Possibly quite a shit hotel

At Penultimo we don’t feel the need to defend everything in this suburb. Occasionally some things in Ultimo are just plain crap, and in some ways this makes us like it more. We stumbled across reviews of Ultimo’s old Aspire Hotel (formerly the Aspen) by accident, and ever since we’ve been chasing down these reviews for the pure joy of reading the ANGST expressed by some hotel visitors. Admittedly, often the reviews tell us more about the reviewers, than the hotel. Here are a few examples:

In May 2010, a family with teenagers said:

“You would be better if you spent a few more dollars and stayed at another closer-in hotel. This hotel is old, musty, and tired. Location is not near any downtown shops or the Sydney harbor. You would need to take the monorail every time you want to go downtown. Whomever rated this as Excellent, must be out of their minds! Seriously, if you got children, don’t stay here….on the weekends it may become a “party place” for the near by college students - seriously! Carpet old, bathroom old, beds sag so much, and the rooms have a moldy smell…..”

Also in May 2010, a couple said:

“We stayed for 3 nights and if I hadn’t already paid via Wotif we would have walked … Because they had squeezed a king into a small space I only had a bout 6 inches between the bed and wall to get out. I asked for a deluxe room and our friends had a standard.Our room was marginally better at least we had a duvet on the bed , they had woollen blankets and those horrible patterned bedspreads … Our room was at the back and we looked straight into someone’s flat … The bathrooms were tiny and I can’t even begin to describe the vanity unit.the toilet seat was round and the toilet oval so the seat didn’t even fit it properly, The walls a thin and we had a noisy child next door …” 

In December 2009, a couple (with some melon issues) said:

“Our room was dark and shabby.The bathroom was dirty and mouldy and fluorescent light over washbasin full of flies and one tube out completely. Bedcover stained. We were given another room but had a brick wall to look at. There is a square outside area surrounded by a wall and a roof above. No outside furniture is provided so cannot sit out. No outside garden areas or terraces to sit and the hotel lobby is depressing. We were told to take our own cases to the room on arrival but the man behind the reception desk eventually pushed the trolley into the lift and took us to our room. Each day we had to ask for another handtowel as we always received 2 bath towels, one bathmat, and only one handtowel. We were told these facilities were “outsourced” so the hotel did not control them. Breakfast was very poor with just cheap melon cut too near the skin which made it hard. The cooked breakfast was cold and the floor not cleared of spilled cereals. The area for eating had a very dirty acrylic roof over part of it - not very nice. … The toaster was antique….” 

In July 2009, a group of New Zealanders said:

“We booked couple nights there because of the discounted rate and the location is not too far away from city central. It turned out that the cleanliness is much poorer that most of the backpackers or hostel. We found blood on the sheet cover, holes and stains on the blank and the bedding sheets do not look clean white as well, we found hair on it, it’s very disgusting, we wanted to cancel the next night but considering the non-refundable cancellation policy, we slept with pyjama all nights and I swear it’s the most disgusting place you will never want to visit. Their air-conditioner is not working, we felt so bad luck but found out our neighbour’s showerhead is broken as well, seems every room has some problems.Strongly NOT recommended!!!!”