3/25/2016

Sullivans Hotel (Perth WA)

Sullivans Hotel
166 Mounts Bay Road, Perth CBD, 6000 Perth, Australia 

+61 8 9321 8022
F: +61 8 9481 6762

The Sullivans seemed the perfect budget hotel in Perth, raving reviews and such a nice photos, medium range prices, and a rating of 8+. 

However, the Sullivans is an average overrated overpriced hotel, that will do if you are going to spend a night and need a clean, decent hotel in a quiet location, especially if you are visiting with your partner. If you are visiting alone, for business or just want to spend some days visiting Perth, personally, I would go elsewhere. This hotel is a rip-off for solo visitors because the hotel and the normal rooms aren't worth the money, and I think I would be willing to pay about 80 bucks for this room and hotel maximum if I were on my own. The pricing for couples is actually quite cheap as it would be about 60 bucks each, which is a price that reflects the sort of room you get. 

The reception  and the café-bar area is very pleasant overall, and the nicest area  in the hotel. It is quite small, but cosy and comfortable, very luminous with bunches of fresh flowers, nice classy furniture and lovely coloured glass feature panels. Herewith a wrap-up of the rest. 

GOOD
+ Some of the staff.

+ Mostly very clean common areas and rooms.
+ The hard bed and very soft linen. The way I like it.  I never take this for granted, so thank you.
+ The large flat TV with a selection of local and internationals channels.
+ Quiet surroundings. There is lots of traffic at rush hour, but nothing else will disturb you during the night as there are no bars or restaurants nearby. No ambulance sirens could be heard either. 
+ WI-FI worked  greatly in the room and cafeteria, not the fastest Internet but good enough to email, chat and send a bunch of photos to any cloud storage place comfortably and without disruptions.
+ Complimentary coffee/tea in the room with milk capsules and a kettle. I always love this sort of kit. 

+ Complimentary tap water bottle in the mini-fridge.
+ Air-con in the room. 
+ Wake up call service worked sharply.
+ Good if you are couple and are on a budget.

+ Good if you have a family member in the hospital and you don't live in Perth.  
+ You can book some tours from the desk.
Free bike loan on request.

OK
> Most of the staff.

> The styling of the rooms and corridors.
> The views from the room (facing a hospital ward, beds of the same visible.)
> Domestic-house sized pool, still nice.
> Complimentary mint chocolates, not to everybody's liking. I think normal chocolates would make most humans happy, mint you :P.
> Officially in the heart of the city, in reality is not in the heart of anything, it is very close to the CBD. About 12 minutes walking distance, and you get to the end of Barrack St and a few more minutes more to the city centre.
> The continental breakfast (18 bucks) consisted of fresh fruit, cereals, muesli and nuts. If this is what you have for breakfast it will do. It was certainly better than my cooked breakfast.
> Coffee is American style, which I like if it has some flavour in it, but it didn't. However, there is a good selection of teas, scones and  jams on offer that made up for it.
> Very basic minimal toiletries. Enough for a night and if you aren't fussy or bringing your own. 
> Plenty of 65+ age group



"NOT HAPPY JAN" 
  > The common area of the floor was a forked corridor with three different staircases without a sign on view about which direction the rooms are or where the stairs lead to. I consider that sort of think basic in any hotel with a forked corridor. The only sign on view was the emergency exit in one of them. 
> No inner lock in the room. The only security was an Australian knob-lock instead. I love those, but not in a hotel, please.

> No Safe Box in the room. 
> Not enough room in the wardrobe for a couple to put their stuff if they stay for a few days. I tend to fill one of those myself
> Bathroom backpacker style.
> The shower's tapware needs of replacement, as is dated and one of the taps seemed to be "retarded", and the shower and the toilet floors are at the same level so water might puddle the adjoining area
> Some patchy dirty spots in the room's power switches (see photo), which I don't expect to see in a decent hotel. Perhaps in a backpacker hotel.
> The air-con is really noisy and next door's could also also be heard.
> They charge you 2% for anything you pay with a card, PayWave included, and also another 2% if you booked with a Visa

> There are no cafés or restaurants in the immediate surroundings, the closest one is in the hospital building. You better go to the city centre if you have the time or a  car
> Mediocre rip off cooked breakfast for 23$. You can order the eggs your way, but the poached eggs on my plate were as hard as hard-boiled eggs! (see photo). The cook doesn't know how to cook, doesn't care, or might be busy with other things and didn't have the time to mind the food. Besides, I asked the waiter to remove the sausage from my breaky and replace it with a veggie of any sort, anything; the waiter repeated a-la-robot that the ingredients of the dish were those in the menu description, and that they would remove the sausage. I guess they added something, but unless it was one slice of bacon, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary in my plate, just the sausage out. Of course, they will charge you full price. At least in Maccas or Hungry Jacks you get what you pay for, you have to respect that
> The closest convenience store is also close to the hospital.  
> No taxi line nearby.  
> Very small parking area
> The attitude of the morning staff. The guy seemed nice and courteous. However, he bothered to ask every person checking before and after me if they had enjoyed their stay; that is certainly a way to let customers know that you don't like them for no reason. He was requested to call a cab to  go to a transport hub in the city; he did but just mention the suburb, not the transport hub, so it took the taxi 10+ minutes to come. If you know Perth, you are aware of how difficult can be to get a cab at rush hour, which matter if you have to catch a coach, train or plane. The taxi driver commented that he was surprised that Reception hadn't mentioned destination and that he hoped we would have time enough because there was already a jam in the area as it was rush hour. Really, how much does it cost to do things properly and treat all customers well? 
> Not good for solo visitors, as they will pay a lot of money for an average hotel.   

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