’t work, We had no view from our window It was a little overpriced IMO
9 February 2025
Pleasant
The location and the excellent staff The interesting architecture. The very good breakfast
The aircon was not sufficiently powerful for the loft room
7 February 2025
The Woolstore was in a great location close to all the tourist areas. The staff were friendly and helpful and the rooms
The stylish decor and the friendly staff.
7 February 2025
Location was great, beds were comfy.
Staff were very friendly and helpful, room was well appointed although the bathroom lacked shelving to put toiletries etc.
Lack of shelving in the bathroom and we arrived back at the hotel at 10pm hoping to be able to have a drink and snack in the restaurant but it was closed (Friday night?!).
7 February 2025
Good for a few nights but small rooms
Good location
5 February 2025
Good
Loved the exposed historical wood built into the modern aesthetic. 24hr staff at front desk. Location was great. 10 minutes walk to shopping in the city. A few free items in the mini bar and toiletries packs.
The room had a musty smell. The shower was small. The bed was hard and there are no additional blankets in the room. Parking is an additional $60 per night.
5 February 2025
Hotel with great character, very comfortable and excellent staff.
Very good location, really good ambience and character plus very good breakfast
Bedroom was slightly small - could only get out of bed properly on one side.
3 February 2025
Nice place and wish I had more time to enjoy it
Restoration of old building to create interesting spaces. Staff very helpful when we had to cancel first night due to 24hr plane delay - too late to get money back but food and beverage voucher to value of cancelled room was offered Breakfasts excellent. Easy and quick journey to city centre by light rail (to Central Station, line L1) or bus (to Town Hall, route 389).
The light rail stop is not easy to find the first time.
3 February 2025
Very comfortable stay with clean room and delightful staff.
Quirky rooms in a heritage building with lovely exposed brick walls and timber beams.
Our room didn’t have an outside view, just had an internal view of the restaurant and foyer.
3 February 2025
Fabulous
Great location, friendly staff and quiet comfortable room.
No complaints
1 February 2025
Heritage building stay
Nice renovations. Great location, close to PT. Beautiful building.
Slightly too expensive for what you get.
1 February 2025
Fabulous
Really friendly and welcoming staff, the hotel building is absolutely beautiful with excellent details. The bed was very soft and comfortable, clean and great breakfast in the morning.
Some of the lighting was broken making the room dark
1 February 2025
Make sure u check the room size b4 booking
Location was exceptional
We booked a queen room. It was so small w no aircon. So disappointed. I did ask for a bigger room and was lucky enough to find one due to exceptional customer service by Cameron. He made our night as the first room was awful
30 January 2025
Enjoyable and would visit again. Functionality of the rooms is disappointing.
Reception staff excellent, housekeeping good and food all fine - generally friendly and professional. Location and transport links superb.
The breakfast menu has no meat options. The breakfast service is erratic as often only one chef in kitchen so long waits. Servers polite and doing their best but orders arrived not always as requested. No option for food or drinks for guests on a Monday which is poor given the stormy weather - had to walk in rain to local grocer. Room was disappointing (very cramped and no light) so upgraded to suite on arrival. The suite was large and comfortably furnished but NO drawers or chests for storage and limited hanging space - lesson in poor interior design as style over substance. The walls and beams are a fabulous canvas for a design but the potential has been missed - garish walls and mismatched art choices.
29 January 2025
Loved the Woolstore!
We loved everything about this hotel. Check in was easy, with warm, helpful staff. The styling was interesting and fun. Fabulous restaurant, with a helpful, knowledgeable barman. Great coffee, and easy access to light rail. Would give it 10 if it had parking on site, but across the road still convenient
Nothing!
Hotel facilities
Food & Drink
- - Restaurant
- - Bar
- - Snack bar
- - Wine/champagne (additional charge)
- - Coffee house on site
General
- - Room service
- - Non-smoking rooms
- - Lift
- - Safety deposit box
- - Heating
- - Non-smoking throughout
- - Air conditioning
- - Shared lounge/TV area
Business facilities
- - Meeting/banquet facilities (additional charge)
Reception services
- - 24-hour front desk
- - Luggage storage
- - Invoice provided
Cleaning services
- - Laundry
- - Dry cleaning (additional charge)
- - Ironing service (additional charge)
- - Daily housekeeping
Parking
- - Parking garage
Outdoors
- - Outdoor furniture
Miscellaneous
- - Security alarm
- - Smoke alarms
- - CCTV in common areas
- - CCTV outside property
- - Fire extinguishers
- - Face masks for guests available
5 June 2025
Great little hotel for a short stay, very close to everything