Stayed at the Stamford Hotel for the "celebration plus' package which costs $359 AU. It includes a standard room, Buffet breakfast, High Tea with a glass of bubbly and a range of other extras including late checkout, magazines, photo at high tea.

I am a local Brisbane girl and took my husband. We LOVED the high tea. It was packed with women with their girlfriends with the odd husband in tow. The high tea was in buffet form, included whatever coffee or tea you liked made fresh, many lovely standard high tea selections (hot scones, sandwiches, cakes), a fresh strawberries with dipping white / milk chocolate and about 7 different cheesecakes selections! Very nice.

The room was very nice - standard for an establishment of this kind (which I don't really like normally - I prefer boutique places).

Fantastic view of the river from the room - which on this night included a great big thunder & lightening show.

Went to nearby Kingsley's Steak and Crabhouse for a light meal later that night. Try the Wagu burger cooked to your liking for $21. A gourmet steal for such a lovely restaurant and a meal in itself without spending $60. Drinks cost the same as any other bar in a lovely setting.

In the morning the Stamford Buffet breakfast was woeful. We went at 7am and were booked outside - told it was not open yet? The place was empty. Nothing like the high tea - either was the spread. There was lots of fruit and cold offerings - very standard but ok. Coffee was only filtered not made fresh to order.

In my mind - buffets are defined by the hot food on offer. It was a limited selection. The bacon didn't look like real bacon - rather a hybrid pressed kind and was tasteless. Mushrooms were tasteless, dry, hard little nuggets. Baked beans tasted of tin. Tomatoes dry and hard - not cooked enough. Poached eggs hard lumps, scrambled eggs watery. Took a small bite of each and left it on our plates and walked out.

Were not asked if we were happy and was there anything wrong to be leaving 5 minutes after arriving by waitress who just grinned and said have a nice day.

The stay, instead of being topped off with a nice breakfast was totally soured. We immediately checked out, drove to Rosalie Village Meats - got some REAL bangalow bacon, went HOME and cooked bacon, eggs and mushroom.

Any visitor to Brisbane would do better to jump in a cab and go to Anouk on Given Tce Paddington or the Gunshop Cafe at West End, cab it New Farm or take a ferry over to Bulimba to any of the cafe's there. Forget breakfast in the city - it is very quiet on the weekends. I strongly recommend ringing cafes to book a table.

AVOID THIS 2 1/2 star FAKE.

Advertised as 5 Star, this hotel has the poorest maintenance we have ever seen. First room had broken fridge and aircond. Moved and second room had failed aircond. Thrid move the fridge was faulty. Final room was all ok - took 4 rooms to get 1 functional! Pool advertised as HEATED - it was COLD. OLD carpet and furniture do not make this a 5* in any way. Entrance Foyer stank of old food EVERY day.

This is a SUBSTANDARD hotel and NOT 5* by any stretch of the imagination.

Staff were very good although obviously NOT happy in theirwork and location is superb on the river. Owners should be ashamed of the state of their facility.

Brisbane should be ashamed of this poor quality venue.

Sometimes the dining experience at a hotel tries to prove the dicta (advice) of the famous Mark Twain to 'never eat where you sleep' as wrong.

In the case of the Stamford Plaza Brisbane, I wish I had heeded Mark Twain's advice!

The hotel room was terrific. An excellent bathroom and an attractive river view among other features made for a pleasant in-room experience.

However, dining was a different matter.

Siggi's At The Port Office as one of the dining facilities is named is apparently celebrating its 20th anniversary.

Yet for a restaurant that prides itself on its Queensland emphasis, while the entree was fine, the mains failed to live up to expectations.

The choice of fish is illustrative, being Tasmanian Atlantic Salmon or a New Zealand species from our Trans-Tasman friends.

Where was Queensland's reef fish on the menu?

Similarly in the morning, breakfast was delivered to my room on a lovely tray complete with flowers.

However, quality was lacking in the ingredients.

So given that an excellent room was counter-balanced by less than satisfactory food availability or quality, my rating for this well located hotel has to come down to 'neutral' - a '3.' A little attention to detail by the food and beverages department would markedly raise the score I would give this hotel.

Right on the banks of the Brisbane river with spectacular views of the river and surrounding botanical gardens. We had a corner suite with 180 degree views. Very comfortably furnished. Large bathroom & dressing room. Excellent staff very helpful. Only ate breakfast....good buffet served by the waterfront. Plenty of good restaurants within walking distance. The outdoor pool is a little bland and gets no sun in the afternoon. Overall a good place to stay for business or pleasure.