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The Four/Four-and-a-half (really?) Star Macquarie Manor Heritage Hotel, Hobart. (The Trip part 3)
In which I continue the tale of our Feb 2013 trip Over East. In the previous post we’d arrived in Hobart for a brief 2 night stay. In a rare moment of economy and risk I’d booked us into a cheap mystery hotel deal via Wotif.com, knowing only that it would be a four star hotel in the Hobart CBD, specifically handy to the MONA ferry departure point. This ended up being the Macquarie Manor Heritage Hotel. At time of booking I made a request for “minimal stairs to room” just in case the unknown hotel ended up being a heritage building with no lift, as per the last lovely but hazardous B&B we stayed in a few years ago. Turns out I was right, sort of.
This not-a-review is going to sound like a long list of complaints, but my main issue is the contrast between the advertised star rating and the actual product provided. On the Wotif site this hotel is identified as being four star. To my astonishment their own website claims four and a half stars! No effing way!
As we were due to check in at about 8:30 pm, our instructions were to collect our room key and instructions (to be immediately consumed?) from the night safe. I had this info by email, and as a followup call to my mobile the day before, which was fine. The manager was terribly friendly throughout.
We opened the safe without difficulty and found an envelope with our keys, and the directions “Downstairs”, quotes included. Not downstairs, but “Downstairs”. Looks like my request for minimal stairs was either ignored, or interpreted as “gravity-assisted stairs OK”. The hotel does have rooms at ground level.
We descended into the cellar via some fairly steep stairs and a couple of landings:
OK, no biggie, but when we got to our room I was dismayed to discover that the bathroom had no bath. I’d *really* been looking forward to a good long soak to recover from the first part of the trip, but I was to be denied. I don’t know how the star ratings work, but I assumed that four of them would give me a bath. What we got instead was a quite large wet room with rails and no internal steps or ledges. They’d given us the room with the wheelchair-friendly bathroom; the room itself was also pretty large and could probably have accommodated a wheelchair. Apart, of course, from the fact that no mirror was useable to a person at sitting height. In theory there was one in the bathroom behind the door, but no way to sit in front of it.
I assumed we’d been granted the accessible bathroom because of my request for minimal stairs. What a pity the accessible bathroom was attached to the inaccessible room. WTF? I never did get a chance to ask the manager if there was a lift to that level, but if he was expecting a guest who needed a lift it was never mentioned to me. There was a door marked Private which might have led to the luggage lift I heard mentioned, but I have my doubts.
Their website promised “grand, prestigiously appointed Suites and Rooms”, but as I explored the room it didn’t seem quite right. (Small print on the website warns “Descriptions and images of rooms are indicative only and can change without notice.”). I’ve just returned from a search of the site to see if any claims of accessibility are made (not that I can see), and was startled to find “Gay friendly” listed amongst the Amenities and Services. Again, WTF? Is that an amenity or a service?
Yes there were several pieces of quite nice furniture, including a lovely comfy couch, but all the details were off. The curtains featured swags and tails, but were of decidedly amateurish construction. The comforter was worn around the edges. The charming wooden desk had a badly broken drawer. The bed was missing a skirt, leaving the mattress base exposed:
I was responsible for the rumpling, but even so the bare mattress look was not attractive.
The mini-bar was micro, and the (admittedly free) packet of two plain dry biscuits was broken. Poor little sad biscuits :-( .There was no folder or guide to hotel services (but there was a note on the second bed advising of extra charges should we actually use the second bed). No notepaper or pen, which would actually have been handy.
Apart from the notable absence of a bath, the bathroom was not finished at all nicely:
The shower rail was rusty, the taps more than a bit wonky. The “decorative” tiles were the cheapest kind of transfer print, and the wallpaper strip was curling at the edges. Accessories were minimal, although the handmade soap was nice. The room was clean and mostly functional, but not nice. Apart from the soap. The soap was nice.
The impression I got from the room as a whole was rather like a stage set, or the result of a weekend’s work on a reality show featuring the unskilled, poorly funded, and rushed. Sure the promotional photo would look impressive, but nothing actually worked properly and much of the detail was ignored. It felt wrong.
One of the things I particularly enjoy about staying in nice heritage places are the ceilings. I spend a lot of time staring at ceilings, so it makes a difference to me. Cornices are nice too, and I appreciate a pretty light fitting. This is the view of the starkly undecorated top half of the room:
All a bit bare, yes? And check out that authentic Victorian lamp. Given the room’s location in the cellar the original ceiling would never have been decorated, so I suppose this is reasonably authentic, but not exactly what I expected.
On our second morning it was wet so we decided to have the hotel breakfast. Continental was only $10 per head, but I’d have preferred if the jam and condiment containers were not communal, and there was precious little choice of anything. I went with a couple of slices of tres ordinaire toast and jam at $5 a pop. There was a small stash of individual serves of jam and butter so I nabbed those. Four stars? Really?
None of this would kill me, and I make note of it only to point out the contrast between expectations and delivery. The weirdest part was the stairway to hell down which no wheelchair could ever pass. The front door was also several steps up from street level. It’s possible that there was a flatter entrance Out The Back Somewhere. One wonders if selected guests are expected to walk (or be pushed?) down those stairs but never walk back up… at least they would have a useable bathroom during their indeterminate stay. You can check in, but you can never leave the Macquarie Manor.
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I also seek hotel rooms with baths, and I always choose rooms if I can that mention specifically having a bath, or I call and ask. Star rating I have found does not a bath tub provide... (alas).
I've had some lovely experiences with Wotif finds etc, but disappointment is always possible and I'm sorry this happened to you.