Hotel Sophia

We booked six nights months ahead, but left after three because of the poor condition and service. At checkout, the person we believe was the owner didn’t apologize or offer compensation, just said, “we try our best.” We raised our concerns, but that was the response. Extremely disappointing, and I would not recommend it. The room was tiny and badly lit, including the bathroom. Several power points didn’t work and the crockery was dirty. We asked twice about changing rooms and were turned down both times. Our room often wasn’t serviced despite the “please make up room” sign. When it was, the bed wasn’t properly made, and although towels were replaced, there were no fresh toiletries or tea and coffee. The property needs serious maintenance: the bed was hard and lumpy, the toilet roll holder loose, the vanity board rotting, and the carpet stained. Staff showed very little hospitality. We arrived around 1am and check-in itself was okay, but the stay went downhill from there.

I stayed with my sons and we were more than happy. It’s very convenient for Southern Cross Station and the city, the staff are wonderful, and the beds are super comfortable.

We left and found another hotel as soon as we saw our room. We’d booked a room with a bathroom so we could get ready to go out, but got a tiny room with one small bed, no air-conditioning, and only a shared bathroom. Our keycard didn’t work for it, and it was a very hot night. Before that, we’d arrived at about 12:30pm to drop our bags after calling about early check-in or bag storage. The staff member on the phone was rude and said there was “absolutely no chance,” and that the room wouldn’t be ready before 2:30pm, though the website said check-in was at 2pm. Nobody was at reception when we arrived, and after ringing the bell for about 20 minutes, a staff member told us to leave our bags on the floor by the front desk. There were no tags or security arrangements, so we didn’t feel comfortable. When we returned to check in, another guest was arguing with reception about a constant beeping noise in his room, which staff wouldn’t investigate. We worried about getting a quiet night after our late plans. We waited about 40 minutes, then the receptionist photocopied both our IDs and wrote down our full credit card number and CVV. That felt unsafe. We were also asked for a $150 damage deposit that hadn’t been mentioned on the booking website. The lift had dirty laundry, rubbish and cleaning supplies in it. We asked to cancel and were refunded the deposit. Staff said the room charge would be refunded within a day or two, but it’s been a month and we still haven’t received it. We’ve called almost every day, and the calls are ignored or hung up on. This has been incredibly frustrating and very unprofessional. I’d strongly advise people to avoid booking here.

The CBD location is great, but it wasn’t worth the budget price for us. We left after the first day because of poor customer service and safety concerns. Rubbish, laundry and trolleys lined the elevator and halls during the day. Access also kept changing: some doors needed a card, while other times we had to wait for staff to let us in through another door. The shower and bath didn’t work properly. Breakfast was very basic, and at 10am the lights, TV and other appliances were switched off even while people were still finishing. Then the owner gave us dirty looks and asked if we’d be leaving soon. We said no, we had booked three days.