Hotel Mantra on the Quay (Brisbane, Australia)

Nearby facilities include the ‘essentials'; a restaurant and a convenience store (downstairs - so couldn't be much closer). The riverside walk is an essential winding down area following a hectic day of business or sightseeing.

The room is clean and inviting and - if you're lucky - the view is truly impressive. On-site parking comes with a surcharge, but it's an option if needed. You can rent a car here if you're travelling without your own car.

Members of staff are friendly and helpful. It seems, though - and as the result of chats with other guests - that this assessment! Still, everyone has 'off days'. For the main part, they can't do enough to ensure that you enjoy your visit to maximum advantage.

It's an old building and the rooms are in keeping with this! Old and dated. The shower is ridiculously small and low and there's a tiny … really tiny ... screen on the only TV in the apartment.

Rooms here are individually owned, so some will be brilliant whilst others will be brimming with disappointment. Standards of decoration and maintenance vary considerably. At worst there are chipped tiles, no clothes hangers and a hot tub which is an argument in terms. Room sizes vary too; from the spacious and inspiring to small, sub-standard and disappointing.

If you draw the short straw with your accommodation, you'll feel, with some justification, that you've been grossly overcharged. The lack of daily cleaning and quite considerable parking charges, serve to rub salt into the wound.