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Recommended Reviews - The Ultimo
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3 years ago
This hotel is a great value in a great location! It's in Chinatown, and is surrounded by restaurants, some of which are quite good. There's a Paddy's Markets location across the street, which sells souvenirs and knick knacks, fruits and vegetables, and has a food court. (Not open every day; check for days and times.) There's a 7-11 convenience store three doors down on the corner. All the staff I encountered were quite nice. About 1-1.5 blocks away, down Quay Street, is the Paddy's Markets light rail stop, on the L1 line. It takes you to Central Station, from which you can get to just about anywhere. That includes the airport, which is a short ride away. (You get a little workout when coming from the light rail station, as it's a gentle uphill. Not bad.) I expected a teeny tiny room, like the hallway masquerading as a hotel room at a place in Shanghai last year, but was pleasantly surprised at the spaciousness. More than enough room to move around easily. Some people live in smaller spaces than this. This one-person room had a separate little room with a single bed, nightstand, lamp, full-length mirror, and hangers and pegs. Thumbs-up on the bed. It was of a regular height, so I could easily get in and out. The mattress is medium-firm: Not hard-as-a-rock, not like a marshmallow. (I've experienced both and found them to be miserable.) It also seemed to be a new-ish mattress, not all worn out. This one was Goldilocks-just-right for me. I slept well. The main room had a round table, two chairs, a cubby over which the TV was mounted, and a dorm-sized fridge. No microwave, though, but staff were kind enough to nuke my yummy Thai leftovers from Do Dee Paidang two doors down. There is bottled water, but at $2.50 AUD each. (I drank tap water.) There's an iron, hair dryer, electric kettle, coffee- and tea-related necessities, and a rubbish bin. The area by the door has the ironing board and phone. I think this is wasted space. A small closet could go where the phone and table are, and the full-length mirror directly across, where you can really see yourself. The door is already set up to stop before hitting the wall, so the mirror would be safe. TV channels? Meh. Not a lot - strangely the same program is on multiple channels - but you can usually find something, even for kids. Several old or current American sitcoms pop up each day. The TV is wall-mounted but doesn't move, so unless you move the table and chairs, it's hard to watch TV and eat. TV's also in a separate room from the bed, so no watching bed in TV. But these are minor issues. The small bathroom has a nice walk-in shower, where hot water is plentiful and quick. I was glad I had my no-slip bath mat; like so many other hotel showers, the floor got slippery fast when wet. I wished for a bit more shelving. There was a tiny area around the sink and a little wall cube. There was plenty of room for one or two inexpensive shelves. Body wash, shampoo, and conditioner were provided. Oddly, however, no hand soap was included. I always travel with some because I have encountered a lack of hand soap and / or body wash before. There's a really small step up into the bathroom, and down into the bedroom. Just don't forget that when the lights are out. The only window is over the bed. I had to keep the shade drawn because otherwise people at the businesses across the alley could see directly into the room. Outlets: Several were available. However, in the bedroom, it was behind the nightstand, near the floor. I could not see it well enough to insert my adapter, so I gave up trying to charge my phone there overnight. I charged it under the TV and then put it on the nightstand because there is no clock in the room. Oh, if the outlet doesn't seem to work, flip the little switch if there's one above the outlet. Breakfast is available as an add-on; they'll even deliver it to your room. Newspapers and tourist info are located in the lobby. There's one elevator. I don't know about other floors, but on the first floor it said "snacks." I assume vending machines, but I didn't go down there. It also said "laundry," which surprised me, as it is not advertised. I would have liked to know that. InitiallyI accessed the wifi easily, but reconnecting after that was problematic. I kept getting a message that they wanted me to agree to share my info with other properties. I didn't want them to, so I bypassed this, but then the wifi service was bad. Some pages took forever to load. To be fair, I did not check on this with staff. And finally, the only real draw-back: The noise potential. The walls are fine, but noise comes through the doors and windows. People got in late and were talking loudly in the hallways. There was the garbage truck in the alley. During my stay, it did happen, but not every night. Earplugs would help a lot. read more
8 years ago
