The Hallows Accommodation — Attraction in South Bathurst

Terrible Customer Service and Poor Communication. We booked through booking.com and they refused to help us with a cancellation issue which was an error on their end. Instead of helping to resolve the issue they ignored all our emails. Very disappointing.

Additional notes after management responded to this review

Hotel management are ignoring my emails but have decided to respond to my google review. So let me explain the full situation as their reply is incorrect and misleading.

Don’t stay here it’s not worth the bad customer service you will receive if any issues arise. Look at their other bad reviews and see how terrible they respond to guests who raise concerns.

If management don’t want me to write a bad review, then don’t ignore my attempts to resolve the issue. An apology or at the very least an explanation and a bit of understanding towards the situation would have gone a long way. You can’t treat paying customers with so little respect.

The full story

I made a booking via booking.com. My partner and I got COVID-19 so we had to cancel. We missed the free cancellation window by 1 day but we were able to put in a cancellation request form via booking.com to ask for a no fee cancellation. The hotel didn’t respond and days had passed so we rang them and they told us they would look at the messages on booking.com. We then heard back directly from the hotel with a ‘Cancellation Confirmation” email. So assumed everything was all good.

However we noticed a few days later that we had been charged the full cost of the room. When we contacted the hotel they told us that because we booked through booking.com that we would have to talk to them. We spoke to booking.com and they explained that the hotel never accepted the cancellation request via the app so their “Cancellation Confirmation” email wasn’t a proper cancellation. They would need written permission from the hotel to give us a refund. We have since tried contacting the hotel several times and they are ignoring our correspondence. Booking.com say they have also tried contacting the hotel and have not heard back and say there is nothing more they can do until the hotel responds. The hotel have refused to help resolve the issue or give any sort of explanation or apology. I feel mislead and that the hotel “cancelled” my booking without letting me know their intentions. They never explained they were going to cancel with the full fee, they completely ignored the original request to waive the fee and they never offered an alternative option. It’s evident the hotel don’t know how to use the booking.com app correctly or worse they just don’t care about...

The Hallows Accommodation has an interesting history. Feel free to find out for yourself with a Google search to see what has gone on here over the past 100+ years, some of the old news articles are very interesting. Accommodation is average. Our room had an updated bathroom and kitchenette. The shower is quite small. The building itself (both within the room and around the common areas) has quite a lot of cracks in the paintwork/walls and other areas. I put this down to the region having been in drought for so long which has dried out the ground and possibly caused the building to ever so slightly move which may have been the cause of the cracks seen throughout. It could also simply be due to the buildings age. Please note that this building has sensor lights inside the rooms. We were watching TV and the lights in the room would turn off and on without warning. There was no mention of sensor lights in the Accommodation information folder. Due to the building's age, you will find that there are lots of creaky floorboards and staircases. Most importantly, I would think, is the check-in process. There is NO face to face communication. It seems they prefer to do everything via text message (which was fine for me, but it would be nice to know this information beforehand). I was sent a code which was used to get a room key from a key safe next to the front door. Finding your room the first time can be a little tricky. The games room looks like it used to be an old classroom. There are enough different games and activities to keep almost everyone happy. There are some ramps around the building but I don't think I'd recommend it to those who use a wheelchair. The front driveway has a thick layer of gravel which could be difficult to get a wheelchair through. I did not see any lifts during my stay.

Overall, if you are after a comfy bed in "budget" priced accommodation within walking distance of Mount Panorama and only a few minutes drive out of Bathurst Town centre, I would...

I just needed a place to stay for one night near my workplace, and this accommodation was slightly more affordable than others in the area. It turned out to be a very comfortable stay, which was exactly what I was hoping for.

The self check-in process was smooth and convenient. I arrived close to 8pm, and all I had to do was enter a code into the dial-style security box outside to retrieve the key. It worked perfectly for my late arrival.

The room I was given was on the ground floor. At first, I was slightly concerned about security, but it was actually right in front of the car park. There was a door leading to the parking area, which could be opened once unlocked. Since I was staying alone, it made carrying in my luggage very easy, and in the end, I appreciated the convenience.

The room and the attached bathroom were both very clean. All the essential amenities were provided, including towels of course. The water pressure in the shower was excellent, and everything worked well, making for a very comfortable stay.

Since the Mount Panorama circuit is nearby, it might get noisy during certain times of the year. However, as it is located away from the busy town centre, it was very quiet at night, and I slept well.

In the morning, I discovered a shared kitchen space inside the building that I had not noticed the night before, as I had arrived in the dark. There was a kettle available there, which would have been useful to make tea, as the room itself did not have one.

Check-out was just as simple. I only had to drop the key into a box on the unattended counter. For someone like me who simply needed a clean and quiet place to sleep, this accommodation ticked...