Property Location
With a stay at Novotel Canberra, you'll be centrally located in Canberra, a 10-minute walk from Canberra Centre and 12 minutes by foot from Australian National University. This 4.5-star hotel is 0.8 mi (1.3 km) from National Convention Centre and 1.1 mi (1.8 km) from Commonwealth Park. Distances are displayed to the nearest 0.1 mile and kilometer.
- Canberra Museum and Gallery - 0.5 km / 0.3 mi
- City Hill - 0.5 km / 0.3 mi
- Canberra Theatre Centre - 0.6 km / 0.4 mi
- Civic Square - 0.6 km / 0.4 mi
- Canberra Centre - 0.8 km / 0.5 mi
- Glebe Park - 0.9 km / 0.6 mi
- Australian National University - 1 km / 0.6 mi
- National Convention Centre - 1.1 km / 0.7 mi
- Lake Burley Griffin - 1.4 km / 0.8 mi
- Canberra and Region Visitors Centre - 1.7 km / 1 mi
- Commonwealth Park - 1.7 km / 1 mi
- CSIRO Discovery Centre \- 1.7 km / 1.1 mi
- Anzac Parade - 1.9 km / 1.2 mi
- National Museum of Australia - 2.4 km / 1.5 mi
- Australian National Botanic Gardens - 2.4 km / 1.5 mi .The nearest major airport is Canberra, ACT (CBR- Canberra Intl.) - 9.6 km / 6 mi.
Rooms
Make yourself at home in one of the 286 individually furnished guestrooms, featuring minibars and flat-screen televisions. Complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected, and digital programming is available for your entertainment. Private bathrooms with showers feature complimentary toiletries and hair dryers. Conveniences include phones, as well as laptop- compatible safes and desks.
Dining
Grab a bite to eat at First Edition, a restaurant which features a bar/lounge, or stay in and take advantage of the room service (during limited hours). Cooked-to-order breakfasts are served on weekdays from 6:30 AM to 9:00 AM and on weekends from 6:30 AM to 10:00 AM for a fee.
Business, Other Amenities
Featured amenities include a business center, express check-in, and express check-out. This hotel has 7 meeting rooms available for events. Self parking (subject to charges) is available onsite.
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Location
Location was the only positive. Understaffed and run down hotel, not of usual Novotel standard. Room cramped and with old fashioned beds and poor quality bedding. Toilet and shower need replacing. Combination basin/sink is impractical. Staff in restaurant tried hard to please but were hampered by nw and not enough staff. Reception staff in training without support. Points still not allocated and $ not removed from pre-allocation 10 days after stay. Location is great as short walk to restaurant hub.
Disappointment
If you are travelling to Canberra by car and think of staying in the Novotel because it's reasonably priced think again, as you will be slapped with additional 27 a day parking fee. The font desk will ask you if you need a parking and if you say "Yes", you will be charged $27 X number of days of your stay up front before you have the chance to understand what is going on. Get ready to spend a long time waiting for the elevator or going pointlessly between floor as the elevators are absolutely appalling. If you want to relax in a spa or sauna then you will not get a chance because they are closed and the temperatures around the pool are not adjusted to any comfort levels. Parents watching their kids in a swimming area where blue from the freezing temperatures outside the water. Rooms were clean however facilities in the room are outdated with no USB charging port and very mediocre WI-FI access.
Surge Pricing gone wrong
Very dated small rooms, no powerpoints working, crazy car parking, even worse lifts, and paying triple the standard rate at peak times. The so called balcony rooms are at the back with a view of the carpark and next high-rise. At least its central and close to city!
A lot of room for improvement.
Novotel Canberra is in a great location and is clean. However the reception staff were perfunctory and we had to ask a lot of questions to get the most basic of information. The parking was an absolute nightmare and miscommunication between the front office staff and parking people lead to absolute chaos. This miscommunication was then blamed on us!! The lifts were atrocious, often not letting us select the floor we were staying on and simply not enough lifts to service the number of people staying in the hotel, particularly in COVID times. The website says 4.5 stars but I would argue this, it was far from a relaxing stay.
One big disappointment
I try to write balanced reviews, but the Novotel in Canberra does not make that particular task easy, as there is genuinely little to like. Location is great, housekeeping faultless, and checkout smooth. Unfortunatelly the list of faults of this hotel is much longer: - the parking can best be described as inconveniently chaotic. Add to it a $27 daily fee and it's hard to not feel ripped off as you are literally paying to be inconvenienced by long waits to drop off and collect your vehicle, and a multiple-ticket come and go system. - the lifts require a coordinated and patient effort on the part of all waiting guests - the air temperature within the pool area is rarely comfortable and at times freezing, resulting in kids splashing about to the sound of teeth-chattering from winter-coat wrapped parents watching them from the poolside lounges. - the sauna and spa are currently closed under guise of covid social-distancing guidelines (unexplainable next to the directly adjoining people-dense soup that is the pool). This was particularly disapointing to multiple guests who had booked this hotel for the Canberra Marathon weekend hoping to soak their muscles in the spa post run. - our room sported the curious design of vanity inside the room instead of within the bathroom. That's right, the shower and toilet were in the bathroom, the vanity was separate to the bathroom, within the room itself, partitioned by thick clear glass like an odd control-room. - next to no closet space. 3 hangers directly above the kettle and tea/coffee. Like many others, I have stayed in multiple Novotel hotels around the world.and have always thought the chain to be dependable for basic comfort. Canberra Novotel has now proven me wrong.