Sofitel Brisbane Central — Hotel in Brisbane City

This was the most disappointing and underwhelming '5-star' hotel we've ever stayed at. We are genuinely confused by the good reviews - perhaps there is selective treatment? We so wanted to love it after having had an amazing stay recently at Sofitel Sydney, but unfortunately we will never be returning here, as it simply is not worth the money. We booked 6 nights here for a very important work/business trip, and unfortunately did not get the rest and service we hoped a Sofitel hotel would provide.

Although this is a older hotel and certainly things cannot be easily changed, they certainly have not tried to improve things that can be changed. If you are after a 'luxury' stay, this is definitely not the place for it.

Pros: lovely and friendly concierge, grand lobby with comfortable chairs, central location

Cons: Housekeeping is the worst of all hotels we've been to (yes, even 3/4-star places): Dirty dusty surfaces everywhere and everyday Extremely inconsistent cleaning - something went wrong every day of our stay. Either the coffee was not topped up, or the cups were still coffee-stained, or the cups were not changed, or the bed sheets did not cover the entire king bed. Apart from making the bed and adding new towels, there was no real "cleaning" (see photos of state of room - all are post-clean) Some days we left the room at 7am and it still hadn’t been cleaned when we returned at 2pm. Other days, we were in the middle of work calls and housekeeping would knock at 9:30am asking to clean. On one occasion, we left late morning (housekeeping even saw us leave) and still came back to an unclean room late afternoon, so we had to go sit downstairs to work. Bizarre!

Dirty, dated equipment and facilities The hairdryer looked old and cheap, and the prongs were bent (see photo) Our bathroom door did not close properly without brute force The shower head looked dirtier than a public shower (see photo) Shower pressure was miserable - no glorious showers here that's for sure Extremely dark rooms that were reliant on individually turning on each of the lamps around the room to be able to see, terrible for doing work at night No plug in points for phone chargers next to the bed The gym was very humble and hot, and there was no water station nor any paper towels/disinfectant wipes to clean down the surfaces

No pillow menu We had to call up concierge to ask about the pillow menu as there was no signs of it despite advertisement on the website If you're expecting the same pillow menu as at other Sofitels, you will be disappointed - all they have are memory foam pillows Despite getting 2 firm memory foam pillows on our first day, by the second day, one of them had been sneakily swapped out for a softer memory foam pillow for some reason (perhaps limited supply?)

No "Accor" treatment It's funny seeing reviews about how other Accor guests received bottles of champagne and/or chocolates on arrival We were told that we were 'meant' to have had 'welcome chocolates' but that their supply didn't arrive that day, so we got some drink vouchers for the bar (from a very limited list of cheap drinks). Not normally a huge issue, but definitely worth noting in context of all of the...

We recently completed our 10th stay at Sofitel Brisbane, and unfortunately, this visit fell short of the high standards we’ve come to associate with both the hotel and the Sofitel brand. While previous experiences had kept us coming back, this stay left us feeling let down on multiple fronts.

The Lounge Our experience in the Lounge was far from what we had come to expect. The level of attentiveness from the staff was noticeably lacking, and in some instances, interactions bordered on discourteous.

On the first evening, I approached Thomas to inquire about reserving a window seat for any of the subsequent evenings. Without even asking for my name, he informed me that such seats were exclusively reserved for Limitless members. Observing the Lounge over the next four nights, it became evident this was not entirely accurate.

Room Experience Our initial room (2303) had a broken bed, which we promptly reported to Reception. While we were assured it would be resolved, housekeeping merely replaced the sheets without addressing the underlying issue. A second follow-up led to a temporary fix, but we endured another night of discomfort.

On Day 3, we requested a room change, which was granted (Room 1507). However, this accommodation was only for one night, something we were only informed of on Day 4. This lack of communication added unnecessary inconvenience, requiring us to repack and move again to Room 2613.

Had we been made aware of the limited duration of the new room earlier, we might have considered alternative accommodations. The lack of clarity and coordination in handling this situation significantly impacted our overall experience.

General Feedback While we deeply appreciate the recognition of our loyalty through the Diamond Status perks, our primary expectation from any hotel stay is a clean, comfortable room that allows for restful sleep. Regrettably, this fundamental expectation was not met during this visit.

Notable Exceptions Despite the challenges, we would like to acknowledge a few team members who went above and beyond to make parts of our stay pleasant. Lulu at Reception, Louisa in the Lounge, Abby, and a long-serving team member at Suzette (38 years of service, originally from the Philippines) stood out for their exceptional professionalism and warmth. We are truly grateful for their efforts.

Conclusion This stay has left us questioning whether Sofitel Brisbane can continue to be our hotel of choice. We hope that our feedback serves as an opportunity for the hotel to address these shortcomings and ensure future guests enjoy the high standards we’ve previously...

I cannot compliment Sofitel Brisbane highly enough on the recent experience we had while staying there for Mother’s Day and in celebration of my birthday. The experience was one of luxury and enjoyment and was really added to by the exceptional service we encountered from the staff. In particular, Dylan and Jamie from Reception/Front Desk were two individuals that should be recognised for their expertise in handling guest inquiries and delivering that ‘something more’ with regard to guest service and experience.

During our stay, I was addressed formally by my title and married name, even when calling down to Reception to make inquiries, which is something that may seem like a small detail, but went a huge way towards making me feel special and like my comfort and experience while staying in the hotel, mattered to the staff.

Our room was lovely and had the bathtub I so frequently find missing in hotels, with lovely ammenities and delightful ‘extras’ such as nail files and sewing kits, robes, slippers and quality toiletries. The food we ordered through room-service was delicious.

Having not been away overnight as a family for some time, I wanted our experience to be a bit special and for it to be befitting of the celebrations we had that weekend. Sofitel Brisbane certainly delivered in this aspect and I can say with certainty that we will be staying again.

The only constructive feedback I have is that it detracted a little from the sense of being ‘special’ by having to pay a separate rather high fee for parking ($50.00) upon check-out. It would have been nicer to have left our experience with a lingering sense of luxury instead of finishing our stay with a very sobering and somewhat disappointing discussion about parking validation and fees. Reduced parking fees for A.L.L. members might be a nice consideration, or an offer of a drink in the lobby bar as a concession to parking on arrival, a nice touch. As it was, we lingered in the beautiful lobby bar for a period after checking out, so that I would leave Sofitel Brisbane on Mother’s Day with my final impression to rounding out a beautiful weekend, being one of enjoying a flute of sparkling and the glorious view of the clocktower, as opposed to a somewhat deflating chat about parking fees and validation.

We genuinely had a wonderful time and were so pleased with our experience. A big thank you to Dylan, Jamie and Sofitel Brisbane for a memorable, meaningful and magical stay.

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