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4.0
#15 of 62 hotels in Canberra
Location
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Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Cosy and compact, with artistic vibes, Ovolo Nishi luxury boutique hotel is the perfect base to begin exploring the sights of this creative city. Located in Canberra CBD near Commonwealth Park, there’s a wide variety of restaurants, cafes and shops right on our doorstep! You’ll be a short 5 minute drive away from Parliament House and the beautiful Floriade display. We take pride in providing unique character in each room with restored vintage furniture and original artworks. Every room is kitted-out with a flat-screen TV, free high-speed WiFi and modern bathrooms, while some also include a fully equipped kitchen.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quirky Hotels
Lake View
Languages Spoken
English, Russian, Chinese, Filipino and 1 more
Location
25 Edinburgh Ave NewActon Precinct, Canberra 2601 Australia
Ovolo Nishi
1,248 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
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Ovolo Nishi charms guests with its unique and hip atmosphere, creating a cozy, eclectic vibe that stands out. Nestled in a central location, the hotel boasts spotless rooms and prides itself on its excellent service, with staff members earning high marks for their friendliness and responsiveness.
While some guests have reservations about the room lighting and find the hotel pricey, especially considering the parking and breakfast offerings, the free minibar and vegetarian options are a hit, adding to the comfortable experience.
Location
Central
Atmosphere
Eclectic
Rooms
Comfortable
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Meticulous
Service
Friendly
Amenities
Well-appointed
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My wife and I just had a 2 night stay at the Ovolo Nishi and found the staff to be very friendly and accommodating. The room was a great size, modern and very clean. The reason I gave it an average rating was that we found the food and drinks menu to be very out there and struggled to find something to our liking. Call us boring but what is wrong with having a few normal Australian beers or typical imported beers like Corona or Peroni as I'm not into all these boutique beers. They had wines from all over the world but no NZ wines which we love. You get a complimentary drink which is limited to what you can have and they stick you in a room that felt more like a school canteen with no atmosphere or decor. We ended up leaving and going over to the QT where we could find something to eat and drink. The breakfast was also a disappointment, the continental breakfast was complimentary but of course it was as there wasn't nothing we could eat, what happened to pastries, toast and jam? I overheard a person ask for bacon and she was told that they don't have it. Obviously you can go elsewhere which is what we did but it is a shame that you have to as the hotel was nice. The biggest disappointment was the cleanliness of the toilets off the bar area as they weren't cleaned the for the whole of our stay and we know this as my wife noticed a mess in one on the Friday night and when she went to use on Sunday the same mess was there. With the hotel applying strict Covid rules you would have thought that they would have been cleaned every few hours or at the very least daily. We will definitely try other hotels in Canberra next time
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Date of stay: July 2020
Value
Rooms
Service
Room Tip:Our room faced the main road but the traffic was very light and didn't disturb us.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Nathan Dean, General Manager at Ovolo Nishi
Responded 31 Jul 2020
Hey Craig Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. I am pleased to read you enjoyed the room and service form the team. Apologies you did not like the menus on offer at the hotel. We do aim to provide a different experience from the norm from our room design through to the restaurant. The New Acton precinct if full of restaurant cafes and bars so there is something available for everyone. I am concerned about your feedback on the lobby toilets, as we currently have a strict hourly cleaning and disinfecting scheduled in place. I have revisited this with the team and can assure you it is happening. Thanks again for choosing to stay with us at Ovolo Nishi and we hope to welcome you back to our hotel very soon! Sincerely, Nathan
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A very fancy hotel with a comfortable bed and good continental breakfast.
Barista coffee is recommended also.
Service is 3 star, not 5.
Check in experience from tall girl with a bob hair cut was atrocious. Unfriendly and with a custom cotton mask on, there was definitely a sense of airs and graces. No smile in the eyes and no pleasantries.
She was more interested in the staff member who was on their last shift, before a 2 week break. As they were leaving the hotel. (Yes, we waited for that conversation to finish)
Parking is expensive and not subsidised. It took a genius to work out how to pay for it. Tall girl was not helpful, guy leaving was.
