Short review
Value for money: 3.5/5 – Reasonable
Services: 4.5/5 – Friendly staff, especially towards my daughter
Bedroom: 3/5 – Appeared dated and was not cleaned properly
Sleep quality: 4.5/5 – Quiet and comfortable bed
Bathroom: 3/5 – Claustrophobic
Facilities and amenities: 4/5 – Nice pool area
Pros
- Located near the city centre
- Friendly staff
- Plenty of parking
Cons
- Appeared dated
- Breakfast was mediocre
Long review
As reflected by its name, this 4-star hotel is located in Albury, New South Wales. Since it is located near the city centre, there are many restaurants and shops nearby. My first impression when we arrived in the hotel was that the building looks rather boxy, stunted, and unattractive. The concrete pavements surrounding the hotel do not improve its charm obviously. I must admit that it looks better at night due to the light decoration on its façade. Surrounded by concrete pavements also mean that it was easy to park my car, which was handy.
The lobby is small, but they did a good job in designing the interior of the space. Check-in was quick, although a check-in staff was trying to guess my name from the guest list, thinking that I am Chinese, which I think is not a good idea. Another staff was very friendly and offered a small plush toy for my 16-month old daughter. In the end of our stay, my daughter ended up with 3 toys actually.
On the way to the room, the lift felt dodgy since it made a jumpy movement every time it stopped.
Our room is a superior room with 1 queen size bed and 2 single beds. I thought it would be an advantage to have 3 beds in the room, but since the room is only about 26 sqm, it appeared rather cramped, especially when we opened our suitcases.
I felt that the room is rather dated or, at best, bland. The feeling was amplified in the bathroom where the shower is claustrophobic because it is surrounded by 3 solid walls.
The amenities in the room were standard as expected, including tea and coffee making facilities, ironing equipment and, surprisingly, a toaster. The bed and pillows were comfortable. Along with the quietness of the room, the atmosphere was great for sleeping.
The view from the room was pleasant enough because it was facing the pool. At night, the pool was nicely lit as well.
A rather disconcerting thing was that I found a pillow wedged under the bed and also a pill. Very dangerous when children were to inadvertently swallow it.
The breakfast room is reasonably big and brightly lit due to the windows along the wall. The breakfast itself was disappointing for its price. There were two options: continental or cooked as shown in the photo of the menu. Continental breakfast is essentially cereal and toast with fruit, yoghurt and drinks. The cooked breakfast included the continental buffet items and had 2 further options: English breakfast or buttermilk pancakes. The cooked breakfast was served as a dish, so it was inconvenient because I was not able to pick and choose what I liked. The English breakfast was fine, but the pancakes were below my expectation.
The best spot of the hotel is the swimming pool. It looks quite serene and relaxing. I noticed a duck resting around the pool every morning. My daughter was excited since ducks are her favourite animal.
All in all, it was just an ok experience. We won’t be that eager to come back if we happen to pass the area again and have other options to stay.
