My wife and I stayed here for one night during our honeymoon. I should stress that nothing was particularly undesirable about this hotel. However, given its reputation as the best hotel in Bondi, this says fairly little about the quality of Bondi hotels. For the cost of this hotel (considerable) it was, at best, adequate. To begin with, there are no porters to unload your luggage from your taxi when you arrive. This isn't a necessity, but I would expect it at a hotel of this cost. The same goes for the rooms. They are fairly large, with a small "living room" area, a minibar and a TV, and a small balcony. Our room was clean and in decent condition, but not particularly special. The bathroom was again clean, but the fixtures were fairly poor in quality compared to other comparable hotels we stayed at in Australia. We did not get to take advantage of the rooftop pool, which looked gorgeous. I was able to use the health club, which is a private health club to which hotel guests are allowed access. It was good-sized and had an indoor pool, though it was full of people doing water aerobics when I was there. Of the places we stayed in Australia, among which I believe this was the second most expensive, this was probably the least impressive. But, there is nothing so terrible about it either.

Due to some people reporting hotel bedrooms were tired we emailed the hotel direct and were told some rooms had been refurbished whilst others had not. We booked an Ocean Delux suite and were promised a refurbished room which was exactly what we got. The best views can been seen from bedrooms on the higher floors. The surfers go out just as it becomes dawn and provides great entertainment over morning coffee on the balcony. The hotel staff were extremely friendly and even rang me on my mobile to say our room was ready on the day of arrival so that we could go out for a walk.

I was a bit concerned with the Swiss Grand but it turned out to be a relatively positive surprise. The location is simply great, by the touristic Bondi Beach in Sydney. The rooms are very spacious, lovely bathrooms and beds, with a very nice living room. The room was a bit noisy from the outside, but clean and with all the required necessities. Staff was very friendly, although the checkout was pretty early (10.30) and hence there's a long checkout queue. Very nice pool upstairs with spa and view of the beach. Internet is available in the hotel but very pricey. Did not try the restaurant, but there are plenty of bars and restaurants nearby in any case (and a very nice cafe at the back, called Brave). Overall, a very positive experience at the Swiss Grand