Katoomba Mountain Lodge

The man at the desk spoke very little English, hardly enough to discuss my booking. He charged more than he quoted, but I had to pay the higher price, or he wouldn't let me stay. I showed him the e-mails I'd taken as proof of my booking, but he couldn't or didn't want to read them. I showed the e-mails to the cleaner, who spoke better English. She explained to the man that he overcharged me. He said I must prove it first and reluctantly let me read the e-mails to him. I pointed to the price where he first quoted $19 then $20 per room. He said that was only for mixed. I pointed out where I requested an all-female dorm and the price per night, then pointed to his quoted price for such. He said he didn't know who wrote it and that it was wrong. I told him Ron wrote it and asked if I could speak to Ron. He said he was Ron, then said he didn't know what he wrote. He gave me a refund for the overcharged amount less $10 for a deposit on the key. That wasn't mentioned in the reply e-mails when I asked about any extra expenses. He wrote that everything was provided and there were no deposits to pay on anything. He did apologize to me for the mix-up as he called it and he and his family bent over backwards to help me after that. He agreed I could get my deposit back the night before I was leaving, because the office wouldn't be open. One backpacker told me Ron was notorious for raising his prices after the backpacker arrived. It seemed that Ron charged according to his whim. All the girls in my room were charged differently and we weren't YHA members. A number of other backpackers were discussing the same thing. I only had one sheet and had to ask for a top one. The place was clean, but the pots weren't and the room smelt musty. It was so strong, I almost choked. There were no cups in the kitchen and I used the one from my flask until his wife noticed and loaned me one. They did have free tea and coffee as they advertised, but there was only three tablespoons of coffee in a jar, half a dozen tea bags in another one and one cup of sugar in a third jar. The room was so cold, due to the unexpected freak weather change in the middle of summer that we all froze. Even the heater didn't help much. Ron only provided one very thin blanket to each bed, but he did give me a second one when I asked. They were coarse and prickled my skin. The kitchen opened too late to have breakfast before my walks and closed too early, so I couldn't make a cup of coffee after 8 p.m. I could never get my milk out of the fridge in the mornings before I went walking and had to eat my cereal dry. I couldn't even have a cup of coffee or fill my thermos before I left. Most of the walks are a long way out and I needed an early start. Taking food from the kitchen to the dining room was a pain. There was nowhere close to either door to put anything down. The door to the dining room was heavy and hard to open, especially with full hands. If I put one thing down on the floor for even one second to open the door with my free hand, then someone would bound up or down the stairs and step on it. The bedroom window opened onto the balcony and wouldn't lock. I had to leave it open at night to breath, but the smoke and stench of alcohol from the balcony filled the room, which defeated the purpose of a smoke-free atmosphere inside. The seating could have been rearranged so that they sat further away from the windows. The curtains were almost transparent, with a 10-centimeter gap in the middle. I had to pin them together and that gave us a bit of privacy. The people on the balcony were very noisy until 3 a.m. and the noisiest of them all was Ron and his family, despite the signs saying no one was to use the balcony after 10:30 p.m. in respect for others trying to sleep. Even the toddlers Ron's wife cared for were running around the balcony and crying until 3 am. One of my roommates almost lost her bed and if I hadn't been in the room at the time she would have. Ron didn't know who'd checked out and who was still there. There were two windows in the bathroom passersby could see through and only one of them could be covered. The other one wouldn't even shut and a cold wind blew through constantly. Every time I needed something that wasn't provided in the kitchen, or the use of the laundry, I'd have to go several times to the office to ask because Ron wasn't there and the other members of his family couldn't speak any English. I was shocked.

The man at the desk spoke very little English, hardly enough to discuss my booking. He charged more than he quoted, but I had to pay the higher price, or he wouldn't let me stay. I showed him the e-mails I'd taken as proof of my booking, but he couldn't, or didn't, want to read them. I showed the emails to the cleaner, who spoke better English. She explained to the man that he overcharged me. He said I must prove it first and reluctantly let me read the emails out to him. I pointed to the price where he first quoted $19 then $20 per room. He said that was only for mixed. I pointed out where I requested an all female dorm and the price per night, then pointed to his quoted price for such. He said he didn't know who wrote it and that it was wrong. I told him Ron wrote it and asked if I could speak to Ron. He said he was Ron, then said he didn't know what he wrote. He gave me a refund for the overcharged amount less $10 for a deposit on the key. That wasn't mentioned in the reply e-mails when I asked about any extra expenses. He wrote that everything was provided and there were no deposits to pay on anything. He did apologize to me for the mix-up as he called it and he and his family bent over backwards to help me after that. He agreed I could get my deposit back the night before I was leaving, because the office wouldn't be open. One backpacker told me Ron was notorious for raising his prices after the backpacker arrived. It seemed that Ron charged according to his whim. All the girls in my room were charged differently and we weren't YHA members. A number of other backpackers were discussing the same thing. I only had one sheet and had to ask for a top one. The place was clean, but the pots weren't and the room smelt musty. It was so strong I almost choked. There were no cups in the kitchen and I used the one from my flask until his wife noticed and loaned me one. They did have free tea and coffee as they advertised, but there was only 3 tablespoons of coffee in a jar, half a dozen tea bags in another one and one cup of sugar in a third jar. The room was so cold, due to the unexpected freak weather change in the middle of summer that we all froze. Even the heater didn't help much. Ron only provided one very thin blanket to each bed, but he did give me a second one when I asked. They were coarse and prickled my skin. The kitchen opened too late to have breakfast before my walks and too early, so I couldn't make a cup of coffee after 8 p.m. I could never get my milk out of the fridge in the mornings before I went walking and had to eat my cereal dry. I couldn't even have a cup of coffee or fill my thermos before I left. Most of the walks are a long way out and I needed an early start. Taking food from the kitchen to the dining room was a pain. There was nowhere close to either door to put anything down. The door to the dining room was heavy and hard to open, especially with full hands. If I put one thing down on the floor for even one second to open the door with my free hand, then someone would bound up or down the stairs and step on it. The bedroom window opened onto the balcony and wouldn't lock. I had to leave it open at night to breath, but the smoke and stench of alcohol from the balcony filled the room, which defeated the purpose of a smoke-free atmosphere inside. The seating could have been rearranged so that they sat further away from the windows. The curtains were almost transparent, with a 10-centimeter gap in the middle. I had to pin them together and that gave us a bit of privacy. The people on the balcony were very noisy until 3 a.m. and the noisiest of them all was Ron and his family despite the signs to say no one was to use the balcony after 10:30 p.m. in respect for others trying to sleep. Even the toddlers Ron's wife cared for were running around the balcony and crying up until 3 a.m. One of my roommates almost lost her bed and if I hadn't been in the room at the time she would have. Ron didn't know who'd checked out and who was still there. There were two windows in the bathroom passersby could see through and only one of them could be covered. The other one wouldn't even shut and a cold wind blew through constantly. Every time I needed something that wasn't provided in the kitchen or the use of the laundry, I'd have to go several times to the office to ask because Ron wasn't there and the other members of his family couldn't speak any English.