The Calile Hotel

How to ruin an experience - go and meet the calile. The hotel is nice, location is great, the rooms are nicely done. If that was everything to mention, then it would be fantastic, unfortunately, the hotel is everything else then up to standard when it comes to service. As a hotel guest paying a rate in excess of AU$700 per night, one would expect to be treated at least to that standard. In contrast I got pushed around as the hotel is trying to increase revenue from F & B, meaning that a booking for lunch for hotel guest was restricted to two hours without mentioning that at the booking. This is exceptionally rude and not acceptable, as well as for breakfast. Showing up at nine on Sunday there’s plenty of room and only four hotel rooms have breakfast bookings. Instead of giving the guest the possibility to enjoy breakfast I got pushed out after 45 minutes, hearing a lot of blah blah about last-minute bookings that were excepted (interesting excuse honestly, accepting bookings, knowing that there is hotel guests at a table, trying to enjoy breakfast and forgetting about the rudeness of the previous day), and hearing some apologies that do not help at all. All in all I can say if you want to feel treated well and be appreciated as a guest you should not consider to stay at this hotel. If you want to stay in Fortitude Valley under a known brand, regardless of how you get treated for sure this is the right spot to go. As a last detail about service quality, I may also include a picture of a bug that when I left my hotel room for breakfast was laying there on the ground and on my return will still there even after several Hotel employees have passed by. I understand that this is a very common creature for Australia and seen in many places especially in situations when it is raining, nevertheless, not having it cleared out from employees passing by seems rather inappropriate for a hotel that claims to be top-notch and first class.

Rooms are nice. The use of cork is a good idea but seems to have been executed poorly here as the thin sheets are already peeling off the walls. We went to the poolside restaurant after checking in because I was hungry and needed food due to pregnancy. There was nobody at the desk so we walked in to look for a menu only to be pounced on minutes later and spoken to like we were trying to rob the place. They seated us and walked away. After 10 minutes, no service, not able to hear each other over the loud music, and feeling unhappy we got up and left. We found a great little pub with good food and a better crowd across the road. As the large crowds had dispersed about 6pm we decided to go for a swim. We tried to order a beer. The first thing we were told was that you need to provide your phone number in order to order a beer. Then she said she just needed the room number which seemed a little more appropriate. About 35 minutes later a beer finally arrived with no bill. The guy seemed confused that he was being asked for a bill for the beer. Shortly after what looked like a manager came over with a bill but instead of any kind of apology she came with a lecture about the rules stating that they don't do poolside service after 6pm. I'm baffled by the reviews of others regarding the pool and view. It's a basic rectangular pool with limited space around it and no view. Decent decor and average sunbeds. The view from the rooms over the pool is of various building roofs. The pastry selection for breakfast room service consisted of two croissants. The check-in and checkout staff were lovely. However, it's definitely not a place worthy of a return visit, and that's before the consideration of the premium price.