Shark Hotel

I first came here many moons ago when I was in my early 20s when there was a shark tank in the middle of the hotel. When I came back more than a decade later, it’d transformed to be a nice and open space with a great Thai restaurant located towards the back. We met up as a group and had a delicious Thai meal then played pool and had a dance on the dance floor. We didn’t head to the nightclub upstairs as the music wasn’t too bad in the main area. It was a fun night and drinks were reasonably priced as well. I wouldn’t come here all the time however once in a while it isn’t too bad!

Cheap drinks is the first thing that comes to mind. I can’t commend the atmosphere but if you’re keen for the liquor, it’s not a bad place to be. Plus there’s pool tables that provide more entertainment for groups. You must check out Holy Basil Thai restaurant at the back too!

Quite honestly, when one of my friends told me he’d be celebrating his birthday here, I had expected that we’d be drinking in the bar of a real hotel, rather than what Shark Hotel really is. Which is a dive. And not a charming one, either.
I’d like to thank my friend Liam for being the lovable ratchet that he is for inviting me to his birthday so I could experience grouchy bouncers with a case of little man syndrome.
Like I said, I hadn’t expected Shark Hotel to be a bar/​club/​billiards room/​sports bar/​restaurant, so I wasn’t prepared for the bouncers and to be carded as we showed up at their doors. Like any good tourist, my feet were in shambles after literally walking miles during the day. So I had made the trek to the dive in flip flop with my heels in tow with the intention to change as we arrived. Right as I showed up, one of the bouncers urged me to come towards him as if he had an important secret he needed to share. As I approached him, he reproached me about wearing flip flops, and how I needed to wear heels or I wouldn’t be allowed in. I’ve heard this before so this wasn’t such a big deal.
However, even after I slipped on my heels, he continued to berate me about how I needed to keep my heels on while I was inside, or he’d find me and kick me out. Yeah okayyy, because I’m the only girl ever who has tried to show up to this place in anything but 4 inch stilettos. There was also no cover, nor a line outside of this place.
The inside is dimly lit, and the interior is dingy. There are random chairs throughout with a mess of tables for sitting and watching sports. Why yes, there was sports playing on a screen while techno music blared and an elevated dance floor was only feet away. The dance floor looked like a drunken mess waiting to happen. I’m sure more drunk people have fallen off that thing than I could count on my fingers and toes. There was also a restaurant inside (closed since it was 11pm), along with a smattering of some pool tables. There was also a massive line queueing up to what looked like was another club upstairs. The floors were sticky. The kicker though, was seeing a handful of other people all wearing extremely casual clothing! Guys wearing t-​shirts and girls wearing ballerina flats and others wearing flat sandals, while the bouncer relentlessly gave me crap even though my heels were clearly visible in my hands. Talk about being on a power trip.
If it wasn’t for the birthday boy, I would have threw on my slippers and let the douchey bouncer make good on his threats and escort me outta there in style. There are tons of other places to check out in Sydney, don’t waste your time on this washed up case of mistaken identity.

The Shark Hotel is a little devoid of character but they do have cheap drinks and decent thai food. If you are in the neighborhood there are a lot more options to choose from.

Very cheap tap beers here ($ 3.50 at this time of writing) — particularly if you go any day during the week (besides Friday /​Saturday) where happy hour is anytime after 4pm!
The pool tables is also discounted ($ 1 per game!) from 5pm to midnight, but you’re going to be very patient to getting a table (or you can go there late in the night on a «school night»).
Although if you’re into dancing, Friday and Saturday nights are good for this (and there is no cover charge for the main dance floor too). Unfortunately no discount drinks on late Friday or all Saturday nights.

The Shark Hotel is a little bit mediocre.
They do have plenty of pool tables, which I love, because god, there is nothing that irritates me more than having to wait for some drunken idiots to free up a pool table.
They also have a lovely buffet (all you can eat) that is good value for money. There are DJ’s on occasionally, and there are a few big screens to watch sport on. And yes, it’s always sport.
Aside from which, the presentation and décor of the place is decidedly average. Go on in if you want a bite to eat and wish to watch a game or two of whatever godforsaken sport they’ve decided they’re going to watch that day, by all means, but this is not a place to go to if you’re looking for an eventful night.
On the up side, it’s always open until at least 4 in the morning, so… take from that what you will.