Kirsty G.
Google
Unfortunately I can’t recommend Waterman’s Hotel for accommodation (we didn’t try the pub). It’s a lovely historic building in a great location with Salamanca Place literally on the hotel doorstep, but is let down by poor amenities, tired rooms, no personal service and many things outside the control of the hotel (noise, steep stairs and tricky parking). The worst part for us was that the hot water ran out one day in to our two night stay. There is no reception, everything is done by text via an “office” number or an “emergency” number after hours. As this was after hours and I didn’t think was a real emergency, we just shivered through cold showers which I don’t think is acceptable for a 4 star hotel. Maybe I should have called the emergency number but it seems a bit extreme and I didn’t want people in our room trying to sort it out. The room itself looks great in photos but in reality is in need of a refresh. The hotel compendium acknowledges this by saying new owners have taken over and are working on upgrades. That was dated 2022 and there is no evidence of any improvements. Being a heritage listed building, there are obviously limitations to what modernisation can be done to the rooms but to summarise: The bath faucet didn’t work so we had to fill the bath using the shower (after 30 minutes it was still only half full and the hot water ran out), several of the light switches didn’t work, there was a thick layer of dust on the bed bulkhead, the windows are hazardous to try and manoeuvre and wouldn’t open anyway meaning no respite from the hot, stuffy rooms even during a cold snap in November. It would be unbearable in summer. There is no aircon and the fan provided is, weirdly, an industrial type you find in workshops. It was too noisy to have on at night although if you could put up with the racket, it may help drown out the street / pub noise. Not being familiar with Hobart, I didn’t realise we were staying in the “party district” so I won’t blame the hotel for the noise (and they do warn you the rooms are located above a pub) but the constant bass of the music and the drone of cars doing laps didn’t make for a restful sleep. A few other things to be aware of: stairs are steep and narrow. Anyone with mobility issues could not safely navigate them. Parking: prior to our stay I emailed the hotel asking about parking as we were staying over a weekend and I just wanted to park up and explore the city in foot. I was happy to pay for a parking building. They replied with some general suggestions but said it was “complicated to explain in an email”, suggesting I call. My fault but rather than calling I spent ages Googling parking options but found nothing that suited us e.g. long term / multiday parking. We ended up going to the info centre for advice - they were very helpful. But then when we checked in we found even better info in the hotel compendium. Why this exact information couldn’t have been emailed, I have no idea but it would have saved me a lot of time. (As it happens, there is free weekend parking in Gladstone St).
