ozstamps

Yep, our thoughts exactly.

And one assumes a certain standard for Mercures.

Not in Hobart, that's for sure.

The huge plus of flying down to see things first hand.

Glen

ozstamps

Indeed. ^

Tom kindly drove me up there once on one of my many day layovers in SFO.

In fact we have another one coming up in a few weeks Tom.

One other time I was in Tahoe I popped into Incline Vaillge as the houses looked "nice".

Little wonder:

http://www.lakeshorerealty.com/properties.asp

Glen

serfty

We had made a (flexible) booking for a suite via Advantage +. However, our daughter spent two days there last month and came back with a surpising report - consistant with ozstamps's. She works in the industry for Ramada so I respect her opinion. I cancelled the booking and booked Wrest point Tower instead.

I was going to mention all this here at the appropriate time but have been beaten to it.

(FWIW, I would punt that Glen had a prepaid/nonrefundable issue.)

ozstamps

Ross .. no did not have a no refund issue with Mercure. Just HATED it! What a dump.

So swapped. @:-)

Remember the Wrest Point Casino is a lonnnnnnng ways from anywhere downtown. Unless you have a car you are screwed pretty much if over there.

We went there Friday night to see John Williamson in concert .. most entertaining I must say.

Glen

serfty

Not really - it's no further than Rose bay or St. Kilda from Sydney or Melbourne CBD's respectively.

I've stayed at many HBA places and Wrest point in Sandy bay is fine. It used to be a Choice Hotels property and I've stayed at all three 'venues' there - gleaning many reward points.

True you need a car, that why I've booked one; parking is simple and easy at that hotel. (Worst case is I may just park it there for the two days and use it for Airport transfers only).

Aus_Mal

Yep that was exactly my opinion from my stay there a cpl of years ago. Unlike St.Kilda, there is nothing to do in the immediate area and I hate catching taxis everywhere even to get something reasonable to eat (casino food excluded!). The walk into Hobart is pleasant - although about 30 mins I think. I'd much prefer to be in the city area - maybe the Grand Chancellor or similar hotel in that area?

TIMP

Grand Chancellor is boring and getting a little tired...try the Old Woolstore - their rooms are nice (have seen inside a couple), or Henry Jones.
(I'd offer my place except I dont think I can fit 20 odd FTers in my very small spare room!)

TIMP

Ah yes, our blink and you miss it rush hour. HOWEVER we just need one lane on the bridge closed and things go haywire....(or a crane falling over the edge as happened a couple of weeks ago).

ozstamps

Agree 100%. Chancellor LOOKS far grander of course from the outside. As you know they adjoin each other, and are both on that waterfront strip. Henry Jones far more pricey of course.

We had a good look at Chancellor rooms of various types and 5 different Old Woolstore rooms that we did not stay in.

We stayed at Old Woolstore for a few nights and it was great.

Historic old building with ~250 new rooms.

The main building was only built a few years back, and maintenance and inclusions are right up to date.

Most important for many FT'ers is they just dropped their 24 hour WiFi or use in lobby internet rate to $5 a day -- the lowest paid rate I have ever seen anywhere in the world. Chancellor is $27.50 a DAY. That's near $100 saving if we stay 4 days - and no internet cafés anywhere close to there.

Parking costs at Chancellor, and is free at Woolstore.

Also many rooms at Woolstore have full size fridges, microwaves, ceramic hotplates, dishwashers, washers and driers in them, and they can be pre-booked if needed. For anyone staying 3 or 4 days that is most useful at times. @:-)


Glen

TIMP

Also - the Woolstore doesnt really suffer from "pretension" syndrome that GC does....they know what they do, and they do it well.
There are internet cafes in Hobart - but not a street level. Have no clue about the costs, I can however find out.

ozstamps

TIMP ... yes that was how it looked to us. Quiet achievers.

The nearest web Cafe is wayyyyyy down in the middle of Salamanca strip, quite a walk for a quick email check, and is $5 an hour.

So the $5 all day/24 hour deal is most useful.

They have computers in lobby by lifts, or use WiFi on your own laptop.

Glen

TIMP

hmmm - I think there is one in Elizabeth street mall upstairs... I'll have a check when I get back next week.

QF WP

That glowing report of The Woolstore from ozstamps seals the deal for me - why stay anywhere else?? I also highly respect serfty's comments (or that of his daughter).

I suppose I'll just have to cool my fettish for collecting stays at one of my freq guest programs for a couple of nights .

The rooms sounds excellent, as we'll have a 15 month old by that stage and some of those whitegoods will be a must.

ozstamps

Lindsay, the deal I am trying to set up would allow for essentially 1 bedroom suite type deals, for only $30 or $40 more than a basic room.

The most helpful groups co-ordinater came back with a rate already, and I hope we can get that lowered a little more, so as they can secure most if not all of our bookings. It is a most central place to stay.

That's where we stayed and it really was excellent. I was tempted to launder some clothes whilst down there.

You get a dining table (not shown in these photos), work desk, lounge and coffee table etc, plus a full kitchen, with a separate bedroom room. And a little balcony.

These photos were of the living room/kichen area of the exact room we were in:

http://www.oldwoolstore.com.au/images/rooms/1bed/3.jpg
http://www.oldwoolstore.com.au/images/rooms/1bed/2.jpg

Glen

ozstamps

And as an aside for some, The Old Woolstore had the most attractive room service charges I've ever encountered in a larger city CBD.

$15 a main meal each, and $20 for a bottle of bubbly.

Not only are they low, but they are TOTAL figures. Not the all too usual "20% Gratuity automatically added", weekend surcharge, flat per room room service surcharge etc, etc, that generally takes a $50 bill to $70.

No big deal, but a nice plus we found, and very welcome to feel you are not being royally fleeced, which is usually something Flyertalkers appreciate avoiding.

I think local phone calls were free as well. Again no big deal, but I made quite a few, so a clear saving.

Unlike the crummy reviews I found and posted above on tripadvisor for the Mercure, (confirmed by TIMP and serfty) the reviews on this place were glowing:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev..._Tasmania.html

As you can see a lot of reviews, and a common comment was rooms all new and well maintained, and LARGE. Which for a multi night stay is a large plus.

Glen