Hotel rooms for Sydney booked

Tonight we booked our hotel room when we arrive in Sydney, Australia next month.  We first arrive in Sydney on Friday, November 20th and spend a quick two nights at the Marriott-Sydney before we dash off to the Great Barrier Reef (Cairns) on Sunday, November 22nd.  After nearly a week and a half of travelling through eastern Australia, we return to Sydney for our last 7 days. After reviewing what my Amex Rewards points could get us, we decided to book a room at the Swissotel-Sydney.

This large hotel in the center of town provides us with a central location and appears (in pictures anyway) to be very comfortable.  Travelling some place you've never been before can be quite a gamble and for that reason I did not want to book a boutique hotel or stand alone property that we have no way to judge until we arrive. 

Fortunately, TripAdvisor rates both hotels quite favorably so we are keeping our fingers crossed and finally starting to get excited about heading to Australia as the trip becomes more of a reality....next step is booking our hotels for the Great Barrier Reef and Melbourne.