Mount Albert Motor Lodge — Hotel in Albert-Eden

I really wanted to like this place, but some things were off, and a couple of things unforgivable.

Let’s take the positives first. Booked a one bed apartment space and it was a good size. Had a decent, well-appointed kitchen. The location was great for us (concert visitors who didn’t want to stay in town) and the price reflected that. There’s an on-site cafe that we didn’t try but looked OK (certainly the wine list was good enough for the party of ‘ladies who lunch’ leaving on the Friday afternoon we arrived).

Car parking is tight. Gardens well-kept.

What we didn’t expect was that some of the motel features dated back to its opening back in the 1950s/60s, others from a potential refurb attempt in the late 1980s, and nothing was new beyond a couple of extra sockets with USB charge points. The doors, cupboards and fixtures were peeling, and the toilet seat was so old it was delaminating - in what world is that an acceptable thing in hospitality?

Don’t know about the rest of the rooms but 14 had nothing newer than 1990 beyond an ageing flat screen TV, a new carpet, and serviceable mattresses on the beds. Ah, the fridge had been replaced, probably a necessity looking at previous reviews. Deferred maintenance here will be a massive problem for anyone buying this property and business.

Ageing facilities I can live with for a price, but what steered this review to one star territory was the dirt. It was clear nobody had done a deep clean on the room in a very long time, with dust accumulated on all the skirting, and in the room corners. Superficially it was fine, and that’s clearly good enough for the owners and their staff know that.

The killer was the bedsheets. We didn’t notice until we came in at around midnight, long after reception had closed, and while we’d dismissed the sex stain on the duvet coverlet as ‘just one of those things’, when we turned the bed back we exposed sheets with dirt pilling and dark hairs. That’s totally unacceptable and was mentioned at checkout to the young man on duty.

I hadn’t the heart to ream him out about this as it’s clearly not his business nor his responsibility. He should get another job to stop having to apologise for the owner’s shortcomings though. He said he’d mention it to housekeeping but I don’t hold out much hope. No email from the owner apologising has arrived, and no discount was offered (but not his fault).

We slept in the other room (two singles, sheets clean, but one sheet with holes in).

In the morning we found hairs on one of the bath towels too.

This looks like the cleaners take the piss by ignoring what they think hasn’t been used whether it has or not. That’s downright lazy, but in my opinion that stems from the owner’s instructions to save money as much as possible. We threw all the towels into the shower base to make sure they got cleaned for the next guests.

That attitude is a management thing. From the general air of laissez-faire and run-down nature of the place (gardener excepted - top marks to that contractor) the owners clearly don’t care at all about cleanliness and guest comfort, only replace anything when absolutely necessary, and leaving anything that works until it doesn’t - like the rusty light fittings in the bathroom, scarred chrome dining set, antique TV, 1980s lino, dated motel wall art and horrible light shades.

The shower was…interesting. Clearly a rebuilt floor over an earlier leak problem judging by the botch repair job I could see. One of those curtains that want to hug you all the time. Pope shower head that you need to kneel in front of to get the blessing. Given the obvious remedial work in the room I wouldn’t like to see the (Artex) ceiling downstairs.

This motel could be great, and isn’t, hence my poor review. The owners need to close it down, clean it up, and renew it. Preferably they should sell it to someone who cares, for a dollar, because that’s the only goodwill in it and anyone buying it will have to invest a small fortune correcting a decade or...

This Hotel is not a safe pace for your pets !!! There are long term guests with very territorial dogs staying at this hotel !! I was unlucky enough to be staying here and my dog was attacked in the middle of the car park my dog was on lead and was under control the dog attacking wasn't wearing a collar or a lead and was dog aggressive not to mention owners leaving the door open knowing the dog had issues.Lucky for them I love animals and didn't get authorities involved. I had asked the owners to put there dogs on a lead and also mentioned this to Moana but she didn't take the matter seriously I even told other guest who had been there longer if this was normal !! they had noticed 3 dogs that were off lead going to the grass areas and not being controlled properly. My dog was ok but its was traumatic experience and I had multiple dog bites on my hand that needed emergency care..If another hotel guest didn't help get the dog off my hand and dog things would have been much worse. Owners of the dog didnt take responsibility at all. Moana made me replace the items I used after the attack from the first aid kit !!!! Disgusting !!! I did this as I didn't want any more drama I left not long after as I could stay their due to this event and was also being intimidated by the guests who's dog attacked us. These owners lock that dog in the room and I've only seen it go toilet then start back in the room SAD !! I never blame the dog I always blame the owners for the dogs behaviour. I think back to when I arrived and voicing my concerns and Moana wouldn't listen this could have been dealt with in a professional manner but she didn't do anything till after the fact. I think she blamed me and my dog for the event but we were the ones being responsible. I saw a new guest arrive and she was walking her dog past the attackers room I quickly warned her not to come around this area and to walk her dog off site told her why and she was thankful. THIS HOTEL I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND FOR PETS !! they don't have safety regulations and owners are letting there dogs run around off lead like they own the place...

Terrible staff that have no care for customer satisfaction. Don't dare consider asking anything. You'll be snapped at. Tiny rooms. No aircon. Dishes weren't very clean. Parking is horrendous. You'll get 2 sheets if using the sofa couch as a bed, and its old and is absolutely filthy. Very minimal facilities. And don't believe what it says you'll be getting when you book. Because contrary to your booking you will not be getting a balcony, pool view or even use of the pool ("because covid" aka. We can't be arsed). When I approached staff about the very misleading website, she just shrugged it off and was more concerned about my mask and Vax pass. The website says family friendly. But the room was claustrophobic with 4 adults and 2 kids. We had to share a table and chairs on "the balcony" with the neighbour. We had to shut our door so we didn't get the cigarette smoke from the neighbor coming into our room. And even having our own kids and a baby, we had to listen to the neighbour above us's kids cry all evening. There was nothing family friendly...