No offer of help to room.
The stay is redeemed by the room from a design perspective, otherwise I would have offered 1.5 not 3 stars.
Toiletries are offered and towels are good quality, bedding is clean and generous pillows per guest. Lake view is quieter.
We had a 2 bedroom apartment, many stairs to get to bedrooms, thank goodness I don’t have mobility issues. Dangerous to move around in the apartment after dark ... the stairs really are a hazard, even if the use of space is great.
Shower pressure was terrible. Good heating system, useful for winter.
Complimentary snack bar - it was empty. No savoury treats, just 4 cans of wine. Not even any water.
Breakfast was good, the hotel needed more staff on to assist - the staff were sweating, from working so hard and running back and forth across the floor to serve tables, as there were too few of them (staff).
A little complacent with the use of gloves and spray and wipe. They were turning the tables quickly and doing their best but the same gloves were worn for seating, serving and cleaning. Not ideal.
Didn’t see the presence of any type of leadership over our 3 day stay. Not sure I’ll be back.
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Date of stay: July 2020Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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We have just returned from staying 2 nights on a girls weekend. We booked the 2bed apartment in a Luxury Escapes deal. When we arrived we were greeted by very friendly and helpful staff who also organised our bags to be taken to our room. Loved the little boxes of lollies at the reception desk.
We were disappointed with the apartment we first got checked into as it looked so different from photos and was a horrible layout, extremely dark and just uninviting. Credit to the staff, they offered to show us two other rooms and we agreed on another apartment. Light was much better, we had 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms but it had stairs which looked incredible but were so so dangerous. My friend actually fell down the stairs one evening and hurt herself quite badly. I wouldn’t recommend those apartments for anyone with mobility issues or young children. Actually I wouldn’t recommend anything above level 2 for young children as the balconies leading to the rooms have a handrail that is nowhere near a safe height and also have balconies that aren’t enclosed as well as opening windows even on the 15th floor. Frightening.
Breakfast that was included was terrible and we ended up going elsewhere even though we had paid for it in our package. We also thought there were too many people and didn’t see anyone cleaning despite the worry about cases in ACT. When we arrived at breakfast we were seated at tables that were so close to the other guests, maybe half a metre from each other. We asked to move which again was dealt with professionally and in a friendly way.
All staff we interacted with were super friendly and helpful, the location was fantastic and the hotel main areas are really great to look at.
Definitely some great points about this hotel but also some parts that made it not for us.
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Date of stay: August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My partner and I took advantage of the fantastic "Monster in your Room" eat and stay offer from Monster Kitchen and Bar and Ovolo Nishi Hotel to have a small staycation in mid-June. We opted for the 3 course menu without the matched wines and really enjoyed the whole experience (I have separately reviewed Monster Kitchen and Bar for the meal).
The whole meal was served to us in our living/dining room in our apartment in the "Nishi Apartments Eco-Living by Ovolo" part of the hotel. The basic offer is for a one bedroom apartment, but we paid extra to upgrade to a two bedroom apartment with a bath. The apartment was a nice size and really well laid out. The furnishing was quirky and colourful. The apartment was higher up in the building than the hotel rooms and had a lovely view over Acton.
The meal started with a glass of complimentary champagne and dessert came with a small cheese board as well as an individual chocolate pecan pudding for each of us. Our server was very friendly and polite and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible. Overall, it was so lovely to spend a night somewhere other than home and to have such a good meal brought to us in our room.
I also spent some time in the bar downstairs in the afternoon. At the time of our stay, there were still restrictions on numbers of guests, so we didn't go down to the bar after our meal, but we had been able to order drinks with our meal (since we didn't choose the matched wines), so we were perfectly happy to stay in our private room with our cheese board.
I thought the price was quite reasonable for what was included in the package. There are options for 3 or 5 course menus with or without matched wines and then the accommodation supplement is added to the meal cost.
