Red Sands Accommodation Newman

The meals at the hotel next door were well below par. My Chicken Parma was rubbery and horrible, and I wouldn’t stay here again. The complex is close to the hotel and was extremely noisy on Saturday night. My wife had trouble sleeping, though I didn’t because of my deafness. The so called double room was tiny, really just a bed sitter with a shower and dunny. The double bed was pushed against a wall on one side, there was no toaster or microwave, and the tiny bar fridge had no ice maker. Two paper cups were listed as a room accessory. The only table was a narrow bench alongside the bed, with no chairs or even space for them. Travellers, beware of the flash advertising.

Luckily this was only an emergency one night stopover. I’d stayed here before for work in a basic but okay single room, but this one was very, very basic: one of three rooms in a portable caravan that moved whenever other tenants came or went. It was quoted as 15m2, but seemed much smaller, at most 3m x 3m, with no window or daylight. The shower and toilet were part of the room, with no separation. There was tea and coffee but no milk, no drinking water, and no way to fill the kettle. The basin only worked when the toilet was flushed. There was no hot water until I requested a gas bottle change. Housekeeping could check that while preparing the room instead of leaving it to the guest. The bin had been left outside, and I didn’t see it until daylight. Could it have been left in the room? I know it’s Newman and there’s the “mining” tax to pay, but $165 is taking the p.

It was quiet, and I look forward to coming back next month. My room was comfortable, with good shower pressure and plenty of hot water. The kettle, aircon, and TV all worked perfectly. There were no bins in the rooms, but there were lots outside, which was fine. The place is small and convenient for one person. Everything worked in my room, though my colleague’s room didn’t have a microwave. Mine was not clean, though: the sheets didn’t look clean and I think the bed hadn’t been changed. The shelves were very dusty, and there was dirt on the floor throughout the room, which hadn’t been vacuumed or swept.

There was no process for late arrivals. At 10pm, I had to send my worker around to other accommodation venues to try to find a room. They were still happy to take our money, but...