On arrival the car park was so congested we couldn't get a park, the restaurant next door uses it as well. People put rubbish bins and chairs in parking spots to reserve them. On entering our room it was freezing (the windows were wide open), clearly bcoz when we closed them the smell of damp/mould was really bad. The towels were seriously in need of replacement. The bathroom so small the basin was in the bedroom. The shower fitting was rusty. The floors had not been vacuumed (and not just between guests). We found a piece off a knee brace or moon boot under the bed...........
We stayed 2 nights. Renovated rooms in old style hotel. Our room was very small, not much space around the bed. Bathroom was well renovated. Air-conditioner unit was very noisy & hindered our sleep. Rooms are upstairs with steep access stairs (carrying bags) & no lift. Roadside car parks didn’t look secure & had us worried but our car was untouched. Our evening meals were not enjoyable. No significant breakfast was available. Good location with walking distance to railway station and some local shops. Staff were friendly and the premises was clean & tidy.
Good: it is cheap, below the cost of usual Sydney accommodation; there is free on-site parking; it's a handy location, especially as there isn't much to choose from on the Sydney North Shore; It's close to public transport and shopping at Macquarie Centre; the location at Macquarie Uni is very nice - the outlook onto the lake and the landscaped gardens of the university are lovely; the staff are friendly. Handy to have an on-site gym if that's important to you. The bed was comfortable, all be it with a slightly sloping mattress, and it was relatively quiet although you can hear the M2 motorway traffic Bad: generally it is very run down - looks old and tired and in need of a good deep clean: the verandah tiles are stained with ancient water stains (see photo), there is concrete cancer; while the room itself was clean, and the sink and shower were clean, the bathroom floor had dead bugs and 'bits' on it (see photo) and the door had grubby fingerprints on it (see photo). The information in the folder in the room is out of date - the restaurant was NOT open for breakfast on Saturday and, while I didn't need dinner the night before, I think only the Indian take away was available. Maybe it only runs fully when there is a conference? The wifi dropped out twice during the evening; the television screen shows the Netflix and Disney and various logos but you can't get on to it. There is no USB charge points (see photo of work desk) - which surprised me as this is marketed as the Australian Graduate School of Management Hotel (!). The two worst things for me were: the security chain was broken (see photo) - not good for female travelling alone and the room opens to a public area with a sliding aluminium door; and the safe didn't work (see photo) -not good when travelling with a laptop and you want to go out. Even if the hotel is old, these two things are easy to fix. I didn't pass these things on to the 'management' because there was only a receptionist on duty and he wouldn't have been able to fix anything. Would I stay there again? it was cheap and convenient, so perhaps, in a room with a security chain, and now that I know what to expect. But for a hotel associated with a University Graduate School of Management I was surprised how bad it was.