There was a slight issue with our final invoice, where the accommodation supplement for both the one bedroom apartment and the two bedroom apartment had been added to our bill. The problem was addressed as soon as I called up to enquire about it and we were refunded the additional amount so that we only paid the one accommodation supplement for the correct room. I thought the hotel staff handled my enquiry very professionally and efficiently.
I would highly recommend this "eat and stay" package to anyone who wants a staycation or a nice meal and a stay in a nice hotel without having to deal with too many other people.
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Date of stay: June 2020
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We visited the Sydney property for the long weekend last year and we loved it. The service was outstanding, it was clean, the hotel looked amazing, we couldn’t fault it so we decided to come to Ovolo in Canberra to spend the June long weekend this year. Fall from grace for Ovolo. Our experience was chalk and cheese. Rude staff, dirty room, nothing was working, the TV channels were limited, Apple TV on the brink and the Alexa was only good to telling you the time of the day. Why have some much useless technology in one room? Our room was so dark anyway that we wouldn’t have spent much time there. Coming out of lockdown, it wasn’t the right place to choose. The rooms are small without any daylight coming through and feel very claustrophobic. After being indoor for so much time, it wasn’t ideal. When we decided to go to the bar, it was pandemonium. Staff were on edge and we were told we couldn’t be accommodated in the premises. That we had to go back to our room and order drinks. We walked across the road to QT and we were greeted warmly by the staff, sat down and provided drinks and nibbles swiftly. We went back to the Ovolo for our happy hour. It was so disappointing! The selection was poor and we waited a long time for it. We should have stayed at QT and kept enjoying the service and drinks there. We were also provided a breakfast on Saturday evening for the Sunday! Who does that? Can’t they just make something fresh in the morning for their guests rather than providing some subpar food the night before that is only going to get worse by the morning? Who came up with this “genius” idea? We decided to go back to QT for dinner as Ovolo could not provide dinner for us at the hotel. I found that a pretty hard pill to swallow when you pay to stay at the hotel to not be able to eat there and have to go elsewhere. So we decided to go back to QT. Again the food and service were great so it worked out well. Given the experience in the hotel, I’m actually glad we ate elsewhere as we would have more than likely been disappointed. Upon our return to the Ovolo, we got a night cap and got talking to a couple of other guests. Everyone we spoke to complained about the hotel and how bad the service was so it wasn’t just a once off for us.
In the morning, after consuming what had to be the worst breakfast experience we have had, we felt robbed. The facilities were poor but above all, the service was just plain awful. So instead of going home on a sour note, we decided to stay one more night in Canberra. There was no way we would have stayed at Nishi so we booked QT and it was wonderful.
Times are different, we are all adapting but our experience was awful. It doesn’t cost anything to be nice to your guests, to be helpful and ensure they are well looked after. It just felt like Ovolo just needed our money and was not willing to provide anything for it. I was in love with the brand before but now, I would avoid it at all cost.
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Date of stay: June 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Voyage06051698194, General Manager at Ovolo Nishi
Responded 26 Jun 2020
Hi Jonhnyboy Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. While I wish you had a better experience, it is feedback like this that we learn from and use to improve. We work hard to deliver an exceptional guest experience, and it's apparent in this case that we fell short. You are 100% correct we are all adjusting to the new stands and rules of life now as we know it and it is clear that on this long weekend we did not get the formula correct. The management team has taken alot of steps post this weekend to make alot of changes so we can deliver service and still comply with the new and ever changing health laws. If you give us a chance to earn back your trust, I can assure you that we will do our best to give you the great hotel experience that so many of our guests have grown so fond of. Sincerely, Nathan
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Firstly I'd like to say that it was our second stay at the Ovolo Nishi , the location & convenience to the surrounding exhibitions' makes it a great stop over. My disappoint came when we booked into dinner ,only to be told it was vegetarian only, now I'm not a huge fan of Meat but I did think they would give guests a choice, my husband is a carnivore & missed a juicy steak, it was now late Friday afternoon, we tried to find other places nearby buy they were all booked out. So dinner consisted of a cheese & cracker from the local convenience store. Our Room was lovely over looking Lake Burley Griffin with a view of Parliament House, what we didn't expect was a hot & Stuffy room with no AC, we were informed that they were trying to be environmentally friendly, our weekend stay temps were above 30 degrees , if you opened the balcony door the only entrance of air , you were drowned in Traffic noise. Also if you like a soft & squishy bed, forget it Hard Hard Hard. Also if you are a Bat the darkness will suit you perfectly. Be prepared to spend $35 per day on Parking, no freebies for guests with this Hotel.
