Novotel Wollongong Northbeach Review

We were tricked into thinking Windjammers was up and running. We prebooked 2 weeks in advance and they emailed us 4 times to confirm and thank us. Only to find on the evening, there was no Windjammers, no fine dining, no nothing. We were directed to the 4th floor to be notified that a pop up restaurant was there. Wasnt at all happy, as they never notified us at all about this. It was bistro meal menu, no atmosphere, no menu really, more like a bistro feel and menu. Not happy, as we were hoping for A la carte not RSL bistro style. We were celebrating our wedding anniversary. Very disappointed.

You provide beer in the minibar however there are no beer glasses. I personally don't enjoy drinking beer from a bottle.
There are no hooks within reach of the shower for the towel.
The evacuation notice on the back of the door has a green dot which indicates "you are here" there is no green dot on the map at our room.
Apart from the above, the room renovations and the hotel in general were excellent.
Staff were friendly and very helpful.

Mudcat Cafe. Best coffee in Wollongong and yummy treats. Never disappointed.

Very nice rooms, Keith's suite was a very welcome upgrade

Stay was good, hotel is a little outdated, however can see they are currently in renovation stages, would be interesting to revisit this review after the completion.

Very comfortable rooms, although sometimes noisy with people in foyers and outside exiting hotel especially around midnight.

Spacious rooms including the bathroom . The bed was a bit too soft for me but I understand it is difficult to satisfy every one's tastes. Nice breakfast buffet with a wide variety.

Room had a smell of damped carpets.Elvators took 10 years to come to the floor.Specfic staff members were quite rude.Car park was horrible.Overall dont waste your money on this.

We were staying because of a wedding and we really enjoyed the whole experience.

Novotel ticked all the boxes with great care, from the time we pulled up out front till we booked out, really wonderful experience. Easy parking to book-in, friendly staff at the desk, lovely clean, fresh well appointed room.
Our stay was a gift for our 60th Wedding anniversary, a bottle of wine and chocolate was on our desk, a lovely gift, really appreciated.

Nice place, but one of the two lifts was out of order, and there was a 15 minute wait to go up one floor.

Great hotel and the renovations have modernised it further. Best spot in Wollongong to stay

I booked this accommodation for my granddaughters wedding night and following night. The manager Carl (Karl) was wonderful helping out when I checked in for them. Kate made up the room for me with the rose petals etc that I had left. My granddaughter and her new husband thought the room looked very romantic as she had gone to a lot of trouble.

Fresh delicious seafood, with plenty of other choices. Desert was amazing and the service was faultless.

Recent update to rooms are nice with a new contemporary feel to the decor....pity the elevators were left feeling very old and tired!

The room was clean and comfortable, with great views of the ocean. From our balcony we were able to see many whales breaching as they traveled south. The staff were extremely courteous and polite. The buffet breakfast and dinner had a great variety of food, and beautiful ocean views. We will certainly return.

Great drinks and entertainment! The customer service was outstanding!

Was very good we got up graded to a very nice room and wasn't espectting it my wife and I loved it

Good service, beautiful location and nice morning buffet. Friendly staff as well.

Had a marvellous experience staying at Novotel Northbeach for my birthday. Even with covid restrictions everything was fabulous.
Roomservice meal, friendly staff
great ocean view, massive comfy bed. Fabulous breakfast with stunning vista.

Very clean room. Good size. Check in was fast with staff giving all required information. Excellent service.

Attended a business lunch. Staff were friendly & helpful, lunch was perfect.

Nice to have views of the beach. Surrounding restaurants good

We had the best room
Great location

Convenience location to the beach. However the onsite outdoor poor is a bit small. At night we could hear music/noice from the bar downstairs from Level 8.

Novatel carport is a great place for burnouts. thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Novatel. friendly staff, good food and minimal complaints regarding my burnouts in the car park.

We had our work conference here, stunning views, great service, constantly good food.

Lovely hotel friendly staff good food and a great beach over the road.

Flash joint at a good price very roomy with large balcony

room was modern and clean
breakfast and lunch were both better than average
the bed was very comfortable

Best hotel in Wollongong with great views and friendly staff.

Pepe's is a great nightclyb, friendly staff and great music.

