Hotel Sophia — Hotel in Melbourne

If you're strapped for cash, need a central Melbourne location and don't mind sharing bathrooms with strangers, Hotel Sophia is the place for you! While the price was right and the location superb, arriving is less than welcoming. Just before 5pm on a Thursday and the front desk was unmanned. Multiple dings of the bell did nothing to bring someone to check us in. Finally we made it in and were given a key that would give us access to a shared bathroom on our floor.

We were not aware that our room did not come with an in-room bathroom. Be sure to confirm with your booking that this is included, as it was not stated clearly anywhere for us. We were not overly excited at this prospect, especially after viewing the bathroom. A small room with an old, tiny basin. 2 second rooms came off this one, one just a toilet and the other crammed both a shower and toilet in. The shower head has seen better days, as it was a juggle to get it to set above my head with space to shower. To their credit however, the water pressure was lovely. We stayed three nights and desperately wanted to avoid the showers but we caved. During my turn, on two occasions other hotel visitors came in and by habit, turned the one light off on their way out, leaving me in the dark.

The room itself was quite spacey - as you would expect without the need to cram a bathroom in - and it was light, and more or less clean. There were spots found on the linens however. We were floor 1 - just above the street with a window directly onto Little Lonsdale Street. This did not suit me at all, as the glass was thin and the walls made to suit. The noise stopped perhaps for a few hours from 12am onwards and began again, loudly the next morning. 5am I'm certain I heard some form of recycling truck outside which woke me and kept me awake. The old building itself creaked and groaned as other guests moved around - a sound that would travel through the old walls.

The room came equipped with the usuals; TV, kettle, fridge. However the basin in the bathroom was too shallow to fill the kettle, and I had to use a water bottle to ferry water back and forth for my cup of tea.

To end on a positive note, I must mention the air conditioning. It was superb and didn't skip a beat.

In conclusion, Hotel Sophia is perfect for a short stay. If you don't mind sharing a bathroom or waiting an extra day for a more comfortable stress-free shower then this would be perfect. I can complain about the bathroom all I like, but when it comes down to it, the price and location of this hotel may surely outweigh the bad for a many...

!AVOID THIS HOTEL!

This hotel was booked at it was close to the station and surrounding amenities. However, the price you pay to book this place is a reflection of the stay you will encounter: cheap and extremely disappointing.

The check-in process to our room/s fell nothing short but frustrating. It took far longer than required and the clerk at the front seem to be frazzled and confused. The booking was made for 2 nights but when we tried to access the room on the 2nd day, we were told “it was in use as we failed to check in the day before at 2pm” - however, checkin is “2pm onwards” so our room should not have been utilised by other people or booked over.

The room itself wasn’t great either - you get what you pay in this instance. You hear every sound through all the walls, the bathroom tiles were cracked and seemed very uneven (potential hazard if you step on them wrong) and the bathroom had a mouldy/dirty (like stale faeces) smell when the sink was used - potentially damage to pipes/blocked pipes. The lobby and lift also smelt strongly of cigarette smoke.

The place needs some major upgrades to be considered a “4 star hotel” - I would say this could be ranked slightly above a hostel, but certainly not worthy of the 4 stars.

The people who run the place at the front end (customer service clerks) are extremely rude and hostile towards you if you call them or if you query the $150 room deposit. The person who booked our room (a friend) was hung up on twice and the service she received was extremely rude and unjustified.

You’ll also find you will need to chase your bank to receive your security bond back - the hotel wipes their hands of this as it doesn’t seem to be their problem… even though they’re the ones who take the bond in the first place.

The only redeeming qualities of this place are: comfortable beds and a good location - these qualities can be sought at any other hotel in the area.

If you want a ‘hotel experience’ where you are listened to, treated with basic respect and feel comfortable with your stay, I would advise seeking out somewhere else as this place does...

Hotel Sophia is by far the worst accommodation I've ever stayed in. There was loud unannounced construction going on in the upper floors of the building, as well as refurbishment in the lobby which meant it was impossible to get to the reception desk without navigating around wet paint and workers. At no point were we informed that it was going to be taking place, nor were any efforts made by the staff to avoid inconveniencing guests (we frequently had to jump over wet painted areas since both entryways were so blocked - good luck with heavy luggage!)

As seen in the photos, the "double bed" is made from two single beds pushed together, and you can really feel it while you're trying to sleep. The carpet was also stained in multiple places both in our room and in the hallway. Our window had a large crack through the middle of the glass.

The walls are paper thin, and not only can you hear conversations in adjacent rooms, but the alleyway beside the hotel had trucks moving loudly through it at 5am most mornings.

The bathrooms are out in the public hallway, shared between guests. The key cards also override the locks, meaning anyone can barge into your shower stall. Toilet paper was not provided in the bathrooms, nor was there anything to dry your hands with unless you brought a towel from your room. The hairdryer was broken and the maintenance tag implies it has been broken for years without replacement or repair.

We also encountered staff who treated us as if any enquiry was a huge inconvenience to them, and acted irritably whenever we spoke to them. Admittedly most of the staff were okay, it was one staff member in particular who needed a bit of customer service training!

Sorry for the essay of a review, but I cannot recommend strongly enough that everyone avoids this hotel. Hopefully not everyone has had such negative experiences, but I can guarantee I won't be...