Ibis Hotels in Thornleigh

First: the good. The reception staff were lovely, friendly and helpful. The air conditioning worked well and the room was quiet. The not-so-good: I found the bed very uncomfortable and woke up with a back ache. Just one rather flat pillow too. I know mattress firmness is an individual thing and maybe some people find these beds comfortable, but not me. The actual bad: there were no bedside tables in the room. I’ve never ever stayed at a hotel with no bedside tables before. I was travelling with my mum who needs to use a CPAP machine and she had to push her bed across the room so she could use the built-in desk by the window to rest and plug in her machine. The bathroom was a weird sort of dropped-in prefabricated quarter-circle that you have to step up into, and the shower floor was plastic and spongy and felt like I was going to fall through. There was a sign in the bathroom warning us that steam from the shower could set off the smoke alarms and if that happened we would be liable for the fire brigade call-out fee of $1500. Despite this there was no extractor fan in the bathroom! There was also a sign asking us not to boil the kettle under the smoke alarm for the same reason. But that’s where they keep the kettle… The room also had an unpleasant musty smell, like the carpets had got wet and mouldy. We tried to open the window for fresh air but it was so noisy we had to close it again. So here are my suggestions for making this hotel a more pleasant place to stay: Add some bedside tables. Even just one to share between the two beds. Get the carpets cleaned, or replaced. Change the smoke alarms. Most smoke alarms aren’t triggered by shower steam! Replace the pillows, or at least have more than one per bed. I acknowledge that this is a budget hotel and a no-frills approach is expected, but I’ve stayed in much cheaper places that were much more comfortable and welcoming!