Room was nice, I asked at reception on our way out for a walk if they could arrange for a bucket of ice so I could put the champagne I bought with me, we were gone for about 1 1/2 hrs & upon our return they was no ice bucket, I couldn't reach reception to ask for a bucket of ice (since we were celebrating our 25th Wedding anniversary), the information booklet said to call reception, our phone had a button that said reception, but when I got back down stairs the receptionist said I needed to press the 9 button, this information would have been nice upon check in. They called house keeping & one was sent up then within 15min.

Stayed overnight at Novotel Wollongong in Aug 2017. Locating perfect opposite the beach. Spacious room, lobby and dinning. Well priced and friendly helpful staff.

The staff at the morning buffet were extremely helpful. I am allergic to bananas and when I asked if they have date loaf the waitress on duty when into the kitchen to find out and came back with two pieces.
This shows the generosity of the hotel and the staff. I was then able to share the date loaf with my sister.

The room was stunning with a beautiful ocean view. I loved my stay especially waking up with the view of the ocean.

Plz be careful they write sea view so don t think that u gonna open ur window and u see a beautiful view haha it s just a side view

Nice and friendly staff, great views and nice room.

Really nice place to relax and enjoy the live music with friends

Nice. Clean but i guess they cant control the weather

Reception service was good. Meeting was distracted by speaker system wrongly played music from another gathering

We were invited to be a guest in Peppes in one of the lovely cabanas with a wonderful view of the ocean can't get any better than that..

Nice hotel, big spaces to sit in and socialise with live music playing. The seafood buffet was good. Breakfast buffet was exactly what you would normally expect. They made good cocktails. The carpark entrance was a shambles but they had alot of people working very hard trying to clear the congestion as soon as they could.

Beautiful hotel in a lovely location right on the beach in the Gong.

Awesome view and Cockatoo were friendly came up on balcony had a great stay here

Could not fault the service. Greeted at check-in with a welcome smile and smooth transition to our room.
We had lunch on Friday - a la carte - thought the menu too limited. The presentation of the menu sub-standard. Printed paper on a clip board. Very easy to make it better.
The room 917 was first class. Very spacious and excellent bathroom.
Had room service on Friday night. Green leaf salad ordinary, otherwise very good.
Breakfast was adequate. Plenty of options.
Lobby bar well set out. Very comfortable space.
Check out itself was handled well considering a computer payment issue that was rectified very professionally later that day.

The room we were allocated was absolutely stunning, the staff were fantastic and breakfast was beautiful - love the complimentary coffee! We stayed the night of 30/06 - great way to end the financial year!!

Comfortable room, but I expected better ocean view from the room. Thd bed was located somehow that we couldn't see the ocean directlly from bed. Generally everything was good , very good amenities. The only disaster was the lifts, I think they are some kind oc hazards. Especially lift from car park. Also always was some dishes on the corridor, looks liks it took long time to collect thee room service dishes by staffs.

Calm comfortable and excellent service
After a long day it is nice to be treated as though you are the only guest

Amazing. From the moment I picked up the phone to book until the moment we checked out it was another realm of customer service for us. My wife is about to give birth to our second child so this was our last chance at a get away and I felt that this was one of those 'good luck' stories where everything was just right!
I found a deal on Travel Zoo and I attempted to call late on the final day of the offer where a customer service operator took my call and promised to call back when the booking team was back in though I didn't get the call. Now I didn't expect much customer service as this was a good deal and generally a discount somehow translates into less concern for the purchaser.
On the second attempt I spoke to Patricia who took my phone call who not only made me feel like I was like any other customer, but went above and beyond to give us a beautiful room, with portacot and an amazing view. Patricia was an angel in disguise and set the bar high for the rest of the team there. Thankfully they did well. I caught up with friends in the bar on Friday night and the staff there were so courteous and friendly even at 1am while they were packing up.
The restaurant staff were a great team and worked alongside each other quite well, but more than that they were so willing to make our buffet breakfasts amazing. There was always a way to address our needs and if I could mention every person by name over the course of our stay, I would take up a lot of room. Sienna and Thomas stood out to us.
The kids room was an immense relief for us and was great that our 18 month old could run around in a contained, safe environment. If this could be maintained a little better to have a couple more toys and old, broken toys/crayons/pens removed, this would be perfect.
I know it was a busy Sunday when we were leaving. The customer service desk extended check-out by 15 minutes but with a pregnant wife and over-active child it would have helped to have a little more time to round things up, but no big deal... just a point to note.
Last thing that would have helped is the noise from the Saturday night hooligans coming up from street-level, but obviously this has little to do with the hotel facilities and more to do with the local area.
You should be proud of what you are all doing there, and this stay ranks higher than every other trip we have had including numerous trips to Gold Coast, Europe and the USA. The best part is that it was only 1 hour from our house and was amazing value. Thank you for not cheapening the experience along with the price. Keep it up
Stayed 2 nights on a weekend.
EDIT: It seems that the hotel is slowly being refreshed and updated. We had stayed there once before in an older room which was still good, but level 8 was brand-new and you could still smell the new carpet. You should prob check what type of room you're getting if you plan on staying here any time soon.
P.S. Cleaning staff were so friendly and positive. Unlike other countries and places we have been.

