Best Western Plus Buckingham International

This hotel is well located, the main road is not far and there are enough good options for dining. Room is decent, the pillows not so much unfortunately and towels had a strong scent of fumes for some reason. The one thing that drove me to leave this review is in regards to breakfast and poor communication from staff. I booked 3 nights with breakfast. The breakfast was simple, did the job but certainly not worth the $32 they charge. But to my surprise, only after I left, I see a charge of $55 to my CC. Went back to check and was told it was because I had 2 other breakfasts. The issue for me was, not only during the booking process it was not clear that I had to select breakfast for each night, but you also walk into the restaurant, they ask the room number, and no one bothered to tell me that breakfast wasn't included for the two other mornings I went in. At least a mention with the guest would be appreciated, as I would be more than happy to walk up to the main road and pay the same amount for a more decent, quality breakfast. And a quick suggestion to management, get the IT team to make it clear on your website how breakfast selection works and make sure communication is part of the basic training for staff.

I booked a room based on the picture, price and availability that was on the website $131 for a spacious room. The room I got was poky with a disgustingly dirty entrance hallway carpet. Before I checked out I saw the $131 price on the website again. I queried this with the hotel. I looked on the website again as I was leaving and the price was $145. They advertised a certain room for $131 gave me a different pokey little room then they changed the price of the original room. This is clearly deceitful and probably illegal. After checking into the room I complained about two hairs on the bed, one gigantic. Someone came to the room to say they couldn't see the photo and I asked why come to the room why not just call me. I told him I threw the hair in the bin. I said there were lots of finger prints on the door. The attending person said you could hardly see them, he was outside, the fingerprints were inside so he couldn't see them. They said I didn't want them cleaned which was not true, I wanted them cleaned. * Response: Wrong. The picture clearly shows the price and the room. I did not get what I thought I was booking. You had reference of the hair because I sent you the picture. If you didn't receive it you could have asked me to resend it. The attending person didn't ask to see the finger marks but said he would clean in the morning - I was checking out.

Average accommodation, nothing special, jug and mini fridge in room, no microwave. Towels looked a little grey. Beds were fine. Great location, close to Southland Westfield and Highett RSL, cheapest and decent meals in area.

I stayed at the Best Western Plus Buckingham International and, unfortunately, would only describe it as a last-resort option. The hotel is in a fairly isolated location with very limited food options nearby, which makes the in-house restaurant, Deux Soeurs, more important than it should be. Sadly, it was a major disappointment. The room itself was clean and presentable, but it had a strong, unpleasant smell that was almost sickly. I tried venting the room, but the odour remained throughout my stay, which made it very uncomfortable. As for Deux Soeurs, it is marketed as a French restaurant, but my experience was nowhere near that standard. I ordered the “special,” which ended up costing $56, and what arrived was, frankly, awful. The dish was glutinous, strange-tasting, and looked more like slop than anything resembling French food. The so-called French fries may have had the shape, but they certainly did not taste like proper fries. To make matters worse, I received two tiny pieces of bread and still left the restaurant hungry — and honestly worried that the meal might make me sick. For the price being charged, the quality was nowhere near acceptable. The restaurant is expensive, the food was one-star at best, and the overall experience was deeply disappointing. Look elsewhere if you want French food, and only consider this hotel if you have no better option.