Angus Villar was having champagne with his family on the 15th floor of the Address Downtown hotel when a huge fire broke out around 9.30pm, hours before the New Year's Eve fireworks display was held nearby.
He told Sky News that he was alerted to the fire by his father, who spotted flames on the balcony.
"We all thought it was a joke, but I went out on the balcony and saw that the room next door to us was completely on fire," he said.
"We got to the fire escape before the fire alarm had gone off at which point there were already people running into the corridors and panicking.
"It was basically absolute pandemonium."
He said he had to carry his mother, who uses a wheelchair, out of the building.
"I basically just strapped her to my back and took her down the stairs. It was the only way of getting her out of the building unfortunately," he said.
Mr Villar says despite hotel staff doing their best to direct residents and guests out of the building the situation was chaotic.
"It was slightly worrying that the alarm went off essentially when the building was properly on fire," he said.
"You'd expect people to let women and children go first, but it was pretty much people shoving each other down the stairs and climbing over each other.
"There were a lot of hotel staff directing people to various exits and stuff, but there was no clarity about what happened."
He said it was still unclear what had happened or when they can return to the hotel.
"Quite frankly we were in the hotel and we had no idea where to go and we have no idea what happened, so we're definitely still in a state of alarm," he said.
"I've pretty much left everything in the flat.
"I only took my valuables, i.e. my phone, my iPad and my mother."
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