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Date of stay: February 2021
Value
Location
Service
Room Tip:Ask for a apartment suite , but need ear plugs if you want fresh air.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Nathan Dean, General Manager at Ovolo Nishi
Responded 23 Feb 2021
Hi juliemE2669WY Thanks for coming back to stay with us and glad to see you loved the view and our location. You are correct we are a vegetarian restaurant and yes while most of us do love a good old steak we have chosen to be a bit different as it is with all ovolo hotels :) I am sorry to read that you did not give our award winning menu a go, there is some amazing options on it. You are also correct that the Apartments at Nishi do not have AC as outline on our web site. These are eco friendly designed and use fresh air flow via the windows and funky ceiling deign to cool the space. However if it is AC you prefer we do cater to this in our hotel rooms along with soft plush bedding.
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We spent a Sunday and a Monday night here in April, and got one of their cheapest rooms, a Snug Sun Room, at a cost of $442.18 for two nights.
They charged 3% (for us that was $13.27) for using Amex. Mastercard and Visa are charged at 1.5%, so we would have used one of those had we read the fine print before booking.
The bar/hotel reception area had a nice ambience and was filled both nights with guests claiming their "happy hour" wines, including us. This was a pleasant touch.
We had to book a time for breakfast for our first morning and there was a long queue to enter the restaurant at the booked time. On the second morning, we turned up without a booking and were immediately seated. Not sure what advice to give here! The complimentary breakfast consisted of a choice of two trays with little tastes on them - both functional.
Our room was very small and snug, as described. There was one stool in our room but no chairs that you could sit back in. It was fine for us as we are short and are happy to lounge on the bed, but for people wanting to sit upright in their room, they might miss having a chair. Housekeeping was patchy and inconsistent.
We overlooked Edinburgh Ave and were right next to the freeway but we were pleasantly surprised by the lack of noise from the traffic.
We paid $35 per 24 hours for car parking under the hotel at Wilson's Parking, and we could enter multiple times during that period. There was ticketed outdoor parking across the road but it was easier to use Wilson's and it was at a similar price in light of our movements. We couldn't see any free street parking near the hotel.
It was an easy walk for us to restaurants in Braddon, such as Italian and Sons. Next time we stayed at a hotel in Braddon as it was closer to the restaurants, offered what we felt were better value rooms and easy to find free hotel or street parking.
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Date of stay: April 2021
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Nathan Dean, General Manager at Ovolo Nishi
Responded 16 May 2021
Hi Emily Appreciate you taking the time to leave a review. Some great feedback here that we’ll get working on. Thank you Gabriel.
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We booked a " luxury escape package" to attend a Melbourne Cup event at a neighboring hotel. The outside facing room we had booked (and the entire 1st floor wing) had an air conditioning fault, and hotel management couldn't raise the technician on his phone. They re-located us to another room on the same floor, this time opening to the internal atrium. The windows were actually at dirt level to the atrium vegetation, and no light entered the room, even during the day. It was like living in a dungeon. Negotiating the way to the room was also like walking through an underground mine. Lighting is minimal, and what light there is is soaked up by masses of dark wood and dark wall linings. Sure, the decor is quirky, but it is a reminder of what happens when you let an architect loose who may well have a substance abuse problem.
