Hotel Hotel

Looked like a nice hotel, but ........ when we arrived, it was undergoing front foyer renovations. There was signage directing to a side entrance, which we went to to find out the doors were looked 3 minutes before our arrival. We attempted to call the number listed however call failed four times requiring us to find accomodation late at night on a long weekend. Hotel called first thing next morning and because they assumed we were a no show had rebooked the room, so no loss of money for them. Offered a tokenistic one night refund.

Very comfortable and large room. But the lack of care and attention to detail is blatant: missing or broken light fixtures, badly peeling pleather bedhead, mismatched crockery, badly scratched powerpoints, stain-darkened couch, terrible TV reception, leaky shower stall. And that was just in my room. Seems like this would have been a truly great hotel about 5 years ago.

This is a 1920s heritage listed three storey 85 room hotel, located in Acton, about a 10min walk to the civic precinct (shops/restaurants). It was originally built to accommodate VIP guests arriving to Canberra for the grand opening of the first Parliament house. Be aware it is currently going through renovations so to get to the reception you’ll need to use the side streets. Also the hotel restaurant is closed, so no meals or room service. As it is a low level historic hotel there are a number of wings with long corridors to navigate - layout can be a bit confusing to navigate. The hotel and the rooms are tired, worn and a bit shabby. The reception staff were helpful, accompanying back to my room when I kept on having problems with the room key not working. The carpets are stained and threadbare in places. I had a classic room with a queen bed, which actually was two singles jammed together (not the most comfortable sleeping arrangement). The bedhead was worn and flaking. The couch was past its use be date, with numerous stains. The LED television was hardly a smart tv - couldn’t even pick up most of the free to air stations, let alone cable or streaming services. At least the wifi worked, so I could watch Foxtel on my phone. The block out curtains worked a treat - couldn’t tell if it was day or night but they were really heavy, dusty and hard to open. Not a big fan of the patterned wall paper on the ceiling. The bathroom felt more modern than the bedroom and whilst I initially had problems with the shower head that did get someone into fix it relatively promptly. The towels were nice and fluffy and the room was serviced daily however they never replaced the used cups & cutlery in the room. I think that the whole hotel is in need of a major refurbishment not just the front reception. As an Accor member I was fairly disappointed with the standard & condition of the rooms - need to lift their game, big time. Would recommend staying at the nearby QT hotel.