Mantra on Northbourne

nice big rooms and a seperate living area and a balcony with a pool

I’ve stayed at several Mantra hotels before and have become accustomed to a certain standard, but Mantra on Northbourne Canberra was a huge letdown. One of the most frustrating parts was the surge pricing. While we were looking at booking options, we watched the price go up twice in just half an hour. When we called the staff to try and lock in a price, they seemed uninterested and not particularly helpful. They asked us to sign up for their loyalty program so they could lock in the pricing, but when I signed up, they actually quoted me a higher price than what was being shown on the website as their standard rate. When we pointed this out, they just told us to book it on the website instead. We booked three one-bedroom apartments, and from the moment we arrived, the place felt tired and neglected. The rooms were dated with worn-out furniture. One of the rooms even smelt like cigarette smoke, and all we were given was some air freshener to deal with it. The bathrooms weren’t properly cleaned, and the shower pressure was barely a trickle. We also asked if they could do a better rate on the daily parking since we had three vehicles, but they simply said no and that was the end of the conversation—no effort to help or provide any flexibility. To make matters worse, on our second night we returned to find the car park completely full. When we raised the issue that we had paid for parking and there were no spaces available, the staff couldn’t have cared less. Despite the reasonably high rate, there was no servicing of the room during our stay, and the tea, coffee, and towels provided were VERY minimal. For what we paid, this felt really disappointing. There’s also an extensive list in the room of what NOT to do to avoid setting off the fire alarm, because if you do, you’ll be charged $1400. Included in this list were things like dust and cooking fumes—apparently, even making a simple meal could trigger the alarm. Here’s an idea: clean the place properly so there’s minimal dust, and install proper ventilation so the alarm doesn’t go off. The street noise made it hard to sleep, and overall, the experience was far below what I expect from a Mantra property. For the price we ended up paying, I expected much better. Honestly, I can’t believe this is a Mantra property. I won’t be returning, and I’d recommend looking elsewhere if you want a comfortable and fairly-priced stay in Canberra.