In principle I have avoided negative reviews on this website, preferring instead to feature attractions and accommodation that cater well for families. Unfortunately, a recent stay at a Yarra Valley property, Stonelea Country Estate was so upsetting that I feel compelled to share it here. Our experience has also led me to reflect on how we might avoid such disappointment in the future, and what recourse families have if they purchase accommodation from shady operators.
First things first though – Stonelea Country Estate is beautiful, set at the foothills of the Cathedral Ranges amid rolling hills. Our family did revel in the idyllic surrounds and facilities. Highlights for our own children were fishing in the trout stocked lake, playing lawn bowls and kangaroo spotting. Our stay was undermined however by very poor management.
As a family with two young children we favour self-contained accommodation. Accordingly I had pre-booked and (I believe) paid for accommodation in a two bedroom cottage on at the resort. Concurrently the entire resort had been booked out to accommodate wedding guests for a number of days celebration. Stonelea’s management had decided to double book the resort during this time, hence when we arrived we were told our cottage was no longer available, and instead our family of four would be accommodated in a Verandah room with a double bed. It was only when I pointed out that I am heavily pregnant, and could not possibly fit in a bed with the other three members of my family were we allocated interconnecting rooms for the night. These were not made available to us until 6pm. While waiting for our room we roamed the picturesque grounds which, as a result of a presumably wild wedding were littered with grog bottles, cigarettes, and broken glass. My five year old commented “Mum, I have never seen so many “poison sticks” (cigarettes). There were also a number of packets of discarded matches left around the guards that thankfully I found before they found their way into little hands. The main pool of the resort was closed due to broken glass being in it, and remained so during our mid-summer stay. The second, indoor pool was murky, filthy, and entirely unusable.
Having expected our own kitchen facilities, and with nowhere to prepare my children’s dinner I requested dinner be provided in the restaurant. Our request was granted however despite being seated in the restaurant at 6.30pm our mains were not served until 9pm. Possibly because the kitchen staff were catering to 45 wedding guests as well as a dining room full of double booked resort guests the food was well below restaurant standard.
The next day we were pleased that our two bedroom cottage had become available and were ushered to a charming, if slightly run down cottage. Alas, the disrepair of the cottage posed a safety risk to our family as my son immediately on entering the children’s bedroom lacerated is finger on broken glass. That evening I sustained my own injury (a subluxed finger joint) due to disrepair when the bed in the main bedroom collapsed due to many of the slats being missing underneath the bed. Our second night at the resort saw the four of us sleeping in two single beds.
While the resort staff were doing their best in difficult circumstances, and some (particularly the dining room staff) offered excellent service, management were unapologetic about the situation at the resort, rather being rude and surly when I discussed my concerns. The head manager disputed that payment had been received for the two bedroom cottage in advance (I confirmed my booking 3 days before arrival over the phone). I am currently investigating whether my credit card was charged (as I was told it was when I made the booking) for the two bedroom cottage.
Stonelea Country Estate is under new ownership. Despite the idyllic surrounds a thorough overhaul of management is necessary if the resort is to be suitable for families.
So, what can other families do to avoid a travel situation such as this?
(1) Take heed of online reviews. Reviews of this property were almost universally bad. I had disregarded them after examining the property’s website and facilities on offer as they focused on issues that didn’t bother me (the lack of television in rooms that upset many other guests is a positive in my book). The restaurant was also highly criticised however, as we were not planning on dining there I wasn’t concerned. In retrospect I suspect that many of the bad reviews are a consequence of management not being responsive to guest’s concerns.
(2) Take care with purchasing accommodation vouchers. We had purchased a voucher for a single room that included extras such as chocolates and wine on arrival, a day spa voucher, and free desserts. I had then arranged directly with the resort to upgrade to the two bedroom cottage and paid them directly for the difference. Needless to say, we never received the coupon extras such as chocolates or spa voucher. I will be more cautious in the future about purchasing accommodation vouchers.
(3) Share your own experiences on sites such as TripAdvisor. If you do have dreadful travel experiences, sharing what you know may protect another family from making the same mistake.
Danielle – OMG what an utterly awful and disappointing experience, no dinner till 9pm?? My kids would have been completely hysterical.
Great tips – and yes it’s really hard to write a negative review, but in a situation like this we’re grateful for you speaking up!
The kids went a little mad waiting for food that’s for sure. Such a pity that the experiences was so disappointing as the grounds were beautiful.
Hopefully the new managers get on top of the game soon. I remember working somewhere that was new to the industry (a restaurant in this case) and getting overrun on mother’s day and it was not a good situation. Luckily in that case the managers had the sense to smooth people over generously and make amends for next time. It’s easy to make mistakes, hard to respond to them correctly!
It does sound like a wild wedding!
I totally agree Bronwyn. If the managers had exhibited any sort of good will at all my opinion would have been much softer. Unfortunately their attitude was “Too bad, so sad”. which really upset me.