Royal Exhibition Hotel

I've been here before without any issues, but management needs to sort out what happened in the kitchen today and do better. At Sunday lunch, we waited an hour and a half for a roast. A whole family and other customers asked for refunds and left. I stuck it out until the food finally arrived and was offered a Coke. The food was up to standard, but the wait was excessive, and I and others weren't happy. They really should have warned us when ordering that it would take so long. This isn't good enough.

By the time we found cockroaches in the shower, including small ones that suggested an infestation, this stay had already gone badly. We showed the staff photos and asked again to move rooms or get a refund. They seemed embarrassed but still refused to help. It was after 8pm on a Sunday in the Sydney Christmas holidays, with almost everywhere else booked, so we felt trapped. We barely slept and left before 8am. The next morning, though we'd been told the manager would be there at 7, the venue wasn't even open. I tried to speak to staff through the window and was told it “wasn’t her problem.” We arrived Sunday afternoon at the end of our Christmas holiday and found an old-fashioned, grimy English-style pub. There was no proper reception, just staff behind the bar. We hoped the rooms would match the nice photos. We got a door code and took the lift to our first-floor room, which was dark, dirty and run-down, nothing like the Booking.com pictures. It had a mouldy, dilapidated chair, a broken bedside table and a very high window looking onto a filthy, creepy attic space. The photos were completely misleading, clearly false advertising. I went down and asked to move to one of the rooms shown online. Staff said only the second floor had been renovated, if that was even true, and that they were fully booked. One person claimed it was the same room from another angle, which was insulting. I asked for a refund so we could leave, but they refused and told me to contact Booking.com. They said they'd try to reach the manager, who had already gone home. The Booking.com phone wait was over 30 minutes, and I couldn't get through. After a quick dinner out, we came back to find nothing had been done. We were told the manager wouldn't be available until 7am. We immediately checked into another hotel, thank you, Meriton Suites, then spent the whole day dealing with Booking.com customer service. I sent photos and was repeatedly told by Booking.com and the hotel manager that a full refund would be issued. The stay was on 28 December; it's now 30 January, and after hours on the phone with multiple agents, some of whom hung up on me, no refund has arrived. Gotta hit those KPIs, and clearly this case isn't getting solved easily because the hotel refuses to refund. I spoke to the hotel manager again. Everyone confirms we're owed a refund, but nothing has been issued. We stayed 1/2 nights. It was an enormous waste of time and energy, and a terrible end to a wonderful holiday. People are probably still staying there. Avoid at all costs. Disgusting.

A local pub near my work in Surry Hills. The lunch specials are $18, and the food is pretty good for the price. Bar staff are great. It can get busy on concert nights at one of the stadiums because it's close to central station. In my opinion, it's the best of the three pubs within 20 metres of each other.

We couldn't even get inside to see the rooms or reception, so I can't give a fair opinion of them. My husband and I booked for Friday, November 28th, and completed pre-check-in the day before, with our whole Friday morning already planned. When we arrived at the 'hotel,' there was no way in. No visible reception door, if one even exists. I had to knock repeatedly on a window before someone inside came to help. Then we were told to wait on the street with our luggage until 10 AM, the official opening time. We'd contacted the hotel beforehand to arrange an early bag drop, but they never said we'd be left outside for hours. With nowhere to wait, we contacted Booking.com straight away and had to find and pay for a second hotel. I was willing to pay a cancellation fee or similar, but asked for a refund for the unused booking. Booking.com didn't resolve it. We paid for another hotel, and no one took responsibility or offered any compensation for this completely unacceptable situation.