Birches Serviced Apartments

Cancelled my booking on day due to check-in , long weekend anything available was exorbitant prices or really bad , ended up begging and staying with people we knew of . NOT GOOD

We stayed at Birches Serviced Apartments 8 nights over the Christmas & New Year period. If we had known what this place was like, we absolutely would not have stayed here. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived it was too late and we had already paid for the full 8 nights. This was without question the worst serviced apartment experience we’ve ever had. We arrived at the advised check-in time of 2pm, but our room was not ready. With a 5-year-old child, we were made to wait two hours before eventually being given a room. While waiting, we already felt uncomfortable — there were undesirable-looking people hanging around the property. I took my child to use the reception toilet and was completely disgusted by how dirty and foul-smelling it was. We booked this place purely for the location as we were attending the Ashes Cricket at the MCG. Location is the only positive about this property. When we were finally told our room was ready, we were given a ground floor room, and it was shocking. There were dodgy-looking people smoking in the corridor with a large dog. The room itself smelled strongly of stagnant water. The TV didn’t work, the fridge was filthy, windows were covered in bird droppings, and the toilet was absolutely disgusting. We simply could not imagine staying there for 8 nights. I contacted reception — to be fair, the staff member was attentive — and asked to be moved to an upper floor. We had to justify the request despite all the obvious issues. While speaking to him, a dog from another room literally wandered into our apartment. We were initially told the place was full, but eventually we were moved to a first-floor room. There are no lifts, so we had to carry all our luggage upstairs ourselves. The second room was marginally better — at least it was carpeted — and you could tell this place may once have been cared for. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. There was graffiti on the walls, the kitchen and sofa were dirty, the fridge door was broken with old milk stains inside, insects in the cupboards, and a toilet that clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly in years. The bathtub was heavily stained, and everything smelled unpleasant. The TV cabinet was extremely concerning — sloping, wonky, and looked like it could collapse at any moment. With a small child, this was a serious safety issue, and we had to keep her well away from it. We had to convert the sofa into a bed ourselves. When pulling it out, we found broken glass and a thick layer of dust underneath. We also found broken glass near the front door. When we reported this, reception sent us a vacuum cleaner and expected us to clean it ourselves. This is not a serviced apartment by any standard. There was no servicing of the room at all, despite them claiming apartments are cleaned every Friday. Not once did anyone come to clean during our stay. We had to source bin bags ourselves and dispose of rubbish in the main bins. The internet was also completely unreliable. We paid around £100 per night and received no service whatsoever. This place is grossly overpriced for the condition it’s in. There is a large sign downstairs advertising a “Trip Advisor Award Winner”, which is extremely misleading — if it was ever true, it must have been decades ago. Had we not been travelling with a young child, we would have left and found alternative accommodation immediately. This was an awful experience and one we will never repeat. In the apartment policy which was a tatty folder stated no smoking in the room, corridors or carpark. Throughout our stay there were people stand outside their rooms smoking. There were also ciggarete butt stains on the tables in our room. Which also explains the foul smell in our room. Disgusting place. Do not recommend.

When booking the trip we had booked a room with a bed and a sofa. To our surprise when we arrived there were 2 beds at no extra cost. The only down fall was the back of the couch was broken and coming apart which meant the couch wasn’t usable but the room was great. Would definitely stay again

Slightly dated, with TV that wouldn’t work on digital channels (they swapped it with another room when asked) Room was clean and tidy. Had marks / stain remnants on carpet & lounge from years of use but seemed to be genuinely reasonable well cleaned otherwise. I’ll stay again - secure parking (a big bonus) with a sizeable room.