Short review
Value for money: 2/5
Services: 4/5
Bedroom: 3.5/5
Sleep quality: 3/5
Bathroom: 3/5
Facilities and amenities: 3.5/5
Pros
- Very fast wi-fi
- Beautiful courtyard
Cons
- Poor quality of mattresses
- Low value for money
Long review
This boutique hotel is located within the vicinity of the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was opened in 1954 by Prince Philip and was originally used as an accommodation for the research students and professors of ANU.
I stayed 2 nights in this 3-star hotel due to some business in ANU. There is a car park conveniently located in front of the lobby area. It was free for guests to park here. Simply ask for a parking permit from a receptionist.
Going to the room from the lobby, I walked through a beautiful courtyard. There is a pond along one side of the courtyard where I saw some big koi fish and ducks.
I stayed in the standard twin room. The room itself is pretty spacious and everything is functional, but overall it looks dated. As stated on the reservation website, the room has Fred Ward furniture. I googled this name and discovered that Frederick Charles Cecil Ward (1900-1990), furniture and interior designer, was born on 26 July 1900. He was considered as a distinguished designer and national treasure in terms of contemporary design.
The room has a little balcony, where the air conditioning unit is also placed. The balcony overlooking the courtyard, so it should be quite pleasant seating down on the balcony while enjoying a cup of tea in the morning. It was 0 degree in the morning when I was there though, so no balcony time for me unfortunately.
The bathroom is standard. The toilet flush perhaps needed fixing since I had to hold the flush for it to do its job. Surprisingly, the bathroom floor was pleasantly warm even though the temperature outside was freezing.
The amenities provided in the room were tea and coffee-making facilities, a couple of biscuits, an iron, an ironing board, and flat screen TV. The Wi-Fi was extremely fast, which is understandable since it is part of ANU internet facilities. The air conditioning and general thermal insulation in the room are good since it maintained a comfortable temperature throughout despite the freezing condition outside.
The room was quiet even though it is located within the ANU. The mattress was of a poor quality though. It was way too soft and bouncy.
There are two restaurants in the hotel: Boffins, and Fellows Bar and Café. I didn’t try either though. The hotel is conveniently located within walking distance from many restaurants. I also saw a large bus station when I explored the area.
Functional is the best adjective to describe this hotel. At $180 per night (excluding breakfast), it didn’t offer much in terms of value for money. I would pay a bit more to stay in a nicer hotel.
