Lily Sands Inn

Demanded an extra $25 upon checkin, I cancelled, they charged my card anyway and refused refund, that kind of action tells you a lot. Management/owners very rude and on verge of aggressive. Avoid this place at all cost.

Goods: location and somehow price, smooth check in check out but I am still waiting for the bond back. Good to know: Pretty basic, very small room with a tiny bed (way smaller than a queen). Paper thin walls, for cleaning you should requested before 10am, linens and towels won’t be changed unless you stay more than 7 days, communal kitchen with basics (not really clean) provided between 8am to 7 pm. Tea and coffee facilities provided in the room and communal kitchen. Free milk in the fridge. No safe or bar fridge in the rooms. Air condition provided. Bads: Paper thin walls which you can hear the people in the next door and it is annoying if they are drunk and use toilet every 10 minutes. Toilet and shower wasn’t cleaned professionally. Walls were covered with spider webs. Linen was not cleaned properly. Bed was tiny (smaller than a queen bed) and two people wouldn’t fit in. Elevator was to noisy and loud, communal microwave was not clean and some parts was melted! And more! Overall a dated property which has been renovated but not maintained regularly. Way overrated on booking.com and way far from a boutique hotel! Just a clean (in comparison) hustle.

The stay at this hotel was no worries. It was the customer service that was so displeasing. The person who checked us in accidentally charged us $100 for bond, rather than holding the charge to be released a couple of days later. This is okay - I understand that people make mistakes. However it was the way that this was dealt with that was quite disappointing. I called up and was told that I was incorrect in reading my bank statement and that I should call my bank, because there was no way that they would have charged me $100. When trying to explain that my account had been charged, I was interrupted and explained that "this happens a lot so just call your bank". I proceeded to call my bank, only for them to tell me what I already knew - the money had been charged & I need to lodge a dispute for being incorrectly charged. I called back politely explaining the situation (yes, I was polite!!) & that I was going to be lodging this claim through the bank, only to be interrupted AGAIN, this time speaking over me halfway through my explanation saying "Its Boxing day, there's nothing I can do now, send me your details and we will get to it". The condescending tone & inability to listen really irked me and I felt it was incredibly unprofessional. If you're going to stay here, just beware of the above!

Room was adequate and location was decent however this place is cheap for a reason. On check in the normal $100 bond was taken. When we checked out we made sure to check that the funds would be released as usual and were assured that it would happen within 5 business days. After 3 weeks of nothing and only after checking bank statements we found that the charge was erroneously put through instead of being held. When we called the person was incredibly condescending explaining that it was only a hold and not a charge, interrupting the whole way through and told us to contact the bank.

Room clean, small tv in room, coffee and tea facilities, close to Albert Park, close to Rising Sun Hotel and other eateries just off Clarendon st, trams nearby, if you need short stay basic no frills accomodations, Then good . Staff at front of desk seriously need to do training as it felt like Faulty Towers . As I said basic!