I’ve always felt that people who write complaint letters to TV stations and the like, to be individuals in need of a life. I recant on this view now, only because I want to whine / complain. I’ve even taken pictures to back up my whining (usually a sign of REALLY having no life, but this of course doesn’t apply to me).
The premise: Take my family on five nights at a 4-star plus resort. We chose Aanuka Resort at Coffs Harbour based on one recommendation and some website browsing.
Complaint 1: The old ‘the website pictures don’t match the reality’ issue. Now, I’m fairly aware that the accommodation promoted on a website always has the benefit of wide-angle lenses and the like, but in this case the disparity was huge. Go to the Aanuka Resort web page. There’ll you’ll see a lovely photo gallery including shots of the rooms. An important note: I booked one of the most expensive rooms, so it’s not a case of the penthouse suite on the website and I had booked a basic room.
The front entrance:
The light and airy hallway:
The main living area:
(couch was a sofa bed that was impossible to sit up straight in)
The spa ensuite:
(hard to see from pic but spa was old and grouting was far from clean)
The main bedroom:
(the bed was actually two singles which was ok – however the vertical blinds were mouldy)
The kitchen:
(This was quite spacious although dishwasher didn’t work well and fridge made a terrible noise everytime you opened it)
Other gripes – balcony area was filthy, plumbing had problems including noise that woke the kids when we turned the shower on, and cockroaches galore (though probably to be expected being based in a rainforest-like setting)
Complaint 2: Basic resort facilities:
It could be just me but it would be nice to be able to access a resort’s facilties without having to walk a tortuous route that requires backtracking. I’m talking close to a kilometre walk to get to food. Now, that distance isn’t that bad if you know you can get there without needing an umbrella if it rains, gumboots if the rain is heavy and a torch in some sections if the sun has gone down. I am not joking.
Complaint 3: Non-basic resort facilities:
On the way to Coffs Harbour we stayed in a ‘cheaper’ apartment complex called the Sevan Apartments – the place was stunning and had free wireless broadband – a compact little wireless transmitter and ethernet cable was given at check-in and it worked beautifully. What do you get at Aanuka? A dial-up option which involved removing the wall phone off its bracket (I couldn’t get our phone off) and plugging into that phone outlet.
Food – the range was ok but the main restaurant was closed the one night we wanted to use it. If you order room service expect to pay more than if you eat at the restaurant (not unusual) PLUS a $5.00 delivery fee. I kid you not.
Pools – the pools were good – although the one morning where it was really warm, the small kids pool was closed – I couldn’t see why aside from the fact that there was a small palm branch in the water. On a rainy day we used the cave spa which was nice and warm. Trouble is the spa didn’t work. Myself and another family asked for it to be looked at, nothing happened in the 90 minutes we were there.
Overall: this resort does not deserve its 4-start rating. Did the kids enjoy themselves? Yes they did – once the youngest one got over the smell of the room (“I don’t want to go back to the smelly room daddy”) – it was just a little musty. The cleaner who came when we complained about the filthy balcony area was wonderful and the plumbing issue was fixed at our request the following day. That said, this seems a pretty tired place in need of some greater upkeep. I’d look at spending your money elsewhere….
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