Orange Grove Hotel — Restaurant in Sydney

Had stayed here a couple of years ago thanks to a job interview in the vicinity, but completely regret doing so. At the time I was taking medication that needed to be kept cold and staff kept insisting that I put it in a communal fridge (note: I'm diabetic, that medication was to keep me from keeling over and I wasn't trusting it in a communal fridge) but relented and said I could have the only bar fridge in the establishment.

Come check in night and the staff forgot that I needed the bar fridge and had to take it off someone else who thankfully wasn't using it. The room was one you crash in, the bed was the only form of comfort in the room as there was no TV or room-based entertainment and at the time the room wasn't equipped with a smoke alarm or detector (note: FIRE CODE VIOLATION, WHS VIOLATION, and I'm pretty sure it's also a Hotelier's Association violation as well...).

The room had bars on the windows that were set into the brickwork and could not be released in an emergency, where my room was located if a fire had broken out in any of the other rooms (save the publican's quarters) and spilled out into the corridor, I was toast so I did not feel safe in this room.

The food was nothing to write home about either, serving sizes were disproportionate (for example, I'd ordered a main with a side dish, and it came served two full main meals) and overpriced ($18 for a bowl of mac and cheese? Really?) while the atmosphere of the dining room was completely off as it was trying to market itself as trendy, but was about as trendy as any other low-end pub.

This pub is well known for bad and overpriced food as the restaurants nearby all gave their condolences in one form or another when they found out I was staying here.

I am grateful to be out of there and will only return if I have truly no other choice, even if the room was given to me for free I would refuse to...

Motel Review. The rooms are clean, comfortable, quiet and very basic.

Bed, fridge, chair, side table, fan and hanging rack. No ensuite, no TV, no phone, no A/C, but it is very cheap. If you are travelling on self funded business and want cheap, this is it.

On the plus side, there is very good free wifi. The shared bathrooms are clean, old style (not renovated - pink) but not crowded. I was the only person in there every time I used them.

In my experience, staying in a room in a pub can be very noisy, but not here. The motel rooms are along side, not above the pub. This makes them virtually pub noise free.

There is a dining room down stairs but I didn't try it. It's a short walk to a good Thai and a Chinese/Viet takeaway. And in the other direction and closer a couple of very good early opening breakfast spots.

Only gripe - it advertised off street parking but there is none. However street...

The manager just turned away 40 people who would've been drinking and eating there tonight. Yes, my request was a little bit unusual in the fact that a group of dads would be sharpening their kids classroom pencils, whilst having a beer and socialising, therefore potentially causing a few loose sharpenings to fall on the floor, hence I called in earlier to advise that may be the case to ensure there was no issues and that there may be the need for a small sweep up once we were done. The thoughts of tidying up some pencil, sharpenings after 40 local dads and potential future customers worried them that the look of the pub would be ruined. The place is usually empty, and some pencil sharpenings on the floor may have lifted the quality of the decor.

It's no wonder, local pubs are struggling and crying poor turning...