Central Motel Ipswich

It's right in the centre, so noise is to be expected. Bring earplugs. The rooms were spacious, clean, and comfortable, and communication with the caretaker was good. For an affordable price, it was a good enough experience for my five day stay.

We stayed for a few days in February 2026. The office said it was open from 9 am to 9 pm, but no one was there during our stay and the screen door was always locked. There was nothing in the room to wash dishes, wipe tables, or clean the floor. The shower taps needed new washers. Wastewater pipes leaked badly into the car park and had been patched with electrical tape, which looked like it had been there for years. It was obvious that maintenance hadn't been done in a long time. I'm never going back.

Management behaved disgustingly and very unprofessionally. They said they wouldn't charge us, then charged us the next day. The manager was verbally abusive, and the smoke alarms weren't compliant. I reported it to booking.com. The sheets and drawers weren't cleaned, and there were cracked windows and patched holes in the walls. I don't recommend staying here.

WiFi worked during the day, but once more people arrived it became so slow it was useless, so I switched to mobile data. There was a desk and chair, though I wouldn't want to sit there for long. I'm glad we brought an extension cable because there were no outlets beside the bed, just two sockets at the bench. We had to run a cable to a medical appliance by the bed, which felt dangerous, so we slept in separate beds to avoid anyone having to step over it in the dark on the way to the bathroom. The hotel is on a route ambulances use to get to the hospital, so it gets loud. We can sleep through that, but light sleepers should know. The rooms allow pets, but there was no sign or smell of an animal before us, and staff had cleaned well. There's an area outside for pets and smoking, and smoking isn't allowed in rooms. The stairs and ramp both give access, but I wouldn't call the ramp wheelchair friendly without help. Some wooden boards have gaps, and there's a step at the shower and door, so anyone needing access should talk to reservations. This is a budget hotel, and for the price we paid, the value was adequate. I chose room 7 over room 5 because it had a clean glass shower instead of a curtain. I didn't notice the tight space between the sink and shower entrance until later. I'm obese and nearly had to skip showering, though I managed; room 5 would've suited me better. The shower was hot with good pressure. The towels were fine, but the hand towel was frayed like a rag. We had a queen and a single bed. The single had springs that poked into you, while the queen wasn't plush but did the job. The basic fridge kept our food cold, and room 7 had a separate freezer. There were no shelves, so bring an esky if you're travelling with lots of food and drinks. The food prep setup was basic but enough for a night: one kind each of tea and coffee, limited cutlery, a small prep shelf, plates, cups, a microwave, and a table with two chairs. There were extra blankets in a cupboard, but I wouldn't have used them for warmth. That's personal preference. The room choices were hard to judge because the newest reviews were three years old, so I'm listing what might matter to others. We got what we paid for, with no complaints.