Code Apartments

We arrived at 10pm, within the stated 2pm-11pm check-in window, but the building was locked and nobody was there. There was only a loose sheet of paper with a phone number, with no proper signs or secure reception. On the phone, staff asked us to send a passport or driving licence, plus photos of both sides of a credit card, through a texted link. We’d already paid in full through Booking.com, which warns against sending sensitive financial details through external links, so this felt unsafe and unprofessional. There had been no advance notice on Booking.com that arrivals after 7pm required those images or any proper explanation of the process. The call took nearly an hour. The staff member was rude, put us on hold without warning and wouldn’t let us speak to a manager. When we said we weren’t comfortable sharing full card details and asked what to do, they said we couldn’t enter without passport and card photos. Asked if that meant sleeping outside, we were effectively told there was no other solution. Guests shouldn’t be pressured late at night to hand over very sensitive information just to access accommodation they’ve paid for. I wouldn’t stay again and would urge evening arrivals to be cautious.

The bed was comfortable, and the room was clean and generously sized, with a small balcony looking across Bowen hills, herston and fortitude valley. Reception staff were exceptionally kind and friendly. Code apartments is conveniently close to the hospital, and I’d recommend it to anyone staying nearby.

The room smelled awful, like a sewer, and what I found in it was disgusting: a comdom wrapper under the bed, a knife under the mattress with chip packs and a light, loob and condoms in the bedside drawers, and injection needles in the freezer. I asked reception to clean the room and they apologized and said they would. They didn’t. After I went back to reception, someone eventually came and changed the sheets, which clearly hadn’t been clean before, but left the visible knife and wrapper behind. Horrible experience, never again.

The overnight noise made it very hard to sleep. Several groups partied, with people running along the halls and shouting. Later, people in the foyer seemed heavily under the influence of drugs, and the atmosphere felt uncomfortable and unsafe. The room was dirty and needed a proper deep clean: stained, spilled-on carpets, filthy walls and a strange smell. It was also very minimal. The photos made the hotel look perfectly fine, and staff greeted us pleasantly when we arrived, but the stay was awful and I wouldn’t recommend it.