The Lucky Hotel — Restaurant in Newcastle-Maitland

The hotel is basically a pub with guest rooms. We had some quite nice food for reasonable prices while waiting for our rooms (we arrived a bit early). Our luggage had already been brought to our room when we finished our snacks. The room itself, however, was extremely small, even smaller than most Japanese hotel rooms we've been in so far. Equipment is sparse, a hanger in the "floor" on the wall opposite the door, a tiny "desk" with a chair, and a bed in a niche about 2 x 3 m (that's basically the whole "bedroom". A small cabinet in a corner held the small fridge and the base plate for the cooking kettle. The kettle itself was missing, but we got one immediately when we asked. The bed was comfortable and clean. The TV was wall mounted on an arm and hanging in front of the windows to the inner court, where the pub is. We read about the pub and the quite good parties on the weekend, so we did expect it to be noisy, but it was rather quiet for a room in a pub and we had some good night's sleep.

The location is absolutely great, directly opposite the tram - station, all bars, shops, "whateveryoulike" and all relevant touristic sights in walking distance. If you want to spend a weekend and see the main attractions, or maybe have a beer or two in the evening, this is the place to stay. I'd also recommend this for any event with the option to spend the night after the party. A special thank you to all the really friendly people in the hotel/ pub, we felt really welcome.

Disliked · The bathroom was not clean. The toilet hinges had a crust (we hope) from old cleaner, there was hair everywhere, even what looked like bloodstains on the wall in the shower, old dirt in the corners ...just as if you wipe fast, and not clean in the corners. We thought about asking for a make up, but then decided to disinfect the toilet and wipe over the shower...

We turned up for dinner without a booking at 5:30pm on a Saturday night (our mistake). Wet weather meant tables out the front weren’t usable. Private event in the front bar. All tables in the court yard were reserved. We were about to go else where but found some booth tables free inside (in the room with pink and floral decor), there were dirty glasses and left over spills on table. NO reserve signs to suggest they weren’t available. We’re seated about 10 minutes and ordered/paid for food from the bistro via table QR code. By this time another group have sat down at the table adjacent to ours. Whilst waiting for our food, a staff member approaches and informs us that these tables are now “reserved” for a booking in 15 minutes and we needed to clear out immediately. I told him there were no reserved signs on the table, we had just ordered and paid for food, and there were no other tables available in the venue. He was extremely rude and reiterated the tables are booked and we need to leave. Given we are paying patrons same as the people who made a last minute reservation, we were extremely disgusted by this treatment. The staff member arranged an alternative table for us but continued to behave rudely and did not offer any form of apology. The food was fine except my chicken schnitzel was alarmingly pink on the inside. Also, I noticed the replacement table we were given was in the corner blocking a fire extinguisher. This is a safety hazard as there is no clear access to the extinguisher in the...

Unlucky for some. I booked a room with separate beds, direct with the hotel, website claims free bottle of wine with the room when booked direct. No wine offered, or received. Upon arrival, I was informed that the air conditioning wasn't working. I requested a room with windows that could be opened, unfortunately, only rooms with double beds had windows that opened. As I was travelling with my 14 year old Son, who turns into a thrashing machine once the lights go out, it was an option that was unpalatable to me. As expected the room became very "Stuffy" during the night, a fan had been offered, and accepted, but unfortunately never materialised (I only realised this at 2 am when the room was oppressively stuffy). The room also had this "Quaint" feature, where every hour or so, it would make this loud "crack" noise, like a steel pipe splitting. Saving the best for last, the shower was truly memorable for the wrong reasons. Both temperature, and pressure varied wildly, and bluntly refused to stabilise. The shower spray pattern was a bit like a Jackson Pollock painting, all over the place. For $218 I expected better, had a "Sweetner" been offered to me ($20 bar voucher etc.). The only bad taste that would have been left in my mouth, would have been the result of a hangover. On the positive side, the staff were very friendly at all times, and the hotel is close to the centre of Newcastle. The beer was ice cold, and at $9 a schooner,...