We had a one night stay - the first night away from our kids in 5 years, so we were looking forward to a long and uninterrupted nights sleep.

The check in was fine and the fact there was 2 weddings in the hotel that night seemed like just a nice addition to the things on offer to look at as we wandered around the foyer on the way out. We also had a small but nice room with wonderful sea views on the 7th floor.

Regrettably, it all went wrong around 11.30pm when the room next to us became the 'after party' venue for one of the weddings. They were loud and obnoxious and obviously drunk. We did call downstairs and the night porter did make a visit to them to try and quieten them down - but to little avail.

Perhaps its unfair to blame the hotel on other guests poor but unfortunately it ruined our stay. And once something like this happens all the other minor things you may perhaps overlook became black marks as well - old cigarette butts on our balcony that hadn't been cleared up, no newspapers available in the morning and a surcharge to pay by credit card.

Perhaps if its a hotel that hosts many weddings, and its obvious that some guests are going to want to keep drinks and play up, then perhaps all the wedding guests staying in house could be housed on a floor together so they annoy the hell out of each other rather than ruin other peoples stay.

Was Great! Stayed with Hubby and two kids room was great beds were great had a goodnight sleep views were fantastic breakfast was awesome and included in the price kids had a double bed not a crap fold out bed like most hotels.

You expect a certain standard when staying at a Crowne Plaza that this hotel just did not meet.

No valet parking (not that I would ever use this service but something that is normally on offer at a Crowne). No concierge - well there is apparently one there but was no-where to be seen on check in or check out. Unfortunately reception staff are untrained and could not understand that we had booked 2 rooms for 2 nights and 1 room for only 1 night and that we wanted to pay for the 3 rooms total in one transaction - this concept seemed to be beyond comprehention. Also despite 3 rooms being booked in the same booking we were placed in opposite ends of the hotel - admittedly we were advised on check in that we should have requested rooms together when they were booked.

Ocean View rooms were clean and tidy and all linens were clean, soft and fluffy. Bathrooms re tiny and have no ventilation so once 4 girls had showered bathroom mirror was totally fogged up and entire bathroom was wet - with no ventilation the room just wouldn't dry and by the end of the first day the room smelt musty.

The aircon in the room didn't seem to cool the room at all and after being on for more then about 10 minutes smelt like something was burning and condensation started to drip out of the vent - when I looked up at the vent it was convered in mould!

Volume on the TV could not be turned up or down so was way too loud at night when everything was quiet and you couldn't hear it at all during the day.

Block out curtain was broken so could not cover the window and when the sliding door was closed the wind was still whistling in.

Views from the room however were fantastic and could not ask for any better - also looked straight over the pool. According to reception spa is not heated and there is no indoor heated spa or sauna.

Staff in bar next to reception were fantastic and very knowledgable - even checking with the bar staff downstairs to see if they had a particular beer we were looking for. She couldnt do enough for us.

Staff in the bar downstairs were extremely rude and ignorant. There were about 10 people in the bar at the time and 5 of them were us. We stood at the bar waiting to be served for over 5 minutes while the boy on the other side of the bar was mixing drinks for another order - he was quite literally on one side of the 40cm wide bar and we were all standing on the other side face to fac however he did not look up once, did not acknowledge any of us, not even to say "I'll be with you in a minute". The girl behind the bar just seemed to be walking around doing nothing until one of us spoke up, then she begrudgingly served us with the kind of attitude you never want to receive from a person who works in the service industry. Then after taking our order forgot one of our drinks and when asked for it - I could have sworn I had actually asked for her first born child! None of us could actually believe how bad the service was!

Having read the other reviews for this hotel I could swear that is not the place that we stayed. The issues we had with the room I would believe could have just been our bad luck in room 308 and the others might not be the same and maybe all the staff were having a bad day or weekend!

I have written about this hotel previously and gave it 5 stars. It is a beautiful property with lovely ocean views of Coogee Beach in Sydney. Everything was wonderful, so my wife and I decided that we would return. We booked through "Hotels.com.au", and this was the first time I had ever used that website.

So, what does one do when you pay for a room in full prior to arriving, receive a confirmation for a King Bed Ocean View room from an "agent", but when you turn up the hotel has given your room to someone else?

Well, there is NOTHING you can do as they have your money already. I understand this practice is called "Gazumping". There was both a wedding and another function on in the hotel and obviously someone else decided that the two small beds was not to their liking. They got there first and were given our room! By the time we arrived, there was only a room with two beds, each of which was not much bigger than a single.

My wife and I have been married 30 years and we sleep together. This is why we made sure we had a CONFIRMATION for the king bed. WRITTEN confirmation. Apparently this is STILL not good enough.

The Hotel Manager was the smiliest person I have ever met. It was really nice when she smiled sweetly as she told me that I was lying as I could not have possibly been given such a confirmation as it was only ever a "request" and they do not "confirm" such things. "What the . . . . ?"

Here's a tip - when you are accusing REPEAT guests of lying, the smile only makes it worse. The search for evidence to refute their claim instead of trying to sort out the problem sealed the sordid deal.

I have since re-checked my confirmation from hotels.com.au. There is nothing in it about a "request". In fact, my documentation says "Confirmation" of a King Bed Room. That seems pretty clear to me, as in fact what I actually booked and paid for had never been in doubt to my mind.

So, I do not know who is to blame, Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach for giving away our room or Hotels.com.au for confirming something they never should have confirmed. One thing, however, is certain. I will NEVER again trust either of these two companies again. I will not use the Hotels.com.au website again as they cannot be trusted with my money.

If I ever stay at Crowne Plaza Coogee Beach again, I will NOT be paying in advance, so that if they "Guzump" me again at least I will still have my money and argue the bill. Or walk away and stay somewhere else, which sadly, was not an option available to me at the time as they had already TAKEN MY MONEY!