Guesthouse 83

We were both happy to stay here again, even though it's only advertised as two star. My wife and I are kiwis, aged 68 and 70, and stayed five days. The room on the first floor was clean and comfortable, and there were three spacious shared bathrooms that were kept clean. It's a guesthouse with permanent and casual residents. We found the permanent residents easygoing, and had plenty of discussions and laughs with them. Breakfast included cereal, canned peaches, fruitloaf, and white and wheatmeal bread for toasting. On weekends there was hot bacon or sausages. We mostly ate dinner out, but the basic dinner included in the price had one choice each night and was filling. The location is great, just a five-minute walk from Cronulla town centre and the beach.

The food is great, and it's worth asking the friendly cook to save some for you. There's plenty made each day, and if you let her know by phone or in person, your meal, with dessert, will be waiting in a takeaway container in your room. You can heat it in the microwave or keep it in the mini-fridge. The rooms are all lock and key, with one key given to you on arrival. They each have a small TV and wardrobe, some of which lock. Some have smaller fridges, and not all have desks. Toilets and showers share the bathrooms, which have motion-activated lights and fans. There are three bathrooms upstairs and two downstairs. The upstairs ones look nicer, but the water pressure is lower, so I found them better for toilets and the downstairs ones better for showers. The bathrooms and showers were good. The toilets look like they've been renovated and are modern, and they're always cleaned, possibly twice a day. They don't clean individual rooms while you're out, which is good for privacy, but you'll need to empty your own bin. It was great value for money, and I absolutely recommend it if you need somewhere affordable in expensive Sydney/NSW. I found it much better than any motel. There were a lot of smokers, and the heat meant we had to keep the window open to let in cooler air. The fans varied by room, and some ran slower and didn't cool as well. Some men are comfortable walking around topless, which could put some people off. Everyone was friendly and kept to themselves, though it could feel intimidating at first when people looked at me in the hallway. It felt awkward or strange initially, but the best place to be is in your room.

The place is old, but it's always spotless. Ronny and his wife are amazing, and breakfast included fresh pancakes. The price was wow for a work stopover, especially with everything so close. 10/10, would recommend.

It was the dirtiest place I've stayed in Australia. There was a bad smell the whole time, and neither the sheets nor the rest of the place were clean. It was noisy all night because there doesn't seem to be any soundproofing. I don't recommend it!