From the hills of New South Wales comes a story of a hotel that’s more than a little Fawlty …

A story in the Sydney Morning Herald – Mountain hotel more than a little Fawlty – tells of a place called the York Fairmont Resort in the Blue Mountains that’s literally falling apart at the seams.

The report said that the hotel “has been turned into the region's Fawlty Towers with claims of unwashed sheets, dirty towels, a filthy leaf-clogged swimming pool and irate guests demanding their money back”.

“Immigration officials raided the place last month; the federal Workplace Ombudsman is investigating claims by former workers that they have been ripped off; motoring organisations across Australia have suspended the resort's rating; and NSW tourism organisations have stopped taking bookings,” said the report.

Apparently, the former Peppers Resort was sold by the Mirvac Group for $47 million in December 2007 to a couple who runs hotels and shopping centres, Michael Kwok and Helen James.

“Since then more than 200 of the 240 staff have been laid off and the situation has become so intolerable that even the few staff left are fed up.

“The hotel's business manager, Priscilla Lagatule, said: ‘Fairmont has always had a good name … in the first year of York taking over, that reputation was intact. Obviously, they've made the wrong choices in the decisions they've made since.’”

Incidentally, the resort, despite its name, has no association at all with the Fairmont Group.

Reported the Herald, after a visit, “In a car park, the duck-shaped boats that once plied the resort lake are stacked, some missing heads. Insulation hangs from holes in the eaves.”

And quotes a guest who stayed over Easter, "No one would answer the phone, room service/house-keeping/reception/main switch were never answered. I had to walk the 120 metres to reception and complain to get an ice bucket delivered to the room," she said.

"The whole floor was incredibly dirty. Towels thrown into corners of the corridor. Room service trays left out in the hallway for over 24 hours."

NASA astronaut first to 'tweet' from space

Twitter’s received its first tweet from space – astronaut Mike Massimino made Twitter history with a 139-character post to the micro-blogging site – the first person to do so from space.

According to CNN, Massimino wrote, "From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!"

With the tweet, Massimino kept his promise to file updates from the space shuttle Atlantis as it readies to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

Massimino began tweeting in early April as he prepared for the mission. By early Wednesday, his Twitter feed, astro_mike, had more than 241,000 followers.

Atlantis launched Monday afternoon with Massimino and six other crew members. It is NASA's fifth and final repair visit to the Hubble. The crew was expected to arrive at the space telescope on Wednesday. Watch Atlantis launch for Hubble mission »

"I'm going to put my spacesuit on, next stop: Earth Orbit!!" Massimino posted on Twitter on Monday morning before the launch.

Another astronaut, Mark Polansky, is posting Twitter updates as he prepares for the next planned space shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

Polansky, who is tweeting as astro_127, will be the commander of the mission, scheduled for June.