Balmoral House

The most disorganised, weird place ive ever stayed in
nobody knows whats going on, its dirty, there are mice also sleeping in the bedrooms, wandering under the doors from room to room, which is disgusting. sadly we paid for a week upfront so had to stick it out. take my advice and stay away. also the weird man giving out about the dishes every night -- who the hell is he anyway?

On December 21, 2005 we contacted the Balhouse Apartments, 33 Costin Street, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane City, Queensland, 4006, by email from their website after seeing them listed on your website. The owner Barry Thomson responded quickly and we exchanged several emails. We engaged a twin room for 24 days with free pickup from the airport (as website stated). Mr. Thomson emailed no deposit was necessary and our booking was confirmed. He instructed us to phone from the airport for pick-up and provided the phone number. Upon arrival at Brisbane Airport I called the phone number that was provided and was told that no one was available to pick us up. I told the person that Mr. Thomson had told us to call for pick-up. He said Mr. Thomson was gone and no one was available and all we needed to do was catch the bus there to check-in. We went to arrange the bus and the agent told us that they did not go to Balhouse Apartments and we needed to go to Balmoral House to check-in. I called back and the same person finally told me the bus agent was correct and we should get the bus to Balmoral House and he would check us in and then transport us to Balhouse Apartments. We took the bus to Balmoral house he told us we had no reservation and a twin room was not available so he put us in to a double and then took us to Balhouse Apartments. We entered the room and he left after telling us a resident person in room 13 would help us if we needed anything. We looked around the room and found it was filthy dirt and the bathroom was even dirtier. There were several live roaches in the corners. We decided to find other accommodations. We found the resident person and explained that the accommodations were unacceptable so he called the man at Balmoral House and explained it to him. He gave me the cell phone and I re-explained it and told him that we were finding other accommodations and would leave the key with the resident person. He agreed to that and to crediting our credit card. I did not ask for the $20.00 cash deposit for the key to be returned. Since returning to the United States we have found that our account was not credited. I have sent four emails to the owner Barry Thomson and received NO REPLY and our account still has not been credited.

We stayed in a dorm room, which was dirty and drab, and although it had bars on the windows they opened out onto the street and we couldn't lock them. Also there were no curtains. The kitchen facilities are ok, but the hostel is run down and in need of decoration. We didn't have an en suite bathroom, which seems the norm here, and the shared bathrooms were filthy, covered in grime that looked like it had been there for weeks. We checked out the next morning as quickly as possible.

A great place to stay that is quiet in Brisbane. I stayed here for two nights and the owner is an incredibly helpful guy. He showed us how to get around. This is a great place to stay if you are going to be in Brisbane for a while.

Nice manager, but very rude and disorganized staff. Poor housekeeping.

Very nice staff and good rooms. I can really recommend this place.