Built around 2010 the Adina Hotel Canberra Dickson is a modern hotel located in the northern suburb of Dickson. The area is best known for its multiculturalism and the area has many fantastic restaurants to go along with this theme.
The hotel itself was formerly known as Aria Hotel however has changed ownership and is now Adina Serviced Apartments Canberra Dickson. There’s a mouthful for you.
While the cost of a night was average for a standard room, approx $135 after discounts on booking.com, other hotels in Canberra had similar pricing with some 5 star hotels only being $40 more with far more to offer.
Adina Dickson is a basic hotel with rooms, a basic cafe style restaurant and not much else. Located on a leafy street near the ABC buildings and only a couple of hundred meters off Northbourne Avenue there’s not much within a short walking distance with Dickson’s shopping area being a few blocks away. Public transport is also located on Northbourne Avenue.
There is an offering of different types of rooms including spa rooms and full suites which have a full apartment feel including kitchen. I stayed in the most basic room.
So what’s the verdict.
The room was cosy enough, maybe you’d call it cramped if you were sharing with a partner. The bed was comfortable and there were plenty of pillows with some spares in the cupboard. The sheets did feel a bit starched but they definitely weren’t old worn out sheets. The room also features a desk phone, 32 inch TV, minibar (sans minibar drinks) and tea/coffee facilities (kettle, small milk etc). There’s also an iron and a safe hidden away in the cupboard.
There were a few power outlets located around so charging a phone etc wouldn’t be a huge hassle. The bedside clock has a dock for an iPhone albeit still with the old old 30 pin connector.
The airconditioning worked great on both cool and heat.
Wifi is free for guests however I couldn’t get it to work, receiving an error when logging in with my room number and last name. They also had an option for “Complimentary” wifi however the speeds weren’t really usable. I didn’t end up using it and just tethered to my phone to watch some Netflix on my laptop. It looked like there was also a network port available but untested, who has a network port on their laptop these days?
The bathroom while small featured a shower with both a hand nozzle and a rain shower and an assortment of lotions and cleansers provided. The towels were nice and soft.
The balcony was very small and had enough room for a small 2 seater table. The view was of the carpark entrance and not much else but it is Dickson and there’s not much to see here anyway.
The rest of the hotel seems a little more upmarket than a basic hotel. The staff are friendly and helpful and the decor is elegant. The carpark is 1 ground level with some disabled parks and 2 levels underground which is a nice change to a hotel with 100 rooms and 3 parking spots. The carpark wasn’t quite full on a Saturday night so there’s likely always going to be a space available. Unfortunately the parking costs $15 a night which is a bit steep for a suburb not in the CBD. There’s no street parking due to narrow streets and no parking signs so you’re out of luck to find an alternative unless you park further away and walk to the hotel.
I never tried to breakfast as it’s more or less an order what you want and it’s delivered to your room or you can eat in the “cafe” area in reception. There’s no continental breakfast here. Pricing was around $22 so not terrible.
Would I recommend it?
Sure, it’s a modern hotel, at an OK price and not too far from the CBD and close to the awesome restaurants in Dickson. I would definitely spend a little extra for a more premium room if it’s within your budget just to enhance the experience. Spa bath in your room anyone?
The only turn offs for me was the room smelled a bit funky and I had to sleep with the balcony door open to air it out a bit but really how hard would it be to manage this type of thing. Also I’m not sure why the Adina website states 11am check out but my booking stated check out was 10am. Would of been nice to sleep in a little longer on a Sunday morning. I’m sure the reception may have confirmed 11am check out but who wants to wake up to call them and find out?
You can book at any of the major booking sites such as Wotif etc or directly on Adina’s website here. Frequent flyer points can be accrued with either Qantas or Velocity however these are only available if you book with the hotel directly rather than through a third party website.