Based on many recent 5-star Google reviews, I decided to give Paramount a go. Very impersonal. Door keycodes intermittently work. Curtain doesn’t even cover the window width. Crudely installed in-wall air conditioner blanketed in thick dust and missing filter and cover - which were both left (uncleaned) in kitchen. Plumbing leakage in shower. Internet router with bright lights on bedside table.
If this wasn’t bad enough, I revisited the Google reviews, not understanding the 5 star descriptions. I cross matched the 10 most recent reviewer names with names of “virtual assistants” (call centre support workers) - based in the Philippines - who are contracted by the motel owner. Their LinkedIn profiles proved that employees of the company that managed the motel actually generated fake reviews to artificially boost the accommodation rating.
The Brisbane motel number and the “hello” email address simply diverts to Cebu in the Philippines.
So much for being “consistent, quality and local” [byline of management company Facebook page]!
Upon raising all of these issues to the owner of the management company, I was told that my emails would no longer be read and that I had “an axe to grind”. I simply asked for a full refund, nothing more.
The matter has been formally lodged with Queensland Dept of Fair Trading.