We enjoyed our experience this last weekend. We liked our room; very comfortable and nice view. We enjoy the rooms at Novotel Wollongong because they're set out very well for a husband and wife, with plenty of mirrors, for putting on makeup etc. Our meal at Windjammers was excellent! Such a tonic for us our stay this weekend, after having been very sick in the month before. The massage at Akorah Day spa was well worth the money! All-in-all, a great few days.

Very satisfying experience, staff were very friendly, room was very clean and tidy.
Would have appreciated being advised about wedding reception.

Great overall experience

Had a buffet lunch. The staff were extremely polite and friendly. Our waitress was amazing. The Panna Cotta was unbelievable. I would go back purely to taste this again.
My only complaint was there wasn't much choice for hot food. The options available were pretty disappointing.

The room was nice, though a room is a room. The breakfast was nice as well. Compliments to the chef. The staff were lovely. My only real gripe was the Carpark, $15 for the night and it's like the place was made as an afterthought, having to navigate around poles that were literally in the middle of the road, reverse around them to get to carparks, and do 3 point turns to get around corners. Essentially it's a converted basement more than a carpark.

The staff at the novotel Wollongong were amazing. The reception staff were lovely and the in room dining team were amazing. The gentleman that took the phone call was friendly, the food was amazing (steak and lamb rump). Definitely the best in room dining I've had. It was also my birthday and they sent up a complimentary dessert platter which was a wonderful surprise. The gentleman who delivered the food was very lovely also. Definitely recommended and will definitely be back. 03/09/18

Amazing views. The staff were friendly. The food was great too.

Great rooms with all facilities and staff polite and helpful enjoyed our stay

ok but not great! beds we're too soft and you'd almost sink you the ground when sitting on the side of the bed...

Absolutely wonderful!! Brittany checked us in and gave us a complimentary upgrade to a Panoramic Suite which was unbelievable!! Both Brittany and Kate at reception were friendly, efficient and couldn't do enough to help.
Great hotel and great experience. We will definitely be coming back.

The best spot if you are planning on a get away to Wollongong. Central to many great tourist spots and over the road from a beach you won't want to leave.

Our favourite hotel in the Accor chain in the world. We have stayed in numerous Sofitels and Novotels and the location, service and quality of rooms at Northbeach is by far the best

Good location. Spacious room. Hotel exterior and facilities like lifts are old and need some renovations. Room interior is quite modern except the air con that is still from the 80s. The basement car park is quite cramped but SUVs will fit OK just need to be careful.

We bought a Hotel Gift as a last minute birthday gift which was a big mistake- better to go directly to hotel. The room offered at first by Novotel was very bad- despite it being a lot paid to hotel gift, the same amount direct to novotel would have been a ocean view and brekkie. Novotel kindly upgraded us from our sad room. REception staff were also very nice

Clean, working spa, gym and pool. Nice staff, close to beach, good for families with kids, live music on weekends, nice and functional lobby. One of the best hotels in the area.

Nice place to have breakfast or dinner with view.
The service is great!

Excellent location, service and food. The amenities are classic accor

Friends laughed when we said we were honeymooning in Wollongong, but after staying at the Novotel on Northbeach we would not have had it any other way! Northbeach is the most beautiful relaxed beach in Wollongong. We spent 7 days at the well located Novotel Northbeach and every day was spent relaxing on the beach and eating at the 3 cafes and restaurants that line the foreshore. The Novotel staff were extremely friendly and went out of their way to help in every way they could. Our room was very comfortable with a view that overlooked the beach and the lighthouse. The free bus into town picks you up from the front of the hotel every 10 minutes. It takes 5 minutes to be in the center of Wollongong city.

