Hotel Review: QT Canberra Hotel, Australian Capital Territory


Australian Capital Territory / Hotel Review

Heading off to the Australian capital Canberra most people look at you with bemusement and ask the question why? What most people don’t realise is that there is plenty to see and do in Canberra and it all doesn’t have to be full of political drib drab. However whilst staying in Canberra there is a hotel that offers a funky approach to politics with the politically inspired QT Canberra hotel.

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QT Canberra Hotel at a glance

Price: $124.00 per night
Car Parking: Self Parking $12 per day
Floor/Room: 7 – 715 (Standard Room)
Rewards Programme: Priority Guest Rewards

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QT Canberra is located in an ideal location in central Canberra right across the street from Lake Burleigh Griffin and only a short stroll into the city centre, everything you need is extremely close by. Even if politics is not your thing Canberra is still an amazing place to visit. Not only that, even if you cannot stand the site of our countries leaders, you cannot help but be amazed by the amount of effort that has gone into turning this hotel into a hip and trendy politically inspired home away from home.

On entering the hotel lobby you are greeted by a modern simplistic layout; the reception check-in desk is very subtle and you have to think twice as to whether you check in here or if it’s where you go to be seated for the restaurant. It’s here where you begin to see the quirkiness of the hotel with a mosaic wallpaper of Australian political leaders, which in this current climate of Australian political history would need to be updated quite regularly. One side of a wall in the lobby is depicted by Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott, around the corner on the other wall it features John Howard, Bob Hawke, Goth Whitlam, Julie Bishop, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott again.

When heading up to your room for the first time in one of the three lifts, if you’re not ready for it you might get a little bit of a shock. Each lift has a large image of a person printed on the wall holding a camera pointed straight at you. Certainly made me jump the first time the lift doors opened.

The quirkiness of the building doesn’t stop once you reach your room, most things in the room are for sale including the cushions, wall art and the cocktail mixing set prominently on display near the window. There is an extensive mini bar selection which also includes silly items such as a Domino set, emergency Bow Tie, Spy Kit and playing cards.

The room I stayed in for three nights was a standard room on the seventh floor near the lifts with a balcony and a city view. It can get a little noisy next to the lifts so if you are planning on staying here and are able to request a room away from the lifts then it is in your best interests to do so, however having said that it wasn’t too bad. The view overlooks one of Canberra’s many large roundabouts, this one with its prominent flag pole proudly displaying the ACT flag. Rooms on the other side of the building overlook the man made Lake Burleigh Griffin.

The location of the hotel is ideal for close proximity to the city centre, each night we would stroll a couple of blocks away for dinner and on Australia Day eve when the Australia Day concert was being held on the lawns of Parliament House we were able to take a leisurely stroll across the lake up past the Treasury buildings and then past Old Parliament House to see the end of Paul Kelly’s performance.

We were able to use the hotel as a base for exploring beyond Canberra and the ACT by taking in the sites in the Snowy Mountains region of NSW right down to the Victorian border made up of the Murray River. Some places of interest include the Thredbo ski village where you can hike to the summit of Australia’s highest mountain Mount Kosciusko, the town of Jindabyne and exploring the region to grasp the scale of how massive the Snowy Hydro scheme was and its influence on Australia. Of course to do any of this you will need to get yourself a hire car with the one way journey taking in excess of two hours.

The hotel offers guests on site parking for a fee, it wasn’t made clear at check-in how much car parking would cost. On entry to the car park there is a sign stating that guest parking is $12. The question at the end of the stay for us was going to be is that $12 for the entire stay or $12 per night (probably a good question to ask when checking in). Turns out it was per night, over three nights that’s $36, ouch!

Overall the hotel stay at QT Canberra was an enjoyable one, whilst there we ordered the burger from the room service menu after a long day out which wasn’t the greatest (or most cost effective) but it is an affordable place to base yourself right in the heart of the capital of Australia while feeling like staying in an upmarket often quirky and trendy hotel.

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Just your average guy doing his 9 - 5 job as a Senior Payroll Officer by day, writing about his travel adventures and hopefully giving you inspiration and ideas for your next travel adventure here at loneXplorer...

Comments

  1. Ralph Kiko Says: March 29, 2017 at 1:11 pm

    Great review and photos Dan. I feel transported to the actual hotel with your words and images. You certainly chose the right word for the hotel, it is very quirky. The elevators make a great topic to start a conversation too.

    Can you tell me about the hotel’s other amenities? Are they any good? I hope they are, I already feel inspired to choose this hotel but I want to know more about the essentials but I am guessing they already have that covered.

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