Choice of Accommodation in Hobart

Welcome to Hobart

After flying Jetstar direct from Brisbane, I arrived in Hobart at around 8.30pm, I was greeted by rain, cold, wind and news of snow on Mount Wellington. I like snow :)

Its a $35 cab ride from the Airport to the centre of Hobart. Its quite picturesque at night coming in over the bridge. The cab driver had a nice old whinge about those dam greenies that want to preserve the beauty of Tasmania at all costs, and those dam kids that should be doing national service for 2 years and an apprenticeship. It worked a treat in the USSR so why not Tassie eh?

The Great Dinner Chase

I was a bit hungry and quickly found out that everything in Hobart closes at 9pm on a Thursday night. After spending some exasperating time with the staff at the Mecure Hotel, who firstly said the restaurant closes at 9pm, despite there in-room brochure saying 9.30pm (it was 9.15pm) BUT we could order room service, but only FROM a room. My colleague was staying at the Mecure so we rang from her room. Sorry only late night menu available after 9pm, again not what is written on their brochure. The late night menu didn't have much on it...

I rang the Grand Chancellor, the person who answered the phone assured me that the Atrium Bar served burgers and other items until 11pm. So we hopped in a cab (it was only $6 but it was very cold outside for a Brisbanite)

When we got there, the staff at the Atrium Bar said that they stop food at 10pm and were not sure if the kitchen would take orders or not. I asked at reception about room service, and whether it could be deliver to the Atrium Bar? Answer from the first guy was initially 'not sure' then the night manager stepped in and said 'no.' When I asked 'why not?' he said 'don't know' Then I asked, 'what if I ordered it to my room, and then brought it down stairs to the Bar?" Answer - "well I suppose we couldn't stop you doing that...'

Anyway, I was getting hungry real hungry and a little peeved, but the night was saved by the negotiation skills of the wonderful girls at the Atrium Bar in the Grand Chancellor. They had gone and seen the people in the kitchen and convinced them to stay open for a just a little bit longer...

3 Hotels in Hobart

Most recently I stayed at the Grand Chancellor Hotel, and I also had an opportunity to have a look at the Mecure Hotel. The last time I was in Hobart I stayed at the Rydges Hotel.

You get the feeling that all three of these hotels are due for a refurb, probably the Mecure is well over due....

Grand Chancellor Hotel (Rates to Go - 4.5 Stars - from $139 a night, harbour views from $179 a night)

I liked the Grand Chancellor, but more for the stunning harbour views than the room. I have posted a picture of the view from a harbour side room on level 20. I had a meal at he Atrium Bar that was very nice. The room had two double beds that were reasonably comfortable and the bathroom had a shower over bath and generally was ok.

My only whine about the place would have to be that the front doors of the hotel are manual and 'pull' I found this a bit hard in the cold & breezy night with a load of bags and boxes.

Mecure Hotel (Rates to Go - 4 Stars - from $149 per night)

The Mecure didn't have much going for it compared to the other two, the rooms and hallways had the look & feel of an old University dorm, and the bathrooms were desperately in need of a major re-fit. I had breakfast there and it wasn't too bad. On a more positive note, we held our function at the Mecure and the service from the function people was outstanding.

Rydges Hotel (Rates to Go - 4 Stars - from $125 per night)

I stayed at Rydges in November 2007. Its a little bit further out of town than the Mecure or the Grand Chancellor. The units were also detached from the main reception area, more like blocks of townhouses.

Rydges had a certain "old world charm" and again a splendid view out over Hobart. The room was huge, more than big enough for a family holiday...

I liked it, and I would bookmark it at $125 a night as a first place to stay if I was bringing the family to Tasmania for a holiday.

Trip to Hobart - 26/27 June 2008

Off to Hobart tommorow afternoon (Thursday) for a function on Friday.
Will be flying Jetstar direct Brisbane to Hobart and flying back with Qantas on a flight from Hobart to Melbourne then to Brisbane.

Hotel Serves Burnt Toast, What does it mean?

Recently staying at a presumably swish hotel in Adelaide I was served up BURNT Toast for breakfast.

Lovely wrapped in a napkin. Nice :)

This was on top of cold coffee. Not a great start to the day.

But I got to thinking, what would make the staff member of this hotel do this?

Incompetence? Lethargy? Spite? Over worked?

What does it say about the Hotel?

Should I have complained?

Let me know what you think......

Hyatt Regency Adelaide

Qantas more than just late

The Qantas flight from Brisbane to Adelaide was due to depart at 6.45pm on Sunday afternoon. I was running marginally late and was carrying several boxes. I used the valet parking in the long term parking. They only charge $14 and always provide a good service plus if need to use a trolley, they save you $4 because they have one for you. On reaching the Qantas check-in I discovered, along with hundreds of other people, that the Qantas computer network had broken down and they were processing manually when a flight was called. Added to this my flight was now back to 7.15pm.

After getting through check in, the time had moved back even further. The flight eventually left at around 7.45pm. Flight was a bit bumpy, but they played a reasonable in flight movie, and the meal (butter chicken) was quite nice. Qantas catering has definitely improved over the last few years.

Hyatt Regency

After a $25 ride in an “english free” taxi, I arrived at the Hyatt Regency in North Terrace, Adelaide around 11pm. The entrance and lobby are very impressive. The desk staff were friendly and helpful (for that time of night at least). Concierge looked after the bags and boxes and brought the right one to my room.

The “King Room” was not huge, but it had a king sized bed, shower and bath, a writing desk with broadband connection and a decent view. I didn’t bring my laptop, which is quite a strange feeling actually, so I can’t say whether the internet connection was sufficient or not.

Had a look at the Room Service menu, but as it was after 10.30pm, so I could only order from the “late night” menu. I couldn’t bring myself to pay $25 for a sandwich, so I had a pack of Pringles from the mini bar instead. The breakfast menu looked a bit expensive at $34 for the full buffet, but this was a swish hotel, so I guess you have to expect to pay a bit more.

Breakfast

I needed to get up and moving reasonably early in the morning, so I ticked 6.30 to 7pm on the requested time for breakfast delivery and set my alarm for 6.30pm. I didn’t have a great night’s sleep and was awoken with a knock on the door at 6.28pm. I will never get those 2 minutes back!

Breakfast was going well, scrambled eggs check, bacon check, orange juice check, coffee damm it, it was cold. Now you don’t expect coffee in a breakfast delivery to be hot, but this was not even warm. I could have lived with that, but the toast (see picture) was burnt. I have opened another note on this topic, because I just can’t imagine why someone would go to the trouble of fancy wrapping three pieces of quite obviously charcoaled toast.

Check out was quick and efficient and the concierge packed all my boxes into the taxi for me. Total bill was $234 for the night. $210 for the room, and $34 for the “burnt toast” breakfast.

Function Centre

The function that I attended was held at the National Wine Centre. It was a lovely venue and the catering was superb, but access was a bit problematic.
Qantas flight home was on time, but the in flight entertainment was terrible (maybe I'm just not interested in the top 20 female entertainment money earners for 2007) and I was stuck without a book or a newspaper.

Trip to Adelaide - 22/23 June 2008

Travelling to Adelaide on Sunday afternoon with Qantas.
Usually stay at the Rendezous Allegra in Adelaide but have booked to stay at the Hyatt this time.

Notes on Travel for Business in Australia