Fleet Lane

We stayed in a three-bedroom apartment in 2023 and hoped to book Fleet Lane Apartments again this year, but it was full on our dates. The rooms were neat and clean, and the kitchen and living room were spacious. It’s a convenient, quiet area, within walking distance of a bus stop, museum, gallery and supermarket. I’d recommend it for a large family holiday in South Bank. Just make sure to let the property know when you check in.

The location was handy, with public transport and plenty of places to eat close by. The apartment was spacious, and having two bathrooms, a full kitchen with lots of utensils, plus a washer and dryer was useful. But the cleanliness and comfort were poor enough that I wouldn’t stay again. The walls and doors were marked, there was dust on the fans and ceiling fixtures, and mould on the walls, ceiling and in the shower. Every shower brought a strong mouldy smell, possibly from the drain. I had to push the shower door inward to keep water from spreading across the bathroom floor. The carpets and tiles need a thorough clean, and the filter-clean light was on for both air conditioners. There’s no air conditioning in the second bedroom, so it got hot. The worn, dirty-looking blinds let in lots of morning light. Train and traffic noise right outside made sleeping harder. The lounge sofa and chair were stained and uncomfortable, the mattresses need replacing, and the pillows were shockingly bad. It was the worst sleep we had during four weeks of travel.

The only good thing was the view from the second room. The place felt worn out and barely cleaned, with scratches and stains on walls and furniture, hair on the pillows and under the covers, mouldy, rusty bathrooms, smelly drains, and a broken power socket. There’s air conditioning only in the main room, with fans in the bedrooms. The door locks were odd, and there had been multiple reports of break-ins. Staff were iffy, and they demanded a $200 deposit that wasn’t mentioned in the booking. The spa was broken and the old BBQ was rusty. Pictures online were wrong, and nothing seemed to work properly. We changed rooms because the beds in the first one, 501, were basically just springs. Then we found ants coming out of the drains in the second room. I saw about 100 climbing the walls when we got back, just before it was too late. Tiny ants were coming from the sink and who knows where else. Wish zero stars were an option. Don’t book here.

It’s in pretty average shape, more like a Temu version of a decent hotel. Only one lift was running, and some of the lift buttons were half detached. Reception said the spa had been closed for a long time. Showers sent water out of the bathroom and into the hallway. The room was noisy when traffic and trains went past, even with the windows shut. Parking was advertised as complimentary, but they tried to charge us for it at check-in.