Bay Motel — Hotel in Byron Bay

The staff were very friendly and helpful when available. The motel is located right in the middle of town, across the road from the main beach.

Unfortunately, we made the mistake of booking the "Queen Studio" (Room 11). It was more like a cave underneath the motel. The place was generally clean except for the cockroach.

The entrance to the "studio" faced the back lane. We were woken every morning from 5 am by a symphony of garbage and delivery trucks accessing the lane. The entrance door to the studio opened immediately into the bedroom from our allocated car parking spot (see photos). Despite distinct signage we found our allocated parking spot very inconveniently occupied by other cars on two occasions during our stay.

The "studio", at ground level, had little natural light and both windows overlooked an unkempt space between the side of the pub and motel adorned with fake grass, a few tables & chairs and an array of discarded potted plants.

The kitchenette was completely unrenovated and equipped with two drinking glasses: a middy glass and a schooner glass, which I assume had been borrowed from the pub next door. Apart from two wine glasses, two K-mart cups, some crockery, and two sets of cutlery, there was an exceptionally blunt kitchen knife and an old and very well-used wooden spoon. One of the cereal bowls was strategically placed under the leak from the sink above. There was a microwave, toaster, kettle and sandwich maker, none of which be used. The kitchen curtain fell off the tracks.

There was a bedside table and bedside light on one side of the bed only. All the lighting was stark white. The air conditioner (located in the bedroom) worked but was incredibly old and noisy - you could not leave it on to sleep. Seating was located in a bare-walled room and consisted of two kitchen chairs at a table opposite the kitchenette (see photos). While a small table top ironing board and iron were provided there was no horizontal surface on which to place the ironing board and have access to a powerpoint (except over the kitchen sink).

It seemed no attempt had been made to make the space cosy or appealing. I have run short term rental accommodation for many years and I would expect my guests to be horrified if I tried to pass off a rental at this price...

We were content with room, condition was not great- beds needing upgrade, dirty corners in shower- almost mouldy looking, price was 180 per night. When first checked in owner gave husband the key, he went up while I went and got car- she had given him key to room someone else was in( I guess this should have been a sign- trust your instincts)Anyway garbage trucks come through alley at 6 am, great wake up call, took laundry down as they said they have young people to do- we weren't aloud to use laundry room ourselves and only costs 10 (perfect, I thought) Told owner there was a wool sweater that can not go in dryer- no worries they will keep out of dryer; got laundry back, gave 10 dollars asked about wool sweater- owner says yah yah it's in there pointing to bags. ( very dishonest man) They ruined sweater, had dried it. Went to talk to owner to see what they were going to do, he tried denying what I had told him, ,finally said he would contact company we gof from and then came to our room and said he would order sweater and mail to our home address, when I showed him on website and our receipt that he was trying to order a lighter weight sweater. He said- well them I am not going to do that- I told him we wanted the same sweater I would give him the extra $20 to order right one, I was told no he wasn't going do that and would only pay half cause we had to take responsibility cause sweater should not have been left with them. Tried to remind him that he said sweater would not be dried. Anyway long story short- dont expect the Ritz cause it isn't, make sure you put something in front of your door at night cause they may try to book it while your in there, don't let them do your laundry, dont trust a word they say. Very sad and disappointed. Never stay or recommend this...

As mentioned in reviews in TA this is a very basic old motel & not value for money. It is in a good position close to the hotel and beach. With this also comes noise from the bars & trucks collecting bins in the mornings at 6am. ||We were in Byron for a wedding, Checked in Fri wanting to have a shower, no hot water. I spoke to mgt who advised me that because it was a windy day the pilot light had been blown out for the hot water system. They would light & in 30mins we would have a hot water - 1hr later no hot water. 6hrs later no hot water. Next morn no hot water.|I approached the male mgr and expressed that we weren't happy to pay $300 a night to have no hot water. He said don't worry we will look after you. The female manager had other ideas. She said I am coming up to see if you have hot water. She came into our room - hubby still in bed, put her hand under the shower & said "that's warm water" it's a hot day that is all you need. || Mgr said she would contact the owner, Peter Croke. Mgr said we can't guarantee you hot water, we think it’s better you find somewhere else to stay, She offered a $300 refund for Sat night ( not both nights) we had to be out by 10am. It’s now after 9am, we have a breakfast at 9.30 & hair appt after that. It was going to be very difficult to find someone else with very short notice. ||As a property owner/ mgr myself, I was appalled with this type of bully management. Just because you can treat guests with this type of disregard doesn't mean...