Reading Length: Grab ‘n’ Go Coffee
Davin Reporting!
Since we are now leaving Sydney, I wanted to take a moment to discuss our lodgings during our time here at “Glenferrie Lodge”. I originally picked this place because of its location, which is very good. It’s located only a short ferry ride across the bay from Circular Quay.
The rooms were nice enough, and the wifi worked decently. There was also a nice lounge which included a microwave, as well as plates and silverware. There was an included breakfast which was decent as breakfasts go, but the best thing about the lounge was that it allowed you to reheat leftover takeout food. The lounge was open until 10 P.M. so it was pretty much always available.
Now, with all the pros behind me, there were two major issues with this hotel. First of all, it had no AC in the room. The temperature in the room constantly hovered around 82 to 83 degrees Fahrenheit, with a decent amount of humidity. The only way I was able to sleep was by throwing all of the covers off the bed, including the sheet, lying with my head at the foot of the bed, so I was located more underneath the ceiling fan, and sleeping with no shirt on!
The second problem was that this place had shared bathrooms. In terms of using the bathroom, that actually wasn’t too bad for us, as we were right across the hall from a small bathroom. Other rooms were located further away, and I think I’d have not been as pleased if I had to make a long walk down the hallway whenever I had to use the restroom during the night (for whatever reason, that is usually multiple times).
Unfortunately, our small bathroom had a couple of issues. It had a shower built into it, when it was really too small for it. That meant instead of a full sized sink, it had only a small basin. To make matters worse, the faucet’s lever was very sensitive, and its aerator was too powerful, which meant as soon as you turned it on, water came blasting out with such force that it splattered out all over the floor, or right up into the air and all over your face!
As a result of this, the floor in here was wet nearly all the time, which was rather unpleasant, especially if you were using it in bare feet during the night. I actually made it a practice to dry the floor using my towel every night before going to bed. I’m not sure the maid staff appreciated my doing that, because it made the towel very dirty to the point where I wonder if it could possibly be cleaned. But it was the only way to make the bathroom less disgusting, so I have no qualms about it!
The truth is, this small bathroom should not have had a shower placed in it. The shower was awkward to get into and out of due to the size, anyway, and there were plenty of other showers located in other areas of the building. Without a shower the bathroom could have accommodated a full sized sink, solving the water problems. At the very least, in the current configuration, the aerator in the faucet should be exchanged for one with a much lower flow rate to prevent water from spraying everywhere when you turned it on.
There were other negatives of shared bathrooms, such as coming in and finding urine on the toilet seat, or finding the toilet had not been flushed. Overall the situation was bearable and it didn’t detract much from our experience, but I think we got lucky with having a bathroom right across the hall. In the future I will be more fastidious about avoiding shared bathrooms, especially in places where I am staying for more than a single night.
Even as far as location goes, if you’re staying in Sydney, I’d look for a place close to one of the train lines into the city. The train ran pretty well, in my experience, so even if you have to go out a few stops, you’ll still only be a few minutes from the city.
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