Rydges Armidale

Only stayed overnight, but as you can see by the photos, mostly of the bathroom, the cleaning team needs to be taught how to clean and maintain rooms desperately. There was lights not working, exposed wires in an old phone plug, one of the tiles in the shower was set uneven and quite sharp along with a lot of the tiles in the whole bathroom were cracked. There was mould everywhere including around the air-conditioning unit.
The name Rydges, I thought was quality however this is far from it. Absolutely disgusting.

Flight from Sydney to Armidale was cancelled due to fog at Armidale Airport. Can’t help that.

Called Rydges Armidale at 0600 on the day of arrival to cancel or move the accommodation booking - Not possible - even though this was a flexible rate - and yes I know the policy is 24 hr cancellation.

Spoke with Katrina the GM

Cancellation not possible. At least can I move the booking to September this year. I need a fully day with clients - no that's not possible

Surely guest loyalty must count for something? Surely in the circumstances there's some flexibility - I’ve stayed a number of times previously - GM not interested - No

I’m an EVT member - Not interested

I have status with EVT as a regular guest - Not interested

So my flight has been cancelled and I can’t move my booking by a few months - absolutely not says Katrina - there’s basically no flexibility at all - oh yes we can move the booking by a day or 2 - that doesn’t help at all.

So what to do? Because of the inflexibility I was forced to catch a later flight and instead of the day with clients I only had a few hours. Basically a wasted trip.

When I finally arrive at the hotel in the afternoon the front desk tells me they are so busy they could have sold my room 10 times over! What!

The result is that I could have cancelled or changed the date and they could have easily sold the room. Probably at a higher rate!

So instead of rewarding guest loyalty they have ruined guest loyalty.

Katrina the GM says it must be frustrating for me. No not frustrating. It’s actually unreasonable. And makes no sense at all. Illogical.

A very poor business decision. Not the way to keep guests returning. Bad policy.

As an extensive world traveler who has stayed in everything from five-star luxury to third-world accommodations, I can confidently say that this hotel ranks at the absolute bottom for cleanliness, maintenance, and basic hospitality.

A general sense of zero care hung heavily over the entire room.
To give you a snapshot of our experience:

We were greeted by an opened, used milk carton left on top of the fridge cabinet.

The room was stocked for two guests with exactly one glass and one plate.

The room safe was unattached to any wall or structure, propped up entirely by a piece of cardboard.

We had a bizarre count of three towels—two in the bathroom, and one randomly placed on the bed.

There was a complete absence of power points or USB ports anywhere near the bedside tables.

The bathroom was a disaster. The toilet seat was loose, the toilet brush was filthy and its container broken, and I have attached photos of a shower screen showing what looks like decades of neglected cleaning.

As for the carpet—I don't think it has been cleaned since Moses played winger for Jerusalem. It was disgusting.

The condition of the facilities in the dining room wasn’t much better with baked on food scraps on the breakfast food heater in place during our entire stay

The bed was very comfortable.
The shower was also very good.

The restaurant was excellent. The room had lovely old furniture. It was a bit musty though. The bed and the shower were excellent. I recommend the cocktails at the restaurant

very clean and well positioned

Large comfortable, quiet room. Beautifully decorated. Amazing shower. Good service. Room service food was lovely and delivered quickly

Good location, room was very nice, love how dark the room is once the blinds and curtains were closed,

It was comforting

We recently stayed at Rydges Armidale for what was meant to be a special final night with our 16-year-old exchange student, whose separate room had been booked through the World Exchange Programme. My family also had our own separate booking at the hotel.

Upon arrival, the student noticed her door lock was faulty. We responsibly reported this, but while we were having dinner in the restaurant, the manager approached our table and handled the situation in an extremely unprofessional and aggressive manner, using explicit language in front of our children. We were told the student would have to leave, with claims it was “illegal” for her to stay — despite us being on-site in our own booked room as her supervising host family.

Attempting to make a minor vacate the hotel at 7pm over a reported faulty lock was both alarming and concerning from a safety perspective. As a frequent female business traveller, I would also expect a room lock issue to be taken seriously.

Although an apology and partial discount were later offered, the distress caused — particularly due to the aggressive conduct of the manager — left us feeling unsafe and deeply disappointed. I have stayed at Rydges properties for over 20 years and have never experienced treatment like this.

Unfortunately, this experience has left a very bitter impression. Guest safety and professional conduct should always come first.

Convenient location, the microwave in the room was great for some easy dinners