I was back in Perth for the week and after my last stay at the lack lustre Duxton and previously the site of the world’s most expensive beer, the Sheraton Four Points, I decided to give another hotel on our Perth list a try. Of this year’s shortened list I chose the Mantra on Murray.
Mantra on Murray, Perth, Australia
First impressions – the location is decent with many bars and restaurants close by and a 15 minutes walk to the office, but the impressions of the hotel itself once you get inside were not stellar. It was very easy to tell this wasn’t a classy hotel. The reception desk office area oddly had two rather larger industrial air conditioners jury rigged in the middle office area – looked very dodgy. In hindsight I know why there were there. More on that later!
Checkin was efficient and I was on my way to my room in less that 5 minutes.
Up in the lift to the 4th floor and the lift doors open to heat that would not have been out of place in a blast furnace. It was uncomfortably hot and no wonder they resorted to the portable air conditioners in the reception area.
Initial impressions of the room were that it was ok. On the largish side with two seater couch & coffee table, desk, double bed and a small galley kitchen.
Two downsides that quickly became apparent
- the room just wasn’t clean enough
- The bed side table wasn’t cleaned and had rings from whatever was placed there from the previous occupant
- Massive smudge, that looked like a handprint, on the window
- Carpet needed a much better vacuum
- The previous occupant’s hair was still on the tiles in the shower YUCK!!!!
- the air conditioning unit (one of those reverse cycle contraptions) that was mounted under the window was the most complicated thing I’ve ever tried to set. In the end pretty much all I could do was set it to be always on at the lowest temperature. But that said it had a mind of it’s own and started to turn on and off randomly later on in my stay.
The bed was ok but the pillows were cheap and nasty and I needed to use 3 to get any support. My sleep was ok but fitful throughout the week.
On the plus side the shower, despite being an in the bath type and the extra human hairs :), had excellent water pressure and temperature. Made it very easy to wake up in the shower.
Checkout efficiency was similar to the checkin and was completed in 5 minutes and I was on my way to the airport without a hassle. Notably the hotel staff didn’t ask if I enjoyed my stay – maybe they get too many negative comments.
All in all, the Mantra on Murray would be a decent 2.5 or 3 star hotel… but I’ve already booked the Four Points for my next trip 🙂