Public ratings for The Darling and The Star Grand

What we can and cannot publish

This site does not copy loose star scores from search snippets, booking engines or old directory pages. A public rating is only useful here if the source is named, the score is clear, the review count is visible and the date is known. Those details are not available in the facts for either hotel on this page.

That means there is no numerical guest-rating table for The Darling or The Star Grand. It also means we do not average scores, convert awards into ratings or treat a hotel description as guest feedback. The official pages we could reach do not publish a verified room count for The Darling, and the broader property pages do not give a single confirmed room count for the whole site.

The Star Sydney's casino licence remains suspended (since 2022).

If you are choosing a room, the more reliable path is to look at the published categories, the facilities attached to each hotel and the way you plan to use the property. The full review sets out the two-hotel structure, the spa, the pool, dining, Darling Harbour and transport in one place.

The Darling: editor’s verdict without a score

The Darling is the quieter choice on paper, and the one most closely tied to a spa stay. Its published room categories are The Darling Rooms, Jewel Suites, Adored Suites, Stellar Suites and Penthouses. The Darling Spa is on Level 2, with treatment rooms, two couples suites, a steam room, a jacuzzi, a boutique gym and a relaxation/tea lounge as published. Spa hours vary between official pages, so check directly with the spa before you set your day around a treatment time.

The hotel page also publishes a 25m outdoor pool on Level 5, open 8am–8pm daily and heated to 26 degrees, plus The Darling Gym on Level 2 within the spa, open 24 hours daily, with under-16s not permitted. Check-in is 3:00pm and check-out is 11:00am, with express check-out available.

For a ratings-minded reader, the strongest published signals are not a score but the clarity of the room ladder and the presence of the spa in the same hotel. The available facts also show awards on the hotel’s own page: 2025 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Best of the Best and 2025 Metropolitan Deluxe Hotel of the Year from Accommodation Australia NSW. They are not guest-rating scores, so they should sit beside, not replace, your own room questions.

Choose The Darling if your stay is shaped around treatments, pool time, a softer arrival and a room category that feels distinct. Before you request, read the dedicated page on The Darling Spa and ask for the room type, bed setup and spa timing you actually need.

The Star Grand: editor’s verdict without a score

The Star Grand is the more direct hotel choice if you want to be close to the main dining, theatre and event side of the property. Its published categories are Superior King Room, Superior Twin Room, Premium Suite, Royal Suites, Star Suites and Penthouses. The official facts state “309 luxuriously appointed deluxe rooms, suites and penthouses” for The Star Grand; the page does not state an official star rating.

Check-in is 3:00pm and check-out is 11:00am, with express check-out available. The published facilities include a harbour-view pool heated to 26 degrees, with under-16s accompanied, and The Star Grand Gym and Pool open from 6am–9pm daily on Level 5.

Without a verified public rating, the editorial question becomes practical. Do you want a Superior King Room or Superior Twin Room for a shorter stay, or do you need a suite category for more space? Are you pairing the stay with dinner at Sokyo, BLACK Bar & Grill, Cucina Porto, Harvest Buffet, Rumble or one of the other published venues? Are you attending the Sydney Lyric, where the theatre sits within The Star precinct and overlooks Pyrmont Bay?

The Star Grand suits a stay that needs straightforward access to restaurants, bars, transport and a show night. If the room itself is the centre of the booking, compare categories on the rooms and suites page before you send a request.

How to read ratings before you request

Public ratings can be helpful when they are fresh and well sourced, but they are blunt tools for a two-hotel property. A single score rarely tells you whether the reviewer stayed at The Darling or The Star Grand, which room category they booked, whether their visit centred on the spa, a theatre night, dinner, work or a short stop in Pyrmont.

Read any external score with those limits in mind. Look for date, room type, reason for stay and whether the comment is about the hotel, a restaurant, parking, the casino floor or the wider precinct. Keep separate questions separate: a spa guest needs different answers from someone booking near the Sydney Lyric, and a twin-room request is not the same as a penthouse request.

For this guide, the cleaner verdict is this: The Darling is the better fit when your stay is shaped by spa time and the calmer hotel setting; The Star Grand is the better fit when you want the broader precinct close at hand. If transport is part of the decision, the L1 Dulwich Hill line stops at The Star and the F4 Pyrmont Bay service stops at Pyrmont Bay Wharf, a five-minute walk by the published theatre guidance; see getting there by light rail and ferry for the practical notes.