Belmont Palms Motel — Hotel in Newcastle-Maitland

I had stayed here in 2017 and found it to be comfortable and tastefully newly decorated. On this stay the standards seem to have dropped. The positives: owners were friendly, we stayed the Easter long weekend so we were gifted a bottle of non chilled white wine (aldi brand) and 2 chocolates for the kids which was a nice touch, when we cancelled our third night during our first night stay they waived the 48 hr notice policy because we had booked direct with the motel and provided a full refund for the third night. The sheets were clean. Found the premises to be quiet.||||The negatives: ||1. Like a previous reviewer our first impression of the room was the smell of stale smoke and a sweaty socks type of smell. Had to buy a reed fragrance diffuser, worked well so not sure why this wasn’t in place.||2. We had booked the ‘family room’ as it had bunks for our kids. This room is adjacent the designated smokers area which explained the stale smoke smell in our room and was a non sensical choice given the majority of guests this end of the motel will be children. ||3. Cutlery was dirty and streaked, not clean. It was also housed in a plastic bowl on top of teabags and sugar packets, not very presentable ||4. Plates were sticky and streaked like they had not been rinsed of dish liquid.||5. Fridge was broken but useable. It needed defrosting so our food and drinks became sweaty because the temp was unstable.||6. Chairs were broken and unsafe - plastic cracked at the seat/back junction so had a pinch point, particularly for kids ||7. The towels may need a strip clean as some were stained.||8. Shower wall and floor grout appeared to have black mould ||9. Toilet brush had soiled dirty water in its holder from previous guests. Probably the most egregious of the cleanliness issues.||10. Comforters on kids bunks smelled soiled unwashed, smelt like oil. Again strip cleaning would likely sort this out||11. Bunk was squeaky and ricketty, needed an oil and bolt tighten ||12. This is no fault of the motel as such but if you’re travelling 2 kids 2 adults it’s a tiny space, bathroom in particular - very tight space ||13. Blockout curtains are thin so the outside lights which are on all night fill the room with light. Slept with tee shirts on our eyes to achieve some darkness. ||14. There was a wasp nest on the bathroom louvre. Turns out it was still active as one of them entered the bathroom second evening as we showered the kids. Had to get kids out, shut door and run to 7-11 for bug spray as there was no one answering door at reception||15. Outside the gardens were unkempt, needed weeding, awning broken outside our room, exposed electrical wiring duct taped to a pole - unclear whether this was powered or not. ||||The overall impression was that of a property that was run down and where the standards of cleanliness had dropped. I went to the reception to provide this feedback verbally but it was unattended so I sent them an email detailing the above. We are writing this review so that other travellers can make an informed decision about whether the negatives are ok or a...

The service .... Welcoming , thoughtful, helpful, in no way intrusive. ||||The room.... Fresh, light, small bedroom containing well-equipped kitchenette with large sink. Modern en suite bathroom. Everything was impeccably clean and odorless. Simple, well organized necessities. Everything we needed and nothing superfluous. Beds were on the firm side and very comfortable. Bed linen was snow white and of nice quality. High pressure hot shower. Air conditioner works perfectly and there was a small wind up window for fresh air. Block out drapes on large window if one wants to sleep during the day. Car space is conveniently right outside the door. ||||The location.... Situated on the Pacific Hwy between Belmont and Swansea. Only about 5 km drive to shops and dining. Nice little walk to Marks Point post office cafe for breakfast. Traffic noise was audible but we got used to it pretty quickly and slept well, despite some early morning garbage truck noises. There is a well maintained swimming pool and barbecue that looks very inviting....||||Summing up.....Tariffs were low ( our stay wasn't during peak season, or during school holidays) making||Belmont Palms exceptionally good value.||Scott and staff were lovely. ||Cleanliness and attention to detail were impressive .||||Sharo...

We stayed there the weekend just gone and omg. It looked like they hadn’t cleaned the room before us. The floors were disgusting and looked like they hadn’t been at least swept before us, it was that bad I had to wear shoes the whole time in there, even while showering. The microwave hadn’t been cleaned prior to us staying, there was bits of food still in there. The door to our room was broken, the metal bit that stays on the wall was able to be wiggled and around the handle of the door was cracked. It looked like someone has tried to push it in previously. The toilet wasn’t cleaned properly and the curtains were dirty. We called reception and asked for clean sheets, they bought some to us and made the bed for us but there was still a dirty stain on the top cover. Also the mattress was that uncomfortable I kept waking up in my sleep😭 our cleaning room service only remade the bed for us. Nothing else was cleaned. no refund or discount was offered for our...