Atrium Hotel Mandurah

The staff were lovely and the service was good, but the room itself made me want to leave. We booked a king and got two single beds pushed together. The room looked very worn, with no desk or cupboard, just a couch and small coffee table. The balcony was nice to have, though the furniture was plastic. The bedroom seemed reasonably clean, but there was a lot of mould in the bathroom. There was no fan or ventilation, so I wore sandals in the shower. The photos’ fisheye lens is doing a lot of work. The indoor pool sits at the centre of the hotel, which felt odd. Maybe the place could make the kitschy look work if it leaned into it, but to us it felt more like a setting for seedy hookups and affairs. Our room was near a very old, unstable elevator, and it was loud.

The location was fantastic for getting around, and the receptionist at check-in was lovely. The room, number 415, was a different story. We were there for only two nights, so we didn’t raise the issues, as they didn’t seem easy to fix quickly. There was mould in the shower and established cobwebs on the balcony and ceilings. The bathroom exhaust was clogged with dust and didn’t work. Panels on the air conditioner were damaged, and the phone line wiring was exposed where the faceplate was missing. The couch was torn underneath, hanging down and without padding. The single bed had no skirt, revealing a badly damaged base; its mattress had an obvious dip. It wasn’t appealing to look at, though luckily our toddler used it and wasn’t affected much by the mattress. At checkout, the receptionist didn’t ask about our stay and seemed uninterested. Disappointing. For such a good location, it felt more like a worn-out caravan park cabin than a hotel.

With its great location, the hotel stays busy, so there may not have been much pressure to renovate before. But now the state of it is beyond a joke. The beds are awful, and the carpet and beds are probably original from 1982. The pool’s position in the lobby needs to change too. The chlorine smell is so strong it makes you dizzy. There’s room for a new outdoor pool area, given all the derelict buildings and the potholed car park. The place is badly in need of refurbishment.

There were kids everywhere, so it’s definitely a family sort of hotel. The pool area was really nice, and the place was clean, though pretty old. Service was really good. Breakfast was okay, not the best, and they do have gluten-free bread.