What a lovely place to stay. On my last trip to Australia I stayed at a “Big Chain, Big name” hotel. The previous hotel may of had unlimited in house movies, but it provided no in house personality. However at Cremorne Point manor I was charmed by the staff, not only on my first greet- but throughout my stay. Even the breakfast staff greeted me with that Warm Australian charm, and advised me on places to visit that would excite a local. Well done Cremorne Point Manor, and see you next year!

From the middle of December to the middle of January we stayed in twelve establishments ranging from the Hilton (AU$180/night) & Marriott (AU$220/night) to a pub (AU$80/night).

We booked a room at the Cremorne Point Manor because the web site led us to believe that this place is “something special”. If only this were true. It was the most expensive and worst “hotel” (or rooming-house) that we stayed in stayed in during our month long visit to Australia.

So to the facts: My wife and I were charged AU$1465.00 for a five night stay over the New Year period for a King Size “en suite” room. And this is what we got:

• The room’s original dimensions were 3.2m x 4m (10.5ft x 16ft). Into one corner of this was built the “en suite” which measured 1m x 2.5 m (3ft x 7.5).
• The room was furnished with a king size bed; a double wardrobe 0.5m x 2m ; one chair; one low chest of drawers; and a single bed (not requested & under the only windo into the room.) but it did give us a place to put our suitcases. The distance between the left side of the bed and the wall was 0.5m (18inches) likewise the foot of the bed and the wardrobe.
• The “luxury en suite” consisted of a toilet, wash-basin and shower. It had a sliding door hung on the outside of the partition wall. There was a tiny fitted unit under the basin for the hairdryer and spare loo roll but no horizontal surfaces on which to put one’s toiletries bag, except the floor. The shaving light switch was broken, but could be made to work by waggling it. The vaunted luxury cosmetics were the usual cheap hotel variety.
• The flat screen TV hung untidily on the wall immediately outside the shower/toilet, with all the sockets and cables exposed below.
• The left-hand side of wardrobe had four shelves, one of which held the small refrigerator plugged into a multipoint extension, and another the kettle and tea making items were located on shelves in the wardrobe and the kettle had to be boiled in side it. On the other side hanging space was very limited, with the clothes facing outwards.
• The room furnishings were generally tired looking. The carpet was grey with a one inch rectangular grid of whitish spots.
• The breakfast that was provided was a DIY affair, consisting of fruit juice (small tumblers); sliced bread & a toaster; cereals & milk; tea /coffee (good) and a bowl of tinned fruit cocktail that some times had some fresh fruit added to it. On the 2nd of January the uneaten tinned peaches were put out for a second day.
The breakfast “room” is an area of about 10 square meters into which are crammed 9 small tables and 18 chairs. It is located at the back of the first floor. There are no views. Movement between the breakfast bar & any table could only be achieved with difficulty. Remember that there are 30 rooms in this establishment!
• The only communal seating area was on the two verandas overlooking the road or around three garden type tables and chairs put in the back courtyard.

So was there anything good about it? Yes the location.
Would I ever stay there again? No.
Overall conclusion: This is a large rooming house putting itself forward as a bijou hotel and failing miserably while charging 5 star prices.

It is a nice, clean and well located boutique hotel. Our room (Queen Manor Ensuite) was quite small but in general everything seemed well maintained and at the time of our visit the interiors looked practically brand-new. It is not a hotel with a view but the surrounding is very nice and quiet. A few minutes walk along some kind of coastal/cliff park (nice place by itself) and you can get to a ferry stop situated almost opposite to the opera house - visit this place at night and you be amazed with the view. The ferries are very frequent and the trip to the main tourist harbour area takes only few minutes. It is really a perfect locations to avoid all the busy city troubles and have them within your reach if needed. Some minor problems: wireless Internet did not work also for us and if you want to have a really peaceful stay do insist on a room different than a street-front one (especially on the ground floor). The reason is not the street traffic (negligible) but a veranda where some chairs are placed. It looks like the hotel is popular among elderly people and they tend to wake up quite early. There is also a platform for feeding the birds in front of the hotel and some parrots were extremely noisy. Overall, this was not a major problem so we did not complain and we definitely enjoyed our stay.

What a great place to stay & relax. Close to the city but still quiet & comfotable. The owners have done a magnificent job refurbishing the Manor. Would recommend to anyone wanting an enjoyable comfortable place to stay while exploring the city.