COVID has obviously been a boon for the food management. There is no breakfast buffet. Our included breakfast was either a suspect "smoothie" bowl or a miniature sweet pastry plate. Coffee is filter coffee. If you want coffee from the barista, that's extra.
The ar park is managed by Wilson, and costs an exorbitant $35 per day.
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Date of stay: November 2020
Value
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Book somewhere else!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Nathan Dean, General Manager at Ovolo Nishi
Responded 23 Nov 2020
Hi Thomas Thanks for booking with us via the Lux escapes deal. I am so sorry you were effected by the AC issue we had that weekend, we have since replaced the entire AC, so this was not a quick fix we could of achieve that weekend. The design of the hotel is not a light and bright public space and was set up to represent the colors and shapes for the Austrian landscape. The hall ways are dimly lit to give a secluded experience for walking under the canopy of a Tasmanian forest. I was sorry to read you did not like the breakfast offering. The day of the buffet is gone for now due to the C word, so we are giving guests 2 options, 1 healthy options with a daily designed smoothly bowl, fresh fruits and roasted nuts or a more indigent plate with house made hash, waffle, croissant, orange slice and home made marmalade. If these don't tickle your fancy guest are welcome to order items off the alacrt menu or add eggs for just $10 on top of the included items. Let me know if your are traveling back to Canberra in the future and I would like to personally arrange your stay in the room you had originally booked.
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Nice sized and clean apartment, but “Eco “ meaning no air conditioning. Hotel supplied a small evaporative unit. But Apartment just to hot to sleep. When asked if could transfer to A hotel room (with aircon) we were told a $50 charge. So be aware!
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Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Voyage06051698194, General Manager at Ovolo Nishi
Responded 9 Feb 2020
Hi AllanOz Thank you for choosing to stay eco friendly and taking some time to share your feedback. Apologies it got a tad hot during your stay, the unprecedented heat during this summer did make it difficult to stay cool in the Nishi apartments with no AC. While we want to promote green living we understand the need to shift to one of our hotel rooms with AC to keep cool.
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The moment you step into the Ovolo you get a sense of edgy design and services. Our package included free bike hire, but you can also hire E-scooters. There is a help yourself treat bar, which is great but possibly not during Covid times. We booked the best room available which was offering plenty of space, but only limited views into an internal courtyard…..which took the shine out of our stay. It seems that all hotel rooms are situated at level 1&2 and none have the commanding views based on the sensational location. Staff were very friendly, beds were super comfy and breakfast was ok, but not fantastic. We received a breakfast pack at checkout as we were leaving very early. It was all poorly packed resulting in a great big mess. There is charged out limited guest parking under the building…..try to book a room with external windows. The free unlimited mini bar is somewhat an overstated marketing stunt…..! Some more water and soft drinks could have been handy.
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Date of stay: December 2021Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Try to get a room with external windows towards lake Burley
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Gabriel Polias, General Manager at Ovolo Nishi
Responded 3 Jan 2022
Hi Evolution Time Thanks for your review. Our hotels are in fact on level 1 and 2 and we have the option for Atrium views (facing the garden) or Sun rooms which face Lake Burley Griffin. In saying that OVOLO also has multiple apartments from level 3 right up to level 15 which may be great option as these command spectacular view of Canberra. Also to note the mini bar stocks wine, beer, softs drinks and water which is refilled per day. Glad you loved our design! Thanks Gabriel General Manager
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Hello! Can you please send me through your private email address? We do not have baby seats for our bikes, however there are hire companies that do so we can always have our concierge organise for you. I look forward to hearing from you. Nicole (GM)
There are more places to choose from in the Canberra area.
PRICE RANGE
$227 - $373 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Hotel Hotel
LOCATION
AustraliaAustralian Capital TerritoryCanberra
NUMBER OF ROOMS
85
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Which popular attractions are close to Ovolo Nishi?
Nearby attractions include Palace Electric Cinema (0.04 km), National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (0.2 km), and Australian Academy of Science (0.2 km).
