Ben Chifley Motor Inn — Hotel in Bathurst

We chose to stay here to break up a trip (both ways) for a job interview in Dubbo when travelling from Sydney, we booked and stayed 2 nights. Despite a "no pay till you stay" claim via Wotif at least, i got a message the day before our booking to say my card has been declined - as i explained it would be because we hadn't stayed yet (see earlier comment about no pay till you stay), and i hadn't transferred money into that cards account yet - and wouldn't until the next day - day of booking - they said they would try again the day of the booking and were magically able to because i had followed the "no pay till you stay" process....

Pros:

When a 2 inch arc of electricity erupted from a powerpoint on our first night, as we plugged in the room heater because the air con for whatever reason was only outputting cold air (why it wasn't set to heat in winter, and checked, was anyones guess, we couldn't have been the first people there this winter...), and made me get instantly straight with Jesus (which was personally quite jarring because im an atheist) because i thought i was going to die, while we had no electricity for about 2 hours and went to bed in misery and freezing, at least a text at 10:30 at night DID get a reply and a fix hours later. Genuinely appreciated someone attending to the lack of electricity at midnight, especially as my partner had a job interview the next morning in Dubbo and needed to iron her dress to be ready to go at the crack of dawn the next morning.

Cant argue the room layout of the triple room, and the general presentation of the room for the price

Great shower water pressure and temperature

Cons:

Felt i was going to die from faulty powerpoint about 15 minutes after getting there, not a great start :)

Room not serviced properly: when we left the please tidy my room sign the next morning and headed for Dubbo. Beds were (re)made and towels changed, but the dishes we rinsed and left to obviously be changed were still there up;on our return at 8:15PM that night, after a long day, and just wanting to crash and have a relaxing night (this is why you book a motel/hotel). Bins also untouched.

TV where even changing volume was a task.......great big Samsung TV with a remote with so few buttons that it took us over half an hour to figure out the magical combination of buttons and places to put the onscreen pointer focus to change the volume. There should be a manual left with remote for situations like these...you should not have to go into the TV settings menu (when you find that) and drill down to find the TV model, and google for the manual on Samsungs site...again, people often arrive at a motel after a long drive and just want some comfort and to relax after said drive. Spending 40 minutes to figure out a TV should get you a discount...

Booked for 2 nights in January but had to cancel a day before due to me testing positive for Covid. I cancelled using the button for the purpose in the email sent to me and rang the motel to discuss my situation. The receptionist said she would tell the manager and he would get back to me however I didn't get a call back. When I saw that the full payment had been taken out of my bank account at 6am in the morning of the day we were supposed to arrive, I rang the motel and the rather uninterested receptionist said they had not received my cancellation notification so I forwarded the confirmation email to her and rang her again. She was hesitant at first but then said she had received my forwarded email and would tell the manager. 2 weeks later when I was feeling better and as I still hadn't heard from the motel I rang them and was greeted with an answering machine. I left a message asking to speak to the manager and to date, a week later, no one has contacted me either by email or phone. Every time I ring now I get the answering machine. On their website it says if you cancel within 72 hours of the booking they keep the first day's payment. At the very least they should refund me the 2nd day but they haven't had the common decency to even discuss it with me. Covid is an issue affecting all of us and we are all trying to get through it together but these people only care...

Management, it's odd to use that word when discussing these people, management have no interest... Management just feels so wrong, I mean I conjures up images of well management, you know people managing stuff like organising and being responsible and committed you know like a "manager". I didn't see a manager, management staff member or even an office staff member my whole stay. My stay was booked online billed online and when I arrived and checked out there was no one in the office. I required assistance and was forced to email. I called multiple times to get nothing or we'll sort it out. Yet to receive no response and the end. To then finally get a person who effectively said that would require me doing something so no. So faithful reader, if you've come this far, just avoid this place. Not because it's dirty or overpriced just because the people there really don't care at all and have no interest in you other than as a paycheck. I really mean it, they absolutely do not so don't be fooled. They're just lazy folk trying to make an easy buck. Give your money to someone who deserves it (or at least is prepared to...