The rather enticing swimming pool at the Stay Inn motel. Photo / Supplied
A Melbourne motel with the lowest TripAdvisor rating in Victoria is on the market.
The now-closed Stay Inn motel, on Sydney Rd in Coburg North, has been described as a "slum", with bullet holes in the glass and cigarette butts littering the floors.
It is also allegedly riddled with bed bugs, cockroaches and drug dealers.
One visitor claimed the motel was uninhabitable, stating that they left without staying a night.
"We literally fled the premise in fear of our lives before we even stayed a night."
"The scariest motel experience me and my family have ever had," another said.
"Do not stay here. Ever."
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 writer said while the motel provided a refund, there was a $5 cancellation fee.
TripAdvisor reviews echoed the sentiment.
Ingrid L posted: "I was so afraid I packed the room furniture against the door."
"A night in hell I reckon. Zero out of 10. Every aspect of the place is a joke," another unhappy customer wrote.
In 2017 the Herald Sun revealed the motel doubled as a halfway house for recently released prisoners and acted as crisis accommodation for homeless people.
"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," stated the article.
The motel's reputation was so bad it inspired a Vice documentary.
But some reviewers have congratulated the owner for providing budget accommodation to people in difficult financial or life situations.
Real Estate agency Colliers is now seeking offers for the property via an expressions of interest campaign.
Colliers agent Joe Kairouz said the vendor had price expectations of more than $4.5 million.
NSL Property Group agent Guy Naselli — who is marketing the property alongside Kairouz — said labelling the StayInn as Melbourne's worst motel was an understatement.
But he said prospective buyers had expressed an interest in reopening the motel, with a lot of improvements, or turning it into an aged-care home.
"That would be putting it mildly (to call it the worst)," Mr Naselli said.
"It used to be a good place to get a steak because there used to be a restaurant attached to it.
"But the people that are looking at it now are looking at turning it into something pretty grand."
If you're new to NZ tramping, these top trails and huts will put you on the right path.