Tropical Gate Motor Inn

The room had everything we needed for an overnight stop and was clean and comfortable. Staff were friendly, and check-in was quick and easy. Tropical Gateway Motor Inn is well located if you’re passing through, and I’d stay again.

We’ve stayed in some rough places, but this one tops the list. The room looked nothing like the photos, smelled damp, and didn’t have any toilet paper. We arrived late at night and couldn’t do anything about it. The spare bedding smelled as if it had been wet and left at the bottom of the cupboard. The walls are paper-thin, and we had to listen to people in the next room calling each other names until after midnight. Couldn’t pay me to stay here again.

The service was the only good part. Breakfast isn’t offered here anymore, so that should be removed from the listing. The rooms were fairly clean and the air con worked well, but the road noise from Gladstone Road, aka Bruce Hwy, was extremely loud. At night, a very sketchy guy wandered around the car park, staring and looking into a few cars. The shower pressure was excellent, though the bathroom needs renovation and redesign. The window stays open all the time, so the shower curtain kept blowing onto me, and there’s no sink in the kitchenette. The furniture needs updating too. It’s cheap for a reason and probably good value for the price, but if you have another $50 or so, go somewhere better. I can’t believe it’s rated 3.6 stars on Google.

**Edit: The property refunded the remaining nights.** I booked four nights through Agoda in a room with two Queen beds. Fortunately, I rang ahead and found out the motor inn had only prepared one queen bed. After a lot of arguing and being told they had nothing else, they eventually agreed to one queen and one double. We checked in after hours and found furry mould on the curtains and mould in several spots on the ceiling and in the shower. The PowerPoint's were faulty, the shower dripped, and the aircon was smelly and dirty. The fridge leaked, and its freezer compressor made a loud clock noise every 20 minutes. We kept having to wring out a towel in front of it so water wouldn’t spread everywhere. The door safety chain could be undone from outside. People played loud music and partied until 2:15am. Another guest finally told them to turn it down. Traffic noise was bad as well. In the morning, when I spoke to the manager, he only said I’d need to contact Agoda about a refund for the following two nights. I said there were three nights left, and he said cancellations required 24 hours’ notice. I told him I wanted a refund for all three nights given the circumstances. He said I’d have to take it up with Agoda. No apology or acknowledgement of the state of the room. I do not recommend this place.