I recently had some work in Melbourne, and instead of commuting down each day, I decided to stay at a hotel close by.

Booking the room over the phone was a pleasant experience. I decided to splurge, and booked a spa suite, and the woman I had spoken to, had offered me a free upgrade to a deluxe room, which I had happily accepted.

On arrival, I went to reception, and had to wait several minutes to be served. I was then promptly informed I did not have a booking (even though I had a booking reference number) , the man then walked back to the bar.

He returned several minutes later, tried again to find my booking in the system, but could not. I was concerned as I had given my credit card over the phone to pay for the booking. He then took my credit card off me, and then again walked off for several minutes.

He came back eventually, told me I had no booking at that hotel, I must have booked into a different hotel, and would have to do a new booking for me. When I gave him my phone number, he then found my details in the system, and then assured me he would search for my other booking to cancel it.

The room was tiny, dark, smelled musty, and had water stains all over the carpet. The 2 towels provided were more like over sized hand towels, than bath towels. There was no electric blankets. The bed was so uneven, I had to put a pillow behind me to stop falling off.
The only saving grace was the spa.

The next day I received a phone call from the hotel. A polite lady had called to find out why I had not checked in as yet, and if my booking was still needed. I informed her I had checked in (gave her the room number I was staying in), and she was confused about why the staff member could not find my original booking, as it was there (and clearly not canceled as the man had promised me). She apologised several times, and assured me she would cancel the extra booking so there would be no additional charge to my credit card.

I work frequently in Melbourne now, and even though the location of this hotel is very handy to where I work, I will never be staying there again.