Howdy all. Well it’s time for a new review! For who? For you! I’m sorry sometimes I get really taken up in the possibility of achieving a good rhyme. Anyways, it’s time for me to review the place I stayed when I was in destination Hobart, which was the ‘Hobart City Apartments’. Where do I start then?

Well it’s located at 80 Elizabeth street, less than half a block from the Elizabeth st Mall. So it is pretty bang smack in the centre of Hobart. When I started to research places to stay in Hobart I struggled to find something that I thought would really suit. We were going for five days so the opportunity to cook on a night or two was attractive. I looked at the Casino at Wrest Point which seemed to represent the best value for money, it was just over $100AUD per night but on closer inspection these were for the adjoining motel. The rooms were okay but the bathrooms seemed to have a bit of the 1980s in them and it was a bit of a way from the centre of town.

Other places were a bit more and were faded in the motel style. Finally I got this option, Hobart City Apartments, which had a cooktop and sink and this seemed pretty good. I shopped around a bit because a lot of websites only had the option to pay right away and with the uncertainty we are living in at the moment I didn’t want to do that. In the end hotels.com came through for me with five nights at around $150AUD a night, around $117USD for reference. It looked modern and clean, and so I was pretty happy with the choice.

Upon arrival the reception knew who I was and was friendly. It’s just up from the mall as I said and it was clear we were well located, which isn’t always obvious looking at maps before you get there. The building looks to be at least 30 or 40 years old, the exterior is in style which, it’s fair to say, isn’t current. However, the inside is a different story.

Up to the ‘sixth’ floor to find our room. I use inverted commas because although it’s number floor six, it goes from Ground to the Fifth Floor with nothing in between. I took the lift many times and it went from ground to fifth quickly and we appeared to be on the third or so floor looking out so it was a bit strange.

The reception is only manned until around 8pm, and often there is no-one there. This seems to be an Australian thing I guess. It’s not that big a hotel and I guess they can’t justify paying someone to be there later.

The room is a nice, slick design and uses grey with a cork sort of pattern on the ceiling. The stove is an induction stove, which is for safety I’m sure and there’s a decent rangehood to funnel the cooking smells out of the room. The air conditioning was on when we arrived and the room was freezing. Left off in the day the room, despite it not being hot outside, the room really heated up and was steaming when we got back. It was a case of hot or cold, no happy medium.

The bathroom is fresh and well tiled, the shower was a choice of two heads, the main one being my pet hate – the ‘rain’ shower. However, this one had really good pressure and wasn’t too bad at all. I rather liked it to be honest! The website said toiletries were included but all they had was body wash and shampoo. I actually expected there to be a toothbrush and didn’t bring one as a result. More the fool I. What do you expect in terms of toiletries when you stay at a place that is four stars and lists ‘toiletries’ as something you get with your room? I think toothbrush and paste is a minimum. The shower drained poorly, it wasn’t clogged at all but I think the drain was just too narrow, and after a minute my feet were in a pool of water

Sleeping was a bit fitful. In my ‘old age’ I get more fussy and I found the pillows just a bit too ‘fluffy’, I like a thin pillow. Woke up with neck pain and headache on the first morning, but in fairness to the place they gave me a cushion from the couch downstairs in a pillow case which proved much better. The windows didn’t keep out the noises of music and from the street much at all which wasn’t great. The last night we had a huge noise issue from the next room and loud thumping

All in all, I feel I’ve been a bit critical of this place as wasn’t a bad choice at all. It had a big TV and although the table for eating was a bit low and directly under it, a lot of places don’t have the room, and this was a spacious room. There were things like the table they needed to think about a bit harder I think, but all in all it was a decent place to stay.

Andy’s Ratings:

Value for Money: 4/5

Location: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Noise: 1/5

Cleanliness: 2.5/5 (we found a spoon with yogurt on it in the drawer but otherwise clean)

TOTAL: 15.5/25

Thanks for reading! May the Journey Never End!