Hotel in zona National Zoo and Aquarium, Molonglo Valley

Days 10 and 11 of our 20-day trip and we were returning to Jamala after an absence of 8 years. On that earlier trip, the place had been open for a year and a bit and was in the middle of development and expansion. Then, we'd aimed for the lions but were allocated the big bear. I stayed in the cheetah room the first night which included a session the following day for just the two of us (patting and feeding) and she stayed in the bear room. Second night, we moved to the giraffe room. It was a great stay and the huge bear was the highlight. Sadly, the bear died a while later and that room is now one of the two tiger rooms. We were very keen to return and see if we could stay with the lions this time. The deal is that they won't guarantee that you'll get what you ask for so, this time, I rang in mid-July for an early November stay. I advised that we'd really like to stay with the lions and the tigers on a 2-night visit and was told that it couldn't be guaranteed. However, they advised that, because nobody had booked for our dates yet, they would note our booking for the lions and tigers as ”First request” but, still, with no guarantees. The day before we were due to arrive, we received an email advising that we'd been allocated the tigers and we were delighted but a little disappointed that we'd missed out on the lions. However, next morning, we received another email advising that we'd been allocated the lions for our second night. Wow, major excitement ! Whilst you're invited to arrive for welcome and afternoon tea from 1pm, you can arrive earlier, drop your luggage at the lodge and wander around the zoo. So, we did. The first tour for new guests starts at 1.45 and the guides do a talk and let you hold an enormous python before that so it's worth being there at 1pm. The ”afternoon tea” is actually a vast array of hot and cold offerings (sweet and savoury) and is well worth having. The first tour takes you around the zoo to get your bearings and to interact with various animals. We were split into 2 groups and Cooper was our guide. It quickly becomes very obvious that the welfare of the animals is way above every other consideration and so it should be. Cooper was very careful to ensure that we understood zoo etiquette and a number of children from not very well supervised school groups were left in no doubt of the errors of their ways (especially one young man who Cooper had seen kick an emu. He was sorted out very quickly whilst his teachers studied their shoes intently). Cooper is a credit to the organisation and we were fortunate to have him as our guide for the encounter/feeding tour next day too. Even better, there were only 3 of us on that tour because all of the other guests were staying only one night. On that point, staying 2 nights is a must. Yes, it's a stretch financially, particularly if you're staying in one of the Jungle Bungalows eg lions and tigers but you miss out on so much and it would feel a bit rushed for a one-night stay. On

Every aspect of my stay was very good, and as expected for a recently refurbished lower cost hotel, except for problems stemming from the code room access system. I had no trouble with the code system myself, however at 2.30am I was woken by a loud telephone call between two guests and a hotel representative on speaker phone which kept me awake for some time as they tried to gain access to their room. A number of other loud conversations continued to keep me awake as other guests used their balconies and stairs into the small hours of the morning. The secure parking area was fenced off but limited parking was available in the hotel grounds.

La scelta di questo hotel è anche vista dall'aggressione e considerata in modo globale.Dopo il soggiorno, è stato sorpreso dal design all'interno e all'esterno dell'hotel, molto felice. Le strutture e i servizi complessivi dell'hotel sono buoni. Il sorriso e la voce di una cameriera di colazione in un ristorante fanno sentire le persone molto sincere, entusiasta e confortevole; I pasti del bar sono essenzialmente vegetariani, ma il senso creativo è anche molto delizioso e non costoso (rispetto al ristorante esterno e al centro commerciale); tutto quello che c'è nel minibar nella stanza è gratuito, con vino, birra, cola, latte, noci, ovocite... piccoli cibi. Questo è un hotel generale; la stanza è molto tranquilla, non si sente male il suono (forse la stagione autunnale?), l'hotel è molto igienico, le forniture della stanza sono molto pulite, e ci sono anche scarpe, dentifricio e simili non sono necessarie, ma l'hotel è fornito gratuitamente in base alle esigenze degli ospiti e può essere richiesto alla reception. Non basta, è che la luce della stanza dell'ospite è troppo oscura (il senso di progettazione è perseguito da un'occhiata di luci), l'ospite deve guardare la luce!E'anche che non tutte le porte della stanza dell'ospite sono buone.

I love Ovolo hotels and am a happy customer. However, this property is not operating at the same standard as it’s other properties. I will not stay here again and I will not recommend it to friends. What’s good; the location, the friendly staff and the restaurant. The food is great. While the bar area has a good vibe it’s range of adult non-alcoholic beverages is very thin (and no, juice and soft drinks are not adult beverages). The gym is also good for a short work out. If the staff weren’t so lovely and helpful I would have rated the hotel as poor. What’s not great. - 2 lifts were not functioning at 100% and there were other small things that just were working as they should (fridge door, phone to bake a few) - Housekeeping is inadequate, although we paid almost $2,000 for 3 nights they only do a mini service every 3 days (and we had to request hand towels and bath mats on arrival). - Parking is $40 a day on top of the room rate. - Check in was complicated because we made the mistake of going to the car park first (don’t do this, pull up out the front and get lift access let’s first) The hotel is great at selling its features but it’s not great at explaining how it operates. The one thing it is terrible at is explaining that ANYONE who has any kind of HEIGHTS PHONIA must not stay here. The internal balconies are terrifying. The external balconies are no better. Do not stay here with young children, if you do keep the balcony doors locked the whole time.

