Positives:
1. Jo-Anne, the Lodge Manager, kindly moved my reservation to another weekend, which meant I could have better weather on my stay.
2. All the staff are professional and warm. All introduced themselves to me by name and were eager to help.
3. The suite itself has a lovely view of the lagoon and a warm sunny deck. The bathroom is huge and the room comfortable with a large bed and a pellet fired heater.
4. The spa was the highlight for me, in a separate building altogether. The receptionist Michaela welcomed me with a warm drink and warm towel. My therapist was one of the best I've had in years! The spa is spacious and clean with amenities, robes and slippers in every room.
5. I loved the SG perks of a bottle of wine and the sauna session.
The not-so-goods:
1. The road to the lodge after the stop and go is a nightmare. Having seen the condition of the road driving in with the huge bodies of water, I was too nervous to drive it after the heavy rain and asked Richard (Assistant Lodge Manager) if someone would drive me to the main road. The graciously did so himself, it felt like we were doing river crossings. He said he was very surprised that they were allowing guests to drive that road and not offering guests the option to leave their cars in Stanford and be picked up from there. My fellow guests commented on this as well so this was not just me.
2. The room is extremely dark as there are no ceiling lights other than in the bathroom.
3. I opted for no turn down and could only find an electric blanket on one side of the bed. Maybe it was late and I didn't look properly, but if this was the case as I was a single occupant, it doesn't make sense to have a double bed with only one side warm. It forced me to sleep on only on the one side - seemed a bit silly.
4. My biggest disappointment was the sub-standard food. I communicated that I am pescatarian to the lodge. None of the kitchen and wait staff seemed to remember this. For lunch I was offered a piece of kinglip that looked translucent as raw fish does. As I eat fish all the time, I know how cooked kingklip looks and tastes. I asked the chef to cook it more. It came back pretty much the same. I suspect it had been frozen and thawed too many times. He offered to make me another piece but I declined. The "salad" on my plate was from the grilled chicken salad the other guests were having. The kitchen staff forgot to remove some chicken pieces when they plated my salad. I was quite hungry by the time we were at our activity but with no snacks in sight, I scoffed the dry and stale rusks in my room before dinner. Dinner was no improvement. Butternut soup with stale rolls and a papadum. This was followed by a vegetable pasta (amnesia that I was pescatarian) and a warm chocolate brownie. Richard was kind enough to bring each course to my room (I asked for room service) and it was all on a lovely tray. Breakfast was even more depressing - I was offered scrambled eggs and veggies (more amnesia as the other guests were offered smoked salmon). I opted for the continental option as this did not sound appealing and received exactly 1 tablespoon of yoghurt, 1 tablespoon of chopped fruit and 2 tablespoons of muesli in a bowl with a rubbery pancake. I asked for a cappuccino on my arrival day. It was a cold, watery mess so I didn't ask for that again. The staff seem to just linger around in the dining room so you have no idea if they are ready to serve your meals or not.
5. As I was only there for one night and with the weather that was lovely and warm, our afternoon activity was an excursion to the beach. While this sounded amazing it was more of a drop off at the beach and you wander around by yourself on the dunes until you want a drink, have a drink and get driven back. A bit strange and also strange the guide asked guests for assistance carrying the cooler box. Surely you send another staff member so they can assist each other and not ask guests?
Sadly this one, especially at the price point, was a hit and miss for me.
I sent feedback directly to the agent I booked through and they were going to share this with the lodge owner. I have not heard from the lodge owner at the time of writing this review.
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