We stayed here for 6 nights during a month long honeymoon in Australia during January 2012, we were originally looking at Byron Bay, but 6 nights here was more than half the price of 5 nights in Byron Bay, we had a hire car so getting around wasn't a problem.

On the first night we stayed in a Spa Hotel Room which overlooked the river, within moments of arriving we were sat on the balcony watching a dolphin and a turtle, a lovely welcome. The Hotel room was spacious and the bathroom was lovely and big with a walk in shower and a jacuzzi bath. There was also a laundry room outside our apartment (shared with the neighbouring room) and this came in handy.

That evening we quickly realised that although beautiful, the town of Ballina was a little sleepy with not a massive variety of places to eat out, so we asked if we could upgrade to a 1 bedroom apartment, they allowed us to do this for something like an extra $20 per night. The apartment was AMAZING, we had a separate bedroom with a bathroom and small balcony and then had a large living area with full kitchen, dining table, sofa and large balcony overlooking the river - I would 100% recommend the apartments if you are staying more than a few nights and enjoy the flexibility of being able to cook your own meals, for us its a novelty as there are many wonderful fresh foods Australia has to offer than the UK doesn't.

The hotels bar service, food and drink was all very pleasant and each evening at sunset we would sit outside with a drink or a coffee, and also used this time to make use of the free bar wifi to keep in touch with family back home. Highly recommend their milkshakes :)

The immediate local area has a variety of small shops, take away food places and a few restaurants and bars, you can also walk to the big surf club where they serve meals as well. We had a car so we were able to explore some of the local areas, shopping centres, beaches and also took a day trip to Byron Bay.

As I have said, I did feel Ballina was a little bit 'sleepy' and the Ramada seems to be a diamond amongst the rough (for lack of a better phrase as Ballina is not 'rough), however we spent a month in Oz so for us it was nice to have a mix of atmospheres and surroundings and the natural beauty of the area more than compensates for the lack of things to do in immediate distance.

This hotel really is a hidden gem, we enjoyed relaxing by the pool, sitting by the river, enjoying the sunsets and then having a home-made dinner on our balcony, I miss this hotel a lot and would have no second thoughts about returning here again.

I had a wonderful 1 bedroom apartment on level 4 overlooking the river . Wonderful views very quiet and suite very well fitted out. Staff were all friendly and helpful . Will stay again.

Perfect for a no weekend getaway. Great location. Lovely well appointed, modern rooms. Great Views. Room ready for us even though we arrived an almost 2hrs early. Clean. Would recommend.

This was the 3rd of our hotels along our east coast road trip from Sydney to Cairns. We stayed here for one night but as with many of the other hotels en-route we could have stayed much longer. The staff were very friendly and efficient and the restaurant was excellent. The hotel is located right on the waters edge. We took the opportunity to look around the township whist there and this hotel was well situated. Would stay here again when we re-visit Aus. Would recommend to others. On-site parking which was included in the room rate so no rushing to move the car from parking zones in the morning. Excellent room with great views from the balcony.