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Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort: Traveller Reviews

Cnr Ocean View Road & Schnapper Road | 189 Ocean View Road, Ettalong Beach, New South Wales 2257, Australia
Hotel amenities
Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort
2.5 of 5 stars 33 Reviews
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33 reviews from our community

    Trip type
Traveller rating
    1
    7
    7
    4
    14
Date Rating
sydney
1 review
1 helpful vote 1 helpful vote
“Pleasant surprise”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 24 January 2012
1
person found this review helpful

We booked a 2-bedroom apartment at Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort for the Xmas period virtually at the last minute at a cost of only $170 per night, with only a minimum 3 night stay. I was excited as I thought it was a massive bargain, given the location, the peak period and the late notice. Then I read the reviews here and became quite apprehensive.
But I needn’t have feared.
While more a motel than a resort, I liked how they attempted to adopt a Mediterranean feel, complete with tiny little courtyards with tables and chairs right outside the rooms, and the areas below where the restaurants are, being called piazzas.
EBTR is situated only a 5 minute walk to the beach, literally above a plethora of great restaurants. The place has no elevators (not that I could see anyway) but, given how massive and maze-like the layout is, you appreciate the multitude of stairs that appear here and there.
Our 2-bedroom apartment was situated at the furthest side from reception. We had arrived at 1.30pm but they were still in the process of cleaning up our rooms, only finishing at 3pm.
The rooms are basic and clean, with a small living room and dining area, with enough cutlery for 6 people. I liked how we had 2 balconies to ourselves as we had 2 entrances – one at the back and the other at the front. Because we were right at the end, in the corner, we didn’t encounter too much noise from the other hotel patrons. I was preparing myself for the noise of the markets being set up on Sunday morning, as many here have complained – as I’m a very light sleeper. But I woke up at 8.30am the next morning and was surprised to find that the stalls had already been set up. Again, maybe it was due to our location.
Check-in and check out were quick and painless, and Larry was efficient, albeit not overly friendly. My only slight gripe was that we were told that our rooms would be cleaned every 2nd day during our stay but come 2pm, they still hadn’t been cleaned. When I called up to ask, I was told the cleaners were really busy that day, which I was convinced was a lie as I saw the cleaners had finished up at 1pm. But after the call, the cleaners came in within 10 minutes.
Within the complex are about 15 restaurants, half of which were packed come 7pm. We tried the pizza place (the best restaurant there, in my opinion), the Spanish, Indian, and Walkabout Cafe. We were happy with the food at every single one of them. There is also a cinema complex, and a pool (although the spa wasn’t working).
Overall, I would recommend EBTR to anyone looking for a reasonably-priced, basic accommodation in a convenient location at Ettalong Beach.

  • Stayed December 2011, travelled with family
    • 5 of 5 stars Value
    • 5 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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Ask SydneyAimzster about Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
north essendon
Reviewer
3 reviews 3 reviews
Reviews in 3 cities Reviews in 3 cities
3 helpful votes 3 helpful votes
“We were happy with our stay”
4 of 5 stars Reviewed 19 January 2012
2
people found this review helpful

We were a little worried about our stay after we had read the reviews prior to us leaving for our stay on the 2nd January.

We really enjoyed our stay and found no problems at all with the service we received while there or the staff.

It was only 1 night which was fine, the kids were comfy in there bed and so were we, there were NO BED BUGS and the room was CLEAN!!

Only thing we didn't like was the fridge was off when we got in which made the milk smell in it, lucky we don't drink milk..

We were very happy with our night there and would possibly do it again!!

  • Stayed January 2012, travelled with family
    • 4 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 5 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 4 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Jenni19792009 about Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Ohio
Contributor
11 reviews 11 reviews
Reviews in 7 cities Reviews in 7 cities
9 helpful votes 9 helpful votes
“Interesting Place”
3 of 5 stars Reviewed 6 January 2012
3
people found this review helpful

We stayed from 28 December through 2 January. Our daughter booked a double room for us and didn't look at any reviews prior to our stay. We thought the hotel and room were quaint and interesting. Now, we ALWAYS look for bedbugs prior to going into a hotel bed and this bed was clean. The A/C worked great. We didn't even try the T.V. The room seemed clean and the bathroom seemed clean. We requested two extra pillows and received them right away. We saw a movie at the cinema, and we were quite impressed with those facilities.

On the negative side, we didn't get a great sense of security through our main entrance door after someone knocked on the door at 12pm thinking it was their room. The doors are thin and flimsy and could quite easily be broken into. I wouldn't want to stay here as a single woman. In the morning, you could hear the restaurant gearing up for the day and some patrons with children were quite loud as they ate their breakfast. We had two big peaves about our stay. There are signs all over stating that that the hotel is a smoke-free resort, but many people did not adhere. We saw people smoking, ashtrays around in public and the balcony areas, and we could smell smoke as it wafted under the door from the shared balcony. We stuffed the bedspread in front of this door to help alleviate this problem. The second issue was in the five nights we stayed there, our room was never cleaned. They had left a note saying they would clean the room every second day, but they never did. Therefore, the instant coffee wasn't replenished, but we didn't bother with asking them about it since the stock lastest almost to the last day of our stay.

Overall, the place was fine for us as an over-50 couple. We were gone from morning through evening, so we didn't have many problems. But considering the other reviews that we didn't read until our return home, we probably wouldn't stay here again.

BTW why does any hotel use double beds? Queen size ought to be the legal minimum!!

Room Tip: Don't get a double-bed if you want a decent night sleep!
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  • Stayed December 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 3 of 5 stars Value
    • 4 of 5 stars Location
    • 4 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 4 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 4 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 2 of 5 stars Service
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Ask FamilyFiveOhio about Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
Reviewer
3 reviews 3 reviews
Reviews in 2 cities Reviews in 2 cities
3 helpful votes 3 helpful votes
“I should have listened to the other rooms.”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 30 December 2011
1
person found this review helpful


We stayed here last month and only stayed here because the mantra was booked out. We were wery of the reviews when we booked but we had no other choice. The other reviews are a good indication of this dump. The owner is blatantly rude and arrogant. The resort made mistakes with our rooms and he seemed to blame it on us. He was not apologetic or sincere at all.
Dont stay here.

  • Stayed November 2011
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 2 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Jayhmez about Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort
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Travellers are raving about these Ettalong Beach hotels

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2 helpful votes 2 helpful votes
“Absolutely Terrible!”
1 of 5 stars Reviewed 26 December 2011
2
people found this review helpful

My boyfriend and I were so disappointed with this accomodation. The staff were extremely rude and unfriendly- when our key didn't work in our door, we were left waiting for over half an hour while they reluctantly found us another room. We had also booked a 'mystery room' valued at minimum $130 and they tried to put us in a room that was only worth $100, when we questioned this, they argued and said they didn't have any more expensive rooms available anyway, but after we protested they managed to magically find us one. The decor is dark and depressing, and they didn't even supply hand towels in the bathroom! The "roman baths" weren't even functioning and half of the walkways are blocked off by discarded tables and chairs. Even the staff in the overpriced restaurants are unfriendly. Overall, an absolutely terrible experience and we couldn't wait to get out of there.

Room Tip: Choose another hotel.
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  • Stayed December 2011, travelled as a couple
    • 1 of 5 stars Value
    • 3 of 5 stars Location
    • 1 of 5 stars Sleep Quality
    • 1 of 5 stars Rooms
    • 3 of 5 stars Cleanliness
    • 1 of 5 stars Service
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Ask Jill M about Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort
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Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort
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