Mantra on Russell Melbourne — Hotel in Melbourne

I have stayed at Mantra before and was telling all my colleagues about how great it is, most of them tried it out for a week but none of them will stay there again. We all had pretty bad experiences and I wish to share mine with you. I checked in on a Sunday afternoon at 16:00, - when I checked out on the Friday I requested the same room for the following week - which I was promised would happen but when I checked in I was put in a different room. I left my suitcase over the weekend and asked for my bag, but I was told it was already in my room (I was impressed) ... the bag was not in my room... the receptionist said she would bring it up. 20 minutes later I still had no bag.. I went down and was told she took it up but I had a do not disturb sign on the door - she was at the room I requested and NOT the room SHE JUST BOOKED ME IN TO :( When I went back up my card did not open the door so I had to go back to reception to get that fixed. Back in my room I want to make a cup of coffee.... to find the lid of the kettle is loose - so I fixed it. There was no coffee... I had to settle for decaf... then could not find a cup... opened the dishwasher and found it still had dirty dishes in it... I washed it and packed it away. Wanted to do laundry - no detergent... had to call them to bring me some. want to iron... Ironing board broken - had to call them for another one. want to take a bath - batch DIRTY... marks that I could wipe off with my finger... I was so disgusted that I took the dishwashing liquid and scrubbed the bath... wanted to go the bed - only to find the bed was not made properly - sheets all in a knot at the bottom - so I had to remake the bed... then the pillows ... I am used to the nice thin foam pillows - but the pillows in this room were full of bumps as if they were in a washing machine... so overall I woke up with a headache and a sore neck because I just could not sleep comfortably... I am so deeply disappointed in the way I was treated when I reported the dirty room and decided to join my colleagues.. so I will be checking out and NEVER return... Sorry Mantra - you have lost a few customers and being a corporate client - I will be reporting this and you will probably be removed from our preferred...

Upon arriving at 2.50pm (check in was at 2pm) we were told our room wasn't ready and was made to wait 40min in the lobby. The sorry gift was a bottle of wine. Told to take the lifts only to find that the lift we got in didn't go to level 17. When asked at the desk, he said any of them go to level 17, and when I firmly said it didn't, then another staff member said he would show us and then when we got to the lift, he said only 2 of them go to that level and the one we got in doesnt. We get to our room and our cards wouldn't open the door, had to track down a cleaner to open the door and then was told to head back down to reception after we unpack to get the cards sorted. No mini butter or vegemite in fridge, no option of bar items. Says restaurant and bar on website, however only open for breakfast and the bar (with alcohol) not open either at all only we were told again only open for breakfast so this didn't make sense. The pool itself said it was, heated but wasn't warm at all. Lots of chunks of hair floating in the pool. Dirty looking mirrors, TV and glass (smeared and not cleaned properly) even the main doors are shocking. Cheap looking koalas everywhere with Santa hats on, blow up koala balloons and even koala napkins, I felt like we were at a kids party and not a 4.3 star hotel. Our key cards for our room continued to play up another 2 times whilst we stayed. The mini bar which just contained a small milk was off and my partner had to turn it on at the main. After eating breakfast, we left the kitchen only to have to walk through atleast 50 internationals, covid testing themselves in the lobby, coughing and squealing whilst doing so, (yes all buds up noses) certainly wasnt appetising to see just after eating. Paid over 2.5k for 3 nights and wish we just stayed elsewhere and paid the extra. No breakfast included, also parking was extra. No cable TV, no dressing gowns, which was disappointing. It's all the small things that make the stay and there were certainly none of those here. We most certainly won't be staying here again.Standards in hotel service has...

Staff was excellent but hotel was very average for 4 star with good ratings. Everything was an up charge including a 1 hour late checkout for $20 which they text us that we could have a ‘special’ late checkout but failed to point out the up charge until we called. Pool is lame but ok for kids and hours close really early (9:30pm). Buffet was average and they served us straight lemon juice by accident labelling it pineapple: nearly vomited and had to correct the staff on what they were serving. The coffee is terrible by Canadian standards (which is less than Aussies) so be prepared to get it elsewhere. Thjs is the biggest letdown by local standards due to the Cafe culture you expect in Melbourne. We ordered extra towels and they never came. The mini bar was nice as it was well stocked. The TV was terrible as it was very slow and had very poor channel selection. I was annoyed there were no music in the room or on the TV. Overall the rooms are nice and bed is moderately comfortable as it is two singles pushed together with a seam down the middle. Room is a bit small but probably normal size for downtown. Overall good price as we got a deal at $330 for two days but wouldn’t stay there again. Just would recommend to pay more and stay at a 5 star. The location is decent but the area smells like charcoal and dumplings as it is next to Chinatown. Good food close by but parking was a nightmare for our oversized vehicle as it was too tall to fit nearly anywhere downtown except in an open air lot. not the hotels fault. Room service was ok. The squid was awesome and the pizza is better than expected as well. Chicken burger is a decent choice. Don’t get the roast chicken or the beef burger as it is not good by local standards. Lastly, we are just really picky people who stay at a lot of hotels and have worked in the industry so you may not notice a difference if you aren’t fussy. The staff didn’t ask if we enjoyed our stay on leaving or ask anything at all the entire time. The don’t seem to be focused on customer service though were very helpful when we...