Accommodation Review - Oaks Brisbane Aurora Suites – Brisbane, QLD
Great Views, Great Location… Shame About the Billing!
Location: Brisbane CBD, Queensland
Date of stay: 4 August 2023
Overall score: 3.9/5
The Oaks Brisbane Aurora Suites has been one of our favourite places to stay when visiting Brisbane. With its impressive high-rise setting, city and river views, and handy CBD location, it usually ticks plenty of boxes for us.
Unfortunately, our August 2023 stay left us wondering whether Oaks had misplaced its calculator — or perhaps its entire accounts department!
We made our booking through Booking.com, and the accommodation was supposed to have been paid for in advance. The only additional charge we expected to settle was the onsite parking fee, which was perfectly reasonable.
When we checked in, we specifically asked about paying for parking and were told everything had already been paid for. I wasn’t entirely convinced this was correct, but when we checked out, we were again told everything was fine.
So, naturally, we assumed the matter was sorted.
Not quite!
Oaks had apparently charged us again for the accommodation, despite the original booking having been paid through Booking.com. The parking charge was legitimate; the extra accommodation charge was not.
Now, mistakes happen. We’re all human, and the occasional administrative stuff-up is hardly the end of the world. But this was our second stay at Oaks Brisbane Aurora Suites where we’d experienced billing problems.
In this day and age, with online bookings and electronic payments being everyday business, getting the billing wrong once is frustrating. Getting it wrong again on a subsequent stay is downright disappointing.
It also leaves us wondering how often this happens to other guests and how long they have to wait before these errors are corrected. Nobody wants to spend their time chasing up money that shouldn’t have been taken in the first place.
As a result, the service score took a serious hit, coming in at just 1 out of 5. That’s a long way from the standard we’d expect from a place we otherwise enjoy staying at.
It’s particularly frustrating because we genuinely like the property. The location and accommodation are still appealing, but repeated billing problems can quickly sour an otherwise good experience.
The Thirsty Tourists verdict 🍻
We still like Oaks Brisbane Aurora Suites, but this stay was a reminder that good accommodation is about more than comfortable rooms and impressive views.
Getting the bill right is a fairly basic part of running a hotel. When guests have paid in advance, they shouldn’t have to worry about being charged twice or spend their time sorting out someone else’s accounting error.
After two stays with billing issues, our confidence in the service has taken a knock. We shouldn’t have to play detective with our bank statements just to enjoy a night in Brisbane!
Our rating: 3.9/5 – A great location let down by disappointing service and repeated billing mistakes.
The Thirsty Tourists – Touring is thirsty work! 🍻