Era ok. Siamo stati trasferiti in una deluxe che a quanto pare era un po' più grande. La camera era molto piccola, il che renderebbe una camera standard minuscola in cui non vorreste rimanere più di una notte. Non c'era un aspiratore in bagno, e la finestra non si apriva nessun asciugacapelli nella stanza che ho scoperto più tardi lì condiviso??? Fortunatamente ho portato il mio. Non c'era una bottiglia d'acqua in omaggio, né libri con informazioni su Canberra, se questa fosse stata la mia prima visita a Canberra, sarei rimasto deluso. Nessun orario di check-out dato al momento del check-in, niente che spieghi la colazione se lo volevi. Molto caro per quello che ottieni rispetto ad altri hotel a Canberra?

I stayed 3 nights at this hotel on a conference in August. I found my room to be stylish, clean and comfortable ( loved the Dyson hairdryers). The staff were polite and friendly. I was on L3 on the construction side, but this did not bother me as I was up at 7.00am anyway. My only disappointment was buying 2 glasses of house red in the bar one night and being charged $44.66 (250ml) and $26.39 (150ml). As only asked for house wine ( and I was told they only sold 1 type of wine by the glass at the bar to make deciding what to have easier) I didn’t check the price as I tapped my card ( my fault) if I had I would’ve refused to buy. After enquiring the next day I was assured by staff that this cost was correct. My calculations make a bottle of house red over $130 per bottle although staff told me if I’d bought the bottle it was discounted to $122 ! They totally missed the point! This tainted what was otherwise a very nice stay

Room was a great size and layout, but was filthy on arrival! Felt gross sitting on heavily marked lounges with rubbish under cushions etc. There were big sticky patches on the tiles, rotting apple under the kids bed, food splatters on kitchen cupboards, rubbish in the lounge and everything just felt gross, On our first night we noticed none of the 4 smoke alarms had batteries, notified reception at 5pm and didn’t hear from anyone until we called again at 7.20pm, when a manager dropped off a single battery and said that should do til morning!. We asked for more batteries and installed them to have alarms continuously beep and wake our young children as something wasn’t right. It was well over an hour of googling and sorting the issue out ourselves, to find a damaged alarm was setting the rest off. By this point we had 4 kids asleep and 2 distressed and exhausted after a day of travel, we were told we could move all of our stuff to another villa with working alarms if we wanted. Thankfully my husband was able to take a working alarm from the empty villa and replace the broken one. A very disappointing and stressful first night! We had to constantly chase for clean towels, had no dishwasher tablets or garbage bags left in the room etc, and there were ants everywhere that spoiled food in the kitchen and were even crawling all over the bedding in one of the kids rooms (probably because there was rotten fruit left under the bed!). All in all it wasn’t very relaxing and I definitely wouldn’t stay again. Especially not for over $400 a night! I did try to discuss issues with staff at the time and was handed a business card and told to email my feedback, they’ve conveniently not replied to the last 2 emails, so I’m interested to see if they reply to reviews!

My reception by Naveen and Dorg was cheerful and helpful; they provided clear and good info regarding the hotel, parking, breakfast and meals in the adjoining Labour Club, etc. Our room on the top 9th floor had a good view towards the Lake Ginninderra, although another high rise had partially blocked the view. Our room was an end room, a more spacious upgrade offered to us by Naveen. It was very clean- every nook and cranny- compliments to housekeeping. It was also nice and bright, as was the bathroom. Decor is very modern and up to date. Bed was comfortable and we had good sleeps. The hot breakfast in the Club was of good quality and variety and good value. Parking on level3 and level4 of the carpark was easily accessible.

I was staying overnight after a knee surgery, just to get some quiet from my house. They were so kind. I asked for an extra pillow, a specific one on the bed. They went and brought 3 different shapes and sizes, because I said I needed to elevate my leg. They could have just said, use the extra blanket or brought a standard pillow. They really went out of their way, and I felt cared for, not just like a paid guest. You'll love the grocery, alcohol, and several places to eat within a 60 second walk of the lobby.

we had a studio apartment and it was really lovely. spacious and everything you needed. Kitchenette was great and lovely and modern and light. we were on the third floor. the car park is the wilson carpark across the road and they have a floor for the Belconnen guests. its sign posted all the way down to the floor and colour coded i think it was green.but down there is a bit confusing as there are different lifts for different things. you have to use two different lifts to get into the hotel and to your room.it was a bit confusing at first but we were there 3 nights and it was a piece of cake after that. i really reccommend this hotel it has a resturant and teh bed was kingsize and so comfotable. we loved our stay there. .we were about 15mins drive into Canberra and we went in every day doing alll the touristy things like parliament house,the mint,the war museum and the science museum. the informatin centre was fantastic and has a museum attached to it also.we loved Canberra.