Avoca Randwick by Sydney Lodges

The main advantage of this place is its location. It's a five mins walk to Randwick light rail station. Randwick light rail station is the last stop also. The place is right opposite to two hospitals. As a foreign tourist, I find this place safe, quiet, and easy to access by light rail transport. Coles and Woolworth's supermarkets are ten minute walk from this place. A good location if your children are studying at UNSW as it is one rail stop to UNSW High Street. You can also walk to UNSW from Randwick light rail station (15 mins walk). Please note there are no lifts in this place. Hence you will need to carry your own check-in luggage. There are no bell boys to do this. The kitchen is shared and so is the laundry. You will need to use three one-dollar coins for the washing machine and three one-dollar coins for the dryer. You may need to use the dryer twice hence you will need to spend A$6 on drying your dress. The reception will help you with changing your notes to coins. You need to use your own washing powder and fabric softener. There are lots of eateries around this place including KFC, Oporto, manoosh pizza, and MacDonald to name a few. Rooms are cleaned only once a week. You will need to help yourself with fresh towels that are placed in the common area. For someone from Singapore like myself, this is a very odd culture for a Hotel. Parking is pain and this place doesn't provide one. It will cost you A$ 50 per day for an over night parking. Wilson Parking is close by at Ritz cinema if you want to park your rent a car. I guess that's how it is here in Sydney. Overall a good place to stay and the location is the best part of this stay.

I rang to confirm where to park and was told there was no parking - when u pressed saying the website said parking was available they then agreed that there was limited parking. Then arriving at the hotel I asked again (they told me I had to check in first) they told me again there is no parking then again pressed that the website says it is free and they again said it was limited. This website should be uodates to no carparking or very limited parking at another location. Otherwise the staff were nice enough and the bed was super comfortable.

Pros: 1. Avoca Lodge served its purpose as a comfortable place to stay. It was clean and tidy and the bed and pillows were pretty comfortable. 2. There is a communal area for cooking and laundry which is cool and was relatively clean. 3. Lots of cafes and restaurants in walking distance. Cons: 1. The mini fridge was so small they may as well not bother to have one - a dinner plate doesn’t even fit in it. 2. I checked in just before 4, and although it seemed smooth, my door wouldn’t unlock. The receptionist left the property just before 4 and so it took about 15 minutes of phone calls back and forth to have it sorted which was annoying. It would have been good if the receptionist stayed on site for an extra few minutes to make sure I could actually get in instead of run out before I could even get upstairs to the door. All the room doors are touch key entry which seems fancy, but sometimes an actual key is better. 3. Again the fridge in the common area was small (like a bar fridge) and was packed with stuff so not really useful. Would have been better to have a proper sized fridge for the common area Otherwise it was a comfortable, clean, and affordable place to stay for a short time in a great location.

Great location, very clean and well managed. Friendly and helpful staff. Shared kitchen is very small so don’t plan for cooking on site.

Location is fine. Easy to access. Instructions for check in was easy. Clean room, but small. I was in room 107. Major down fall is how noisy it is. I am a light sleeper, and there was just too much noise. Kitchen is directly opposite the room, and although it says 8-8pm, people use it well outside of these hours. I could hear everyone talk, quite clearly! If it wasn’t for the noise issue, I would have rated it higher. But we need sleep? On a holiday …

Good location Easy access to public transport Rooms were comfortable and had all extras we needed except safes

It was a very short walk, 4-5 mins from Prince of Wales Hospital. Very comfy king bed. Clean, tidy and quiet.