Cardiff Executive Apartments — Hotel in Newcastle-Maitland

BLOOD STAINS - HAIRS EVERYWHERE IN THE BEDROOMS To whom it may (or may not) concern,

I am Huynh Tien Pham (Joseph), and I write to express my absolute disappointment and frustration with the pathetic service provided by your establishment during our recent stay from 23rd to 25th January 2024.

First and foremost, your laughable booking system deserves a special mention for its utter incompetence. It defies all logic that we were unable to select the number of individuals unless we added an extra room. To clarify, we chose the 2-bedroom apartment option, yet your system conveniently neglected to allow us to specify the number of occupants. Instead, it promised us the capacity to accommodate six people. However, imagine my surprise when your pathetic team had the audacity to demand additional payment because we dared to bring along our three kids, aged 4 to 7. Clearly, your system's flawed design and misleading information only serve to make unsuspecting customers feel cheated. Congratulations on achieving that!

Furthermore, let's discuss the abhorrent condition of your place. I have taken the liberty of attaching some photos for your reference, which clearly depict the deplorable state in which we found your supposed "executive apartments." What a joke! The pictures do no justice to the absolute filth that greeted us upon arrival. The most disgusting aspect, however, was the blood stains strewn across the pillows and bed sheets. I mean, really? Are you trying to pass off a crime scene as accommodation? It's utterly revolting, to say the least. Need I mention that our poor children were traumatized by the experience, unable to sleep due to the repulsiveness of their surroundings? How on earth can you justify renting out such a disgustingly dirty and unsanitary living space to paying customers?

To compound matters, during our stay, the temperature soared to a scorching 35 to 37 degrees. Despite turning the air conditioning in one bedroom to its maximum setting, it only emitted an embarrassingly weak flow of air, leaving us sweating profusely like vermin. As for the other room, it had the audacity to not even possess the most basic form of air conditioning. Consequently, all six of us were forced to cram into a single room, enduring the stifling heat and humidity. Truly, this was the worst travel experience of our lives. We never imagined that your so-called "apartments" could be this repugnant and unbearable. It's an absolute disgrace that you dare to exploit such uninhabitable conditions for financial gain.

Allow me to list the unforgettable experiences that your place provided us with:

A broken toilet seat – the epitome of elegance. An almost blocked downstairs toilet – because hygiene is overrated. Tiles and floors that are perpetually oily and dirty, reminiscent of a crime scene. A broken bathroom cabinet – a stunning testament to your commitment to maintenance. Blood stains everywhere, as if you are operating a macabre theme park. An upstairs floor adorned with dead insects, hairs, and rubbish, proving your dedication to cleanliness. Hairs and eyelashes decorating the pillows and bed sheets – a charming touch. A malfunctioning air conditioning system (I use the term loosely) that only blew cool air and was present in just one of the bedrooms. And need I remind you, the temperature outside was a scorching 37 degrees Celsius!

We traveled a considerable distance, expecting nothing less than an exceptional experience for our family and kids during the school holiday. Despite our meticulously planned trip and tight schedule, we chose not to waste our precious time contacting your incompetent team to complain and request a different unit. After all, it would have been an exercise in futility, considering the impossibility of finding a suitable replacement in such a short notice.

To say that our experience at your establishment was an absolute nightmare would be an understatement. I demand an explanation on the above issues.

Yours...

In addition to my review a few months ago, I’ve had another stay and wanted to share this stay:|Another short stay for work. This time I did not get the apartment with disability access.|Review for 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment.|Front door leads to 2 flights of wooden stairs- a bit tricky to carry luggage upstairs. No strong bleach smell this time- just a little musty. Spacious enough for one. Aside from the living room, kitchenette, bathroom, separate toilet, there’s a small study area in the bedroom. There’s also a balcony with table and chairs. Unfortunately the view is the apartment directly across from this one. This time, there was a wooden chopping board, a few saucepans, coat hangers. Not enough bowls (one). Microwave. Toaster. Kettle. |TV in living room and bedroom. |Large open shower. Good water pressure. Bathroom window locked and cannot be opened for ventilation. Ironing board. Laundry is shared, outside the apartment and (I think) coin operated. |Not too noisy. Blinds to a semi-decent job to keep the room dark. ||A few issues I encountered:| All the light bulbs were white, not warm white, which is rather cold & stark.|Quilt is again, naked, covered with just 1 sheet. There is a white stain on the quilt near the pillow. I found that rather unsanitary.|Ceiling light fallen down and dangling by the wire by 15 cm. Bathroom tap not fixed to the sink and the whole tap moves when I attempted to use it. Have to hold down with 1 hand and turn it on with the other.|Tap in the kitchen is backwards- turn to the hot water setting to get cold water.|Wifi limit is either 750MG or 1GB per day- quick to reach limit (I found out half way through a Zoom meeting!). Unsecured wifi network, as before.|I filled in the online form to inform management of the issues (light, tap, quilt stain). I received an email replied reasonably quickly, at 7.11pm. At 8pm, knock on the door- a man offering to help fix the issues (which he did not know what they were). I thought it was rather unprofessional to send someone at that time of the evening, with no prior notification. I politely advised I do not wish to have anything done at that time in the evening. I returned to the apartment the following afternoon to find the tap and light has been fixed. It’s a shame that the cleaner that attended the room did not raise these issues with management. It would have been a completely different experience had they been fixed prior to checking in. I would ask work for a different accommodation next time, as the standard is a little below par and parking spots...

I am not one to leave a negative review usually but this time I do feel it is needed. We initially booked our accommodation in July for an October stay through booking.com. We had received emails from booking.com about our upcoming stay. On arriving to the apartments we realised there was no actual check in details. We called the number on the sign and did get details. The person said our booking was reallocated back to the Motel by booking.com but info was not passed back. This has never happened with the many many times we have used booking.com before. After checking in to our room we were given the wrong room. We had paid for a balcony room with a spa bath. Again we called the number and after having to ring a second time the manager finally got back to us. The manager was not very nice over the phone and did not really seem to care but he agreed we did get the wrong room and would offer a refund of the difference. We have only received a portion (not the amount stated in an email from him) and after 2 further emails we have never had a reply.

Another long term guest told us she had been in our room up until that morning and requested a balcony room so they gave her our room!!! There was also no allocated parking as indicated in our reservation. We were also abused by the cleaner for apparently parking were they unload their things. (there was no signage or indication in the carport were we parked).

The standard of the room was terrible. Noisy road out the front made sleeping disturbed. Dirty cups in the kitchen cupboards, shower does not seal and water flooded the entire room. See the photos of bathroom fan and broom attached.

Disappointed is an understatement.

On a good note very close to RSL which was great service, food and hospitality.

Overall we would not recommend this accommodation and never stay...