Quest on Dixon Darling Harbour

I booked an apartment via Trip.com for one night from 9 to 10 Sept. My flight was from Brisbane, and I arrived at almost midnight. Expecting a place with a receptionist, but it was a locked apartment building with a PIN to enter. APX did not inform me about the PIN to enter the apt. My son and I were locked outside in the cold. Luckily, a tenant who was about to get her Uber delivery kindly opened the lobby door for us. As we entered the lobby, I found a telephone number to call for someone to give us the key to our booked apt. He came about 30 minutes later and charged me a security deposit of $200, while the room fee is about $140. He said that the deposit would be refunded within 4 to 5 days. Well, he lied. Coz it's been 6 days now, the security deposit still hasn't been refunded. I asked Trip.com about it and got an answer that the deposit will be refunded within 7 to 10 days. I have never experienced this before. I have booked so many hotel rooms and apartments without being held a security deposit for so long. I felt scammed by APX Darling Harbour.

Whilst the location is excellent, the room we had was a disappointment. Advertised as 4star, hardly a 3star. The tiles in the kitchen were filthy, as was the broken down sofa, which was also torn. Tracks for wardrobe doors were filthy. No luggage racks provided. The tabletop out on the patio was bent, and there were cigarette butts everywhere. Staff were not overly friendly.

This was genuinely the worst hotel I have ever stayed in. The room smelled terrible, like mould and poo. The bathroom had soap scum in the hand basin, mould and rust in the shower and there were several hairs on the floor in different colours. The light fixture in the living room had an enormous spider in it, there were dead flies in the corners of the room, and the bedside table was covered in an inch of dust. The tv remote didn’t work. If it wasn’t late and I didn’t have a migraine, (or if there was a reception after 8pm), then I would’ve asked to change rooms. The balcony had an ashtray even though my floor was non smoking. Really uncomfortable and unpleasant stay.