Coburg North motel doubles as ex-prisoner halfway house

THIS motel’s website says it offers a “comfortable” and “friendly” environment for budget travellers. In reality, it doubles as a halfway house for recently released prisoners.

StayInn Motel and Serviced Apartment in Coburg North. Picture: Valeriu Campan

THEY might not have expected the Ritz — but guests claim a Coburg North motel is just the pits.

The StayInn Motel and Serviced Apartment’s website boasts a “comfortable” and “friendly” environment for budget travellers with newly renovated suites and pictures of a swimming pool, crisp white sheets, bottles of sparkling wine and champagne flutes.

But in reality, guests are being confronted with a boarded up facade, a barbed wire fence, a cracked glass reception door and the possibility of ex-prisoners upon arrival.

The StayInn features boarded up windows and an overgrown garden. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Guests are confronted with a very different facade than as advertised. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The StayInn as it appears on its website. Can you spot the difference? Picture: Supplied

The hotel fails to disclose in its advertising blurb that it doubles as a transitional housing provider for homeless people on the public housing waiting list and recently released prisoners.

Dismayed guests have taken to internet forms to describe their experiences.

One wrote on Reddit that the reception door was akin to a jail, and they only lasted 20 minutes, saying: “They have to open the door for you to get to the reception which is again blocked with metal bars like a prison.

“The floor is covered with dust, hair, food, cigarettes and even liquids.

“The beds look dirty and the room like if someone had smoked for years inside.”

The rooms, with a bottle of wine, as advertised on the website. Picture: Supplied

The clean kitchenette pictured on the website. Picture: Supplied

Guests are greeted with a cracked-glass reception door. Picture: Valeriu Campan

There’s no mention of barbed-wire fences on the website. Picture: Valeriu Campan

The Reddit post regarding a stay at StayInn Motel and Apartment in Coburg North.

Outside a room at StayInn Motel and Apartment. Picture: Valeriu Campan

Cigarette butts in a flower bed at the motel. Picture: Valeriu Campan

StayInn Motel and Serviced Apartment’s pool. Picture: Valeriu Campan

TRY STAYING A NIGHT AT ONE OF VICTORIA’S MORE UNUSUAL ACCOMMODATION

The writer said while the motel provided a refund, there was a $5 cancellation fee.

TripAdvisor reviews echoed the sentiment, with Ingrid L posting: “I was so afraid I packed the room furniture against the door.”

But the motel’s manager Phillip Alexander said guests’ visits were dependent on who was staying at the time.

“We’re not trying to hide anything, and we don’t filter any of our reviews online,” Mr Alexander said.

“We do the best we can given the circumstances.”

He added that Melbourne’s most marginalised deserved to be have somewhere to stay.

Moreland City councillor Oscar Yildiz said the motel should communicate its arrangements to guests.

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