Beautiful room overlooking North Beach. 2 Queen beds and enough space to hold a dance along with complimentary drinks. Parking undercover the hotel and easy going room service. WiFi works well. Love it

I stayed here last Saturday and Sunday. Pleasant stay. Paid extra for ocean views but should not have bothered as windows were absolutely filthy. Organised for late checkout at 12. Front desk were aware but obviously not cleaning staff who entered at 11am without warning. Manager Rebecca called our room soon after we turned the cleaning staff away asking when we were checking out. Had Rebecca done her job and asked the front desk she would not have interrupted us. The front desk were aware of our late checkout yet manager Rebecca was not. Fortunately we were not in a compromising state of undress when staff entered. I do not blame cleaners. Rebecca obviously had not informed them

Great time. Staff friendly and helpful. Wedding organiser could do with some education in customer communication eg quite rude and abrupt when guests went into reception area prior to time. Also response to comment about lack of chairs for the ceremony was 'we only put that amount of chairs out for a short event'

Great customer service I received today. Will definitely come back.

Our stay was pleasant and the staff were friendly and helpful. The buffet on Saturday night was delicious and breakfast great.

Nice enough hotel, the pool could be better. The location right on the beach compensates for any bad points. Close to a lot of shops & places to dine out.

Amazing setting for our event, overlooking north beach wollongong. Exceptional service

Room was beautiful and had a lovely view but what really impressed me were the staff on the front desk. I arrived for a wedding and needed to get changed so they rushed my room and were so lovely checking out the next day. It makes a real difference to be treated so nicely and hope the feedback can be passed on.

Have only just booked in a few hours ago. The reception staff have been ultra friendly and efficient.
We arrived late so our view is a nightime one and it looks pretty schmick.
The rating is heavily influenced by its proximity to the ocean. The hotel itself is no spring chicken and I am sure it would be on the "must update list" for the Accor Group.
The very popular free bus route has stops in both directions outside the hotel and that makes access to the CBD, trains and restaurants an absolute doddle.
It's almost 10 at night and I am on the balcony in the shorts. Celsius to spare.

Excellent experience - lovely staff and great views. Only problem was the noise from the adjoining room. Some sound proofing seals would be an easy fix.

Great room, Excellent facility and friendly accomodating staff.
Why would you stay anywhere else?

I attended a wedding located on The deck of the Novotel hotel. What an amazing venue for a wedding. The venue its self was stunning, the view from the balcony was just amazing. The staff were very attentive. The food was second to none. I also stayed 2 nights at the hotel itself. The room was alright. Had all the usual amenities. Wish the curtains would close properly (electric curtains) as I like to sleep in a dark room. Bed was super soft and the sheets were delightful on the skin.

Excellent stay - 4 days and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

Nice beds, great bathroom and shower, TV and other amenities up to standard, quiet room.

Only faults were that I'd have liked a bit more lighting in the room, as I was on a business trip ans the lights were a bit weak after dark for easy reading of documents, and some decaff coffee sachets would have been good.....

Staff were extremely friendly and helpful. We had a fantastic view from our room of the ocean.

I was upgraded to a beach front room which was a pleasant surprise. Awesome room. Nice waking up to the sound of the ocean. It is the second time I have stayed at the hotel in a few weeks. My only disappointment is the restaurant. On my previous trip I had dinner at the buffet. The temperature in the room was freezing and the food options and quality was pretty ordinary given the price. Breakfast is also just ok. With my Accor Advantage discount it is acceptable however would not pay full price.

Beautiful clean room and great shower. Stubbed my toe stepping into the bathroom because of the tile lip, but not a big deal.

Staff and and services was great. However The beds were appauling. Very uncomfortable and have zero sleep all night. Not how I want to remember a hotel. Your television system is rediculously difficult to operate. Finally your car park, OMG. Let's just say if there was a next time I'd park on the road. To crowded and just plain old dangerous. You have some very good service orientated people which gets a old old a tied hotel over the line, just!

Very spacious rooms with nice views of the beach. Literally a stone's throw away from the beach and a reasonable walk away from the CBD. There's a pool and spa available, in addition to a gym. Rates are reasonable as well.

Windjammers restaurant closed for renovations but Ali's kitchen open with limited menu. Food